Sporting Kansas City will look to write another glorious chapter in club history on Sept. 20 when the New York Red Bulls visit Children’s Mercy Park for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, slated for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
In our 21-day Countdown to Cup, SportingKC.com is visiting the most relevant storylines, historical narratives and statistical trends surrounding the Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.
Our fifth installment of the daily countdown focuses on Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes, who is on the verge of adding yet another title to his impressive list of coaching honors.
During the modern professional era of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup — a period that dates back to 1995 — the list of head coaches with at least three tournament titles begins and ends with one name: Sigi Schmid.
Major League Soccer's all-time winningest coach, now in his second stint with the LA Galaxy, has hoisted the Open Cup on five occasions. Schmid rattled off four of those in a six-year span with Seattle Sounders FC, a dominant period that also included a second-place finish to 2012 champion Sporting Kansas City.
That, of course, brings us to the man in charge at Children's Mercy Park.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes has built quite the resume as a player and a coach over the last several decades. The former U.S. international and World Cup veteran was Kansas City's defensive stalwart throughout the historic MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield double-winning campaign in 2000. Nine years later, he began his current tenure as the club's head coach.
Since then, no one has played a greater role in Sporting Kansas City's ascension as a perennial championship contender. Vermes has already become just the third coach with multiple U.S. Open Cup titles and an MLS Cup trophy to his name. It's a feat only Vermes, Schmid and newly appointed Los Angeles FC coach Bob Bradley can claim.
On Sept. 20 at Children's Mercy Park, the Sporting KC boss aims to win his third Open Cup. By doing so, he would further separate himself as one of the true elites in the American soccer coaching circle.
U.S. OPEN CUP TITLES BY COACH
(MODERN ERA, 1995 - PRESENT)
<strong>Titles</strong> |
<strong>Coach</strong> |
<strong>Years</strong> |
<strong>MLS Cup wins</strong> |
5 |
Sigi Schmid |
2001, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 |
2002, 2008 |
<strong><em>2</em></strong> |
<strong><em>Peter Vermes</em></strong> |
<strong><em>2012, 2015</em></strong> |
<strong><em>2013</em></strong> |
2 |
Bob Bradley |
1998, 2000 |
1998 |
2 |
Dave Sarachan |
2003, 2006 |
|
1 |
Bruce Arena |
1996 |
1996, 1997, 2011, 2012, 2014 |
1 |
Steve Sampson |
2005 |
2005 |
1 |
Bob Gansler |
2004 |
2000 |
1 |
Oscar Pareja |
2016 |
|
1 |
Ben Olsen |
2013 |
|
1 |
Tom Soehn |
2008 |
|
1 |
Steve Nicol |
2007 |
|
1 |
Greg Andrulis |
2002 |
|
1 |
Dave Dir |
1997 |
