The Charleston Battery of the United Soccer League's Division 1 take on MLS' D.C. United tonight in the final of the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
With its official beginning dating back to 1914, the U.S. Open Cup is the oldest tournament in any sport in the United States. The Open Cup is America's version of the FA Cup by organization as it gives all US Soccer affiliated sides, both amateur and professional, an opportunity to play for the title. This tournament has been flying under the radar for decades so it's certainly not the same as the FA Cup in terms of prestige or history - however, with the introduction of professional teams in 1995, the US Open Cup is slowly starting to carve out a more prominent place in professional soccer in the US.
This year's tournament is culminating with two excellent sides vying for the title as the normally consistent yet recently skidding Battery - still sitting at the third spot in the USL-Div 1 table, but who also haven't won a league match since August 3rd - will take on D.C., who are coming off of an 0-0 draw with New York after an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
The match kicks off at 7:30PM Eastern at RFK Stadium and will be live on Fox Soccer Channel.
3 comments:
Apart from the fact that DC are playing in it (go United!) I think it will be a good match. I just wish the organizers of the cup would shake things up. This is the only part of the entire US Open Cup that has made TV and if I hadn't gone to see United take on the Revs live for the semi-finals I would have had to listen to it on the radio.
There have been some excellent matches and upsets (seeing as a USL team is in the finals) and I would think that many people would love to see the matches. The organizers of the Cup need to do a much better job of promoting if they ever want to see it come into any sort of prominence. I think it could become a huge tournament if some effort is put into it. Here's hoping anyway.
Well it wasnt the prettiest game, but DC United are your 2008 US Open Cup Champions! Big up to Charleston who played a great game.
Well done DC United - I was at the soccer fields all evening so I tuned in just in time to catch the post match celebration.
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