2017 US Open Cup final: NY Red Bulls chasing history

NY Red Bulls and Sporting KC vie for Open Cup Trophy

Trophies are hard to come by in any sport. In US soccer it’s even harder. For most of the history of the modern game, there hasn’t been much at stake for US clubs other than the Open Cup. For the last 21 years, of course, there’s also been the MLS Cup. NY Red Bulls have played once for each of those and still have only dust on display in their trophy case.

This week the club formerly known as the MetroStars gets their 3d shot at glory. Red Bulls travel to the home of Sporting of Kansas City for the final match of this year’s US Open Cup competition. It could be a happy and historic return flight on Thursday morning.

Or it could be the beginning of a very long, painful weekend.

“It’s a real trophy and a real tournament.”

That’s what 3rd year head man, Jesse Marsch, told the media during his latest press conference this past Monday. Just 48 hours to kick off and a lot of personnel questions remained for the coach. “We will only start Royer if he’s 100%,” Marsch said when he was asked about the status of striker, Daniel Royer.

The Austrian had been part of a midseason Red Bulls surge earlier this summer. But that was in MLS play. And that was July. Royer came up injured in mid-August and hasn’t been seen again. Marsch and Red Bulls skipper, Sacha Kljestan, have assured everyone that the club is committed to bringing home the Lamar Hunt Trophy. They mean by that the club will field all of their regulars. All of them who can go from the start anyway. Royer, MLS’ Player of the Month for July, may not fill that bill. “We’ll have to make that decision at game time,” Marsch said.

Red Bulls’ No. 1 however is already set. Ryan Meara will be between the sticks rather than regular season main keeper, Luis Robles. Meara has been the go-to stopper during the previous rounds of New York’s current Open Cup run. Why fix what’s not broken?

“It’s going to be a battle”

Sporting KC head man, Peter Vermes, facing the same bunch of reporters, said, “[New York] have great energy,” when he was asked about his opponents’ high press. “They are very courageous and get forward,” Vermes continued. “When you watch their games you know what’s coming. They come at a very high tempo. We know it’s going to be a battle.”

The two sides have met only once this year. That was an MLS regular season match in early May on the same grounds they will clash again on Wednesday night. Vermes’ men came away winners then, 2-0.

• Current form: There are just 6 more matches left in the MLS regular season for the Red Bulls. The first of those is next Saturday away to conference rivals, Columbus Crew. New York are 20 points off the pace set by top of the table, Toronto FC. Red Bulls are also sitting on the playoff cut-line at 42 points. They have only 1 win in their last 7 outings and are currently riding a streak of 4 straight draws. They were undefeated in July before Royer went down. Marsch says he is at full speed in practice. But that’s practice…
• Player to watch for: Meara will be under the gun. Both as a somewhat disputed stand-in for Robles and because—if tournament form means anything—a lot of Open Cup matches are drawn. That doesn’t always bring tie-breaking PK’s, but if it does the pressure on the visitors increases by at least a couple of magnitudes.

Next: St. Louis and MLS are back in bid-ness

How To Watch

When: Wed., Sept 20, 9p ET

Where: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas

TV: ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes