In a day and age when people constantly refer to the state of soccer in the U.S. in terms of "lack of tradition" and "no sense of the game's history" we've arrived at a point in our domestic schedule where we get the opportunity to show people just what kind of past we have in the game. The U.S. Open Cup is a tournament for any and all comers with the resources available to place them into the competition. This year's edition had no fewer than 154 entrants all of which certainly had dreams of glory on a national stage during the month of October when they threw their hats into the ring. Clubs ranging from Uruguay S.C. to the Chicago Fire have all taken part in contesting America's version of England's FA Cup this season. Though this season's final will be contested between two MLS clubs we must be able to look back at this competition and see it for what it truly is: a tournament that represents the history, tradition, and very foundation on which our present soccer system has been built upon. With all that this competition means we, the fans, must hope that this Saturday's final will at least be entertaining… after all it will be on Fox Sports World live.
Through the years prior to even the USISL, way back-back-back as a certain sports announcer would put it, there was the Dewar Trophy and the Open Cup. Teams with entirely "too ethnic" sounding names would engrave their names on a trophy that meant little or nothing to the "average" sports fans across the country. These teams, often made up of first generation immigrants or their sons, had their own American Dream when they stepped onto the fields across the land. They wanted that trophy and the glory, subdued as it was, that came along with winning the only national soccer competition in existence at that time. As the days of these particular clubs began to fade the emergence of what would eventually become known as the USISL become a reality in this competition as it gave teams who would likely have never have met on the field the opportunity to play for a legitimate trophy. As this happened it gave credence to the competition as a whole because some of these new "professional" clubs began to take this as seriously as their Cup playing predecessors. This competition also led to a larger, more profound effect: it gave professional soccer in the U.S. a national platform on which to plead its case.
A new-found national interest, no matter how small in the beginning, became very important to what this Championship would mean in the years to come. With the prospects of a new professional league looming in the not too distant future many people who organized the competition had to view this new league with some skepticism as it regarded the Open Cup. The memories of being shunned by the now defunct NASL had to play in the minds of some who would attempt to lure these new division one clubs into the Open Cup. Fortunately for those people, and the fans in general, the MLS took its baby steps as a league and now take the competition seriously. In the end this lends an even larger national footprint to this once obscure competition giving clubs in the lower divisions a real opportunity to grab their fifteen minutes of fame by upsetting the "big boys". Clubs like Rochester, Charleston, and Mid-Michigan, to name only a few, have raised their profiles tremendously by knocking off their MLS counterparts in the recent years of this competition. This season sees the first time in which the trophy will be given to one of two MLS finalists but this should not lead to perceptions that MLS will go on to dominate this competition. With MLS making strides in the tournament comes expectations that their clubs will always contend for the title and when a club like Rochester snatches the title from under their noses the A-League and USL gain respect and, possibly more importantly, recognition that this minor league isn't so "minor" after all.
This Saturday the Miami Fusion and Chicago Fire will face off for the title of U.S. Open Cup Champion after coming narrowly through earlier challenges from the Mid-Michigan Bucks and Chicago Sockers respectively (who also contested the PDL championship this season, unfortunately the Sockers have since disbanded). The Fusion were extremely lucky to gain the victory against the Bucks in Michigan and they will get the opportunity to win the club's first ever trophy against the Fire. Chicago were a little fortunate as well to down the cross-town Sockers earlier in the tournament and they will be looking to get at least one piece of hardware for their troubles. The Fire spent much of the MLS season looking to be the best bet to do the double with their deep bench, experience, and explosive firepower but they'll now be lucky if they can just win the Open Cup after a difficult loss against K.C. in the MLS Cup Final last weekend (for more on my opinion of the MLS Championship match read on below). The Fire will need no extra motivation coming into this much but they'll need to make sure they go about picking themselves up properly from last weekend. The Fusion will most likely come out cautiously attacking with Welton and Diego Serna looking for passes from Machon and the rest of the Miami midfield. The Fire will likely counter with Bonseu, Bocanegra, and Brown holding down the back while Stoitchkov, Nowak, Kovalenko, and Razov will look to put this one away early. I expect we'll see Razov and Hristo get at least one apiece and Wolff will get one when he comes on late in the match to put the match away. Defensively the Fire are too much better than the Fusion back-line but I do expect Serna to try and win this one single-handedly for the Fusion by knocking in two after three have gone the other way. Final score: 4-2 in favor of the Fire as they show why they are the best team to not win their league this season (though I'm sure most Minnesota fans would love to argue that point with me). Now, let's make sure we show Rupert Murdoch why he needs to show the Open Cup next season, who knows, maybe we'll even get some earlier matches with A-League teams involved?
We're Going through Changes…
Tis the off-season and what can we all expect? Changes aplenty, especially seeing as how so many players around the A-League prepare to find new homes whether they are on American soil or on the "grass of another country" among Europe's fields of dreams. We should also expect to see plenty of moves in front offices across the land. As of this writing there are rumors about that Charleston GM Buckley Andrews will be leaving his post with the Battery. Todd Smith has already left for the fertile fields of MLS, joining the New England Revolution, after helping to bring Hershey into the U.S. Soccer spotlight by bringing the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers to suburban Pennsylvania. Changes in the worst way were in evidence in the former Atlantic Division in the past couple of weeks as Raleigh have folded and rumors have been bouncing that Hampton Roads may be joining them. I'm sure the USL head honchos are thinking themselves pretty smart after deciding to realign next season seeing as how at this point there may be no Atlantic Division to speak of come Opening Day next Spring. Obviously this kind of quick turnover that we've seen as far ranging as the soon-to-be-had Portland Timbers to the up and coming Toronto Lynx will continue on through the next few months. With all of this off the field action many of the fans out there will also be able to endure those lonely months without A-League soccer on the fields. The intermission will seem just like one as the next act, A-League season 2001, gets closer and closer every day.
They Are the Champions…
This week I've got to give credit where credit is due so congratulations Kansas City on becoming 2000 MLS Champs. I've always felt that if you want to see ugly goals go to a championship match. It never ceases to amaze me the manner in which some of the ugliest goals get scored when two extremely talented clubs face off with all the marbles at stake. Miklos Molnar's goal around the 20th minute of MLS Cup 2000 was definitely not one that would make it onto many non-K.C. fans' highlight reels but it epitomized that club as well as any goal they've scored this season. It was a ball that they never gave up on and were able to knock in, take the lead, and thoroughly impose their will upon the rest of the match. They opposed more pressure than a pair of shocks on a Hummer driving across the Rockies while staying off of any possible roads. That aside, the only thing that counts in games like these is the number on the scoreboard and at the final whistle it read 1-0 in favor of the Wizards. Thanks in large part to the effort from Tony Meola the Wizards were able to withstand some of the most ferocious attacking I've ever seen in an MLS match and come out one to the good. Spare a thought, though, for the Fire as they played some high-spirited attacking ball and found themselves extremely unlucky not to find an equalizer. Some have to wonder if the theatrics of Stoitchkov earlier in the match hadn't cost the "Mad Hungarian" (according to Ty Keough, guess he thought the land that is now Bulgaria was still in the possession of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) a penalty call in the waning moments of the match. Likewise, some had to be wondering why DeMarcus Beasley and Josh Wolff were held out for so long when K.C. had conceded the point of attacking ten minutes into the second half. Oh well, those are the breaks sometimes; it should not tarnish anything that the Fire have (and may) accomplished this season. Hopefully MLS will get an extra berth for the League runner-up or Open Cup Champ for the CONCACAF Champions Cup to be staged in the coming months because something tells me that without Molnar, Johnston, and even Bunbury the Wiz may not fare well against the likes of Atlas, Communicaciones, and Toluca or whoever they face… with or without the magical Meola. Thanks once again for reading, that's the view from here and I'll see you all next week.
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