Cleveland pro-soccer fans can reconnect with the past at tonight’s NSL Indoor Soccer Challenge. The event arrives nearly a year after the Force folded. The main event pits Hector Marinaro, Zoran Koric, and other Cleveland all-stars against players from the new National Soccer League. At halftime, a Cleveland Legends game brings Force and Crunch veterans — like Kai Haaskivi, PJ Johns, and Ali Kazemaini — to the indoor field.

The game’s organizers hope to introduce fans to the league, which officially launches in June 2008. “We’re here to put on a show for the people of Cleveland and give them a taste of what they’ve been missing,” says Sydney Nusinov, NSL’s founder. “It’ll also give them a chance to say a proper goodbye to some of their favorite players. While we’re marking the end of one era, we hope we are laying the seeds of a new one.”
Sat., Aug. 5, 7:05 p.m.

This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2006.