Gotham FC finished eighth in the NWSL this season – but have just lifted the NWSL Championship.
A single Rose Lavelle goal was enough to beat Washington Spirit in the play-off final – and Juan Carlos Amoros was delighted.
“It’s obviously a dream come true for me, for everyone, for the players, for the staff, for the club,” he said after the match to the media.
“Being able to be here standing in front of everyone with you guys is, for me personally, a dream come true. I’m just a guy from a neighbourhood in Madrid that loves soccer, and you put a lot of effort into your life and suddenly I’m here winning my second championship.”
They also won the NWSL Championship in 2023. This season, they knocked NWSL Shield winners and table-toppers Kansas City Current out of the play-offs in the quarter-final.
Juan Carlos Amoros: You are a champion forever
Amoros – who was manager of Tottenham Hotspur until 2020 – reflected on the moment of becoming champions.
“Every win is special. We work so hard for this moment. We become champions in just a second – it’s the moment the referee gives the final blow. Until that moment, you’re trying to be a champion, and from there you are a champion forever.
“What we try to do, or the way I try to do things, is create an environment where people enjoy, where people are happy, where people are taken care of as people before they are players. We try to play in a football style that is entertaining for fans, that is difficult to play because it requires a lot of concentration and a lot of understanding of the game. But at the same time, it’s a way that I believe is the best way – the way I see football as an art and the way I think the players have been able to execute it.”
And he said that he would remember the win forever.
“It’s such a mix of feelings in that moment because it’s the moment you become a champion. As I said in the answer before, for me it’s about the people. I know how hard these people have worked – the players, the staff. We’ve been on the road for almost three weeks now. The amount of time we spend away from home, and you get this reward to see the smiles of the people, to see people achieving something.
“When you get older, like I am getting now because I’m 41, you start realising there are certain moments in your life that stick with you forever. You have to understand that those moments will stay with me, but they will stay with them forever.”
