For Marc Dos Santos it’s one award down and one to go.
Dos Santos on Wednesday was recognized for his contributions to the Ottawa Fury’s fantastic North American Soccer League season in 2015 when he was named coach of the year.
Dos Santos, a 38-year-old native of Montreal, has been in charge of Ottawa since 2014 when it began competing in the NASL, a second-tier league that’s one level below Major League Soccer.
After finishing ninth in the 2015 spring season—the NASL campaign is split into two seasons: spring and fall—the Fury finished first in the fall, recording 13 wins with six draws and just one loss.
Ottawa advanced to the Soccer Bowl, the NASL’s championship, after beating Minnesota United in a playoff game last weekend. The Fury set a league attendance record, with a crowd of 9,346 fans attending the game at TD Place Stadium.
Ottawa will play the New York Cosmos at their home stadium in Hempstead, New York in Sunday’s Soccer Bowl.
“As coaches we spend so much time away form our families—I have three kids and a fantastic wife who is very patient and understanding. I’ll prefer to win the Soccer Bowl than this award, but when you get recognized individually for something, you think about all the time you’re away from home and your family, and you realize it was worth it,” Dos Santos told Sportsnet.
The win over Minnesota extended Ottawa’s unbeaten streak to 13 games, tying the NASL record. The team has only lost one of its last 26 matches, with 15 wins and 10 draws.
Sunday’s match will be Dos Santos’ last in charge of the Fury—he announced in September he would leave Ottawa at the end of the year and make the jump to an undisclosed MLS team.
Dos Santos told Sportsnet that Sunday’s final will be bittersweet.
“When I took this job my goal was to help bring professional soccer to Ottawa in a way that the club would be respected locally and within the NASL,” Dos Santos said.
“I think we’ve reached that point. Maybe one day I’ll come back to Ottawa, but I felt I needed a new career challenge. I’m a guy who has always looked for challenges and I want to be the best Canadian coach ever—that’s one of my objectives.”
Veteran Ottawa defender Mason Trafford described Dos Santos’ influence at the club as “immense.”
“He’s an unbelievable leader and coach. He’s a great motivator and is so detail oriented,” Trafford offered.
Spanish icons Raul, formerly of Real Madrid, and Marcos Senna, a key member of Spain’s Euro 2008-winning side, play for the Cosmos, and both will retire following Sunday’s match. New York is 11-3-1 at home in 2015, with Ottawa being the only club to defeat them at home in the last two seasons.
Sportsnet.ca will have in-depth preview coverage of Sunday’s NASL final between the Ottawa Fury and New York Cosmos. Check back later in the week for more stories from John Molinaro.