For those that yearn for a bit of timeless authenticity in their football and fear that the only place to get it is in Europe or Latin America, you may have a few options closer to home this evening.If you're near Chicago, head to the Toyota Park practice field to see the Fire's reserves take on Bavarian SC. Those near the nation's capital can watch Real Maryland play Virginia-based Aegean Hawks at Richard Montgomery High, while those suffering Sounders withdrawal can take in a game between the Portland Timbers and Kitsap Pumas at Bremerton Memorial High, an hour's ferry ride from the Emerald City.
Tonight, a 96-year tradition continues as the U.S. Open Cup's first round proper kicks off. It's a tradition worth celebrating.
The Open Cup is about soccer at its roots, and the roots that delve into the fields on which these small clubs compete are as real as any around the world. That's how the world's biggest clubs got started -- local players and local competition -- and the romance of the FA Cup that every Fox Soccer Channel viewer has shoved down his throat each spring is alive and well on our own shores.
The tournament started in 1914 and has been played continuously since then, exceeding the runs of those conducted in Italy, Germany and France. Winners such as the Fall River Marksmen and St. Louis Simpkins-Ford helped provide the foundation of early U.S. World Cup teams, while now the Cup offers amateurs and minor leaguers the cliched but very meaningful opportunity to test themselves against full-time professionals. This is where player development starts.
The tournament has gone through a host of structural changes, especially as the game in the U.S. has been professionalized, and one can only hope that the modifications continue. The current qualifying process is impossible to follow and ignores some of the most attractive aspects of cup competition.
Currently, U.S. Soccer invites eight clubs each from MLS, the three United Soccer Leagues divisions and the National Premier Soccer League/U.S. Adult Soccer Association. The methods used to identify those 40 clubs largely are illogical. The USL uses league games as qualifiers, ruining the what is supposed to the distinct nature of a cup competition. MLS is worse, employing regular season standings from last year to produce six automatic qualifiers, and a protracted play-in competition for the remaining two. What a club managed in the league, and in last year's league to boot, should have zero affect on their cup standing this year.
It would be nice at some point if the Federation could figure out how to throw all of the teams into a hat or fishbowl, conduct a simple draw and play a proper cup competition (regional considerations to cut down on travel expenses could still apply, of course). Until then, there are more than enough reasons to pay attention, even in the early rounds.
Milwaukee's Bavarian is 80 years old, founded by German immigrants and a holdover to the ethnically-oriented social clubs that feature so prominently throughout American soccer history. 402, which visits the USL1's Minnesota Thunder this evening, is named for the area code in eastern Nebraska where the team is based and features former New England Revolution and Miami Fusion midfielder Johnny Torres. Lynch's FC, an actual pub team from Jacksonville, will face Miami FC without its best player, who just signed with VfL Bochum of the Bundesliga. There are plenty of well-known clubs playing tonight as well, such as the Rochester Rhinos, Richmond Kickers and others that form the sturdy base of America's soccer pyramid.
If you can't get to a game, follow the action on the exceptional usopencup.com, which will have real-time updates from the matches and offers a wealth of information on the participating clubs, including the tidbits above. If you're an American and you're into soccer, this stuff is worth following. Enjoy.
