Sporting Kansas City will look to write another glorious chapter in club history on Wednesday 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 highlighting the most relevant storylines, historical narratives and statistical trends surrounding the Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.
The final installment of the daily countdown shines the spotlight on Sporting KC defenders and two-time Open Cup champions Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, who spoke to media Tuesday on the eve of the final. Manager Peter Vermes also shared his thoughts as he seeks to win his third Open Cup title as a coach.
A common narrative has emerged in the buildup to the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
Sporting Kansas City has a rich and glorious history in the tournament — winning the title in 2004, 2012 and 2015 — and will look to showcase their mastery of the Open Cup once more on Wednesday night. On the flipside, the New York Red Bulls come to Children’s Mercy Park in search of their first major cup in the club’s 22-year existence.
From the outside, it’s the championship-deprived underdog visiting the trophy-laden favorite. But that’s not how Sporting KC captain and center back Matt Besler sees it.
“Past history doesn’t mean anything,” Besler said on Tuesday. “We have to do our best to separate ourselves from the past and really focus on what lies ahead.”
Sporting KC earned a 2-0 home win over New York when the sides met on May 3 in the MLS regular season, but Wednesday’s showdown, Besler says, will be an entirely different battle altogether.
“The difference between a normal game and a final is this is a one-off. Both teams put everything they have into this game, and there’s no tomorrow. There’s a bit of desperation and urgency from both teams from the very start.”
Right back Graham Zusi has played alongside Besler in each of Sporting KC’s cup finals over the last six seasons — the 2012 and 2015 Open Cups as well as the 2013 MLS Cup. The U.S. international duo has emerged victorious on all three occasions.
“These are the moments that you play for—an opportunity to win another trophy,” Zusi said. “It doesn’t get bigger than that.”
Besler and Zusi are joined by Seth Sinovic as the group of players to feature in all three cup finals since 2012. With the likes of Benny Feilhaber and Roger Espinoza also in the fold, Sporting KC is familiar with the bright lights of the championship stage. The Red Bulls, meanwhile, are making their first cup final appearance of any kind since 2008.
“A lot of us have been here before and we know what comes with finals,” Zusi said. “Obviously we know how to win them as well, so experience in the backline and up the field is going to prove to be pretty important.”
Zusi thinks there is one other advantage that Sporting KC will have up it’s sleeve come Wednesday night.
“New York is a fantastic team,” he said. “But we have something that they don’t in this game, and that’s the ability to play at home.”
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes echoed the sentiments of Besler when describing the dynamic of Wednesday’s contest. As nice as it is to host the match at Children’s Mercy Park, Vermes certainly isn’t expecting a walk in the part — in fact, far from it.
“Make no mistake about it: it’s never easy to win a final in your place as well, because at the end of the day it’s a one-game final,” Vermes said. “The opponent knows it’s a one-gamer, so they’re going to put everything out as well.”
As a two-time Open Cup winner, Vermes knows the value that winning another Open Cup would bring to his club. At the forefront is an opportunity to win a competition the entire organization covets, and to become the only MLS team with four major trophies since 2012.
It’s also a chance for Sporting KC to springboard into the premier tournament in North America. Wednesday’s winner will punch a ticket to the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League.
“The Champions League berth that you get out of this is a really important aspect,” he said. “Playing in the Champions League is a huge opportunity for any club, so it’s definitely something that we covet.”
Taking the final step to get to the CCL, however, will be a major challenge. New York boasts a slew of standout players, with Vermes mentioning Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan as particularly difficult opponents to prepare for.
“They have a lot of weapons in their group, and they’re very aggressive going forward. It’s going to be a tough match and a real battle, and I also think it’s going to be an entertaining one.”
