NEW YORK – The Cosmos B will play against the New York Dutch Lions FC at MCU Park Friday, June 16th at 6:00 pm.

The game will be the first game of a doubleheader with the Cosmos senior team facing Puerto Rico FC at 7:30 pm. at the Coney Island venue in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“This will be a fun and exciting night of soccer for New Yorkers, Dutch expats and all of Cosmos Country,” Cosmos Chief Operating Officer Erik Stover said in a statement. “Our young players will have a great opportunity to play against some Dutch legends and it will also be great to have Wim Rijsbergen back with us.”

The Dutch Lions FC is coached by former Cosmos standout Wim Rijsbergen, who played for the North American Soccer League side from 1979 to 1983.

Rijsbergen was a key part of the Netherlands’ World Cup finalist teams in 1974 and 1978. He played every game in the 1974 tournament, which saw the squad advance to the final against host Germany before losing, 2-1. He played in every game of the 1978 World Cup other than the final, missing that game against Argentina due to an injury.

He played 28 games for the Dutch national team. Rijsbergen was voted NASL’s best defender in 1981.

Rijsbergen has brought in former Feyenoord standout John de Wolf as well as former PSV and Schalke 04 midfielder Orlando Engelaar to play against Cosmos B. The Dutch Lions are planning to announce more players in the coming weeks.

“I am excited to come back to the place of which I have so many good memories,” Rijsbergen said in a press release. “I recall Steve Marshall, who arranged everything for us, flying with the private jets of Warner Brothers to the away games, the training camps in the Bahama’s where Steve Ross joined the team and of course the great crowds and after game events. I look forward to the game and being back in New York.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.