Taty Castellanos celebrates his goal at MLS Cup (USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Like many of his New York City FC teammates, the last four days have been a whirlwind for Taty Castellanos.
Winning a national championship – the MLS Cup – will do that to players.
The MLS Golden Boot winner and NYCFC striker had plenty of superlatives to describe what he has gone through, from beautiful to unbelievable to unreal.
Castellanos celebrated the team’s first MLS championship with his teammates and club members during an hour ceremony at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s very beautiful, being able to celebrate here with our fans,” he said on the YES Network through a translator afterwards. “When they come back to New York. It’s a big moment for us and we all deserve it and just just really grateful for the moment.”
During his moment in the sun on the steps of City Hall, Castellanos gave his thanks in Spanish. Unfortunately, there was no translation available to the non-Spanish speaking crowd at the moment. But he had an interpreter on YES as he answered questions from Bob Lorenz and Ian Joy.
Not surprisingly, Castellanos played a vital role in City’s victory over the host Portland Timbers on Saturday. He scored the lone goal for NYCFC in what turned into a 1-1 deadlock after 120 minutes. He also converted a penalty kick in the shootout, in which the Cityzens won, 4-2.
Asked what his feelings were when Alex Callens slammed home the winning penalty to climax a rainy afternoon, Castellanos replied, “There were so many things going on in my head. I couldn’t even describe it. But credit to them, Portland. They’re a very good team. We deserve to be there. We were lucky to able to take it to the penalty kicks in and we took it home. So, it was unbelievable feeling.”
Castellanos didn’t need much luck to capture the Golden Boot. He led the league with 19 goals. The 23-year-old Argentine also added three goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
“It’s been an unreal feeling to be able to win the Golden Boot,” he said. “It’s definitely all the hard work of the club, the staff that actually helped me get to this point. And it just wasn’t enough. It was also bringing home the trophy and we’re just really happy for the moment.”
Indeed, he was.
When he was at the podium during the ceremonies, Castellanos actually did share his feelings with the partisan crowd.
“New York is blue!” he shouted.