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U.S. Open Cup qualifying road set for 10 MLS teams

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Two Major League Soccer-specific spots in the U.S. Open Cup remain up for grabs, and the qualifying path for the 10 teams vying for those spots has been set.

Chivas USA, D.C. United, the Philadelphia Union and Portland Timbers will all have to win three games to gain entry, while the Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City and New England Revolution will only have to win two. Here's the qualifying slate, although dates, times and locations are all TBA:

First Round: Portland Timbers vs. Chivas USA; D.C. United vs. Philadelphia Union

Second Round: Portland/Chivas vs San Jose; D.C./Philadelphia vs. New England; Colorado vs. Chicago; Houston vs. Sporting KC

Third Round: Portland/Chivas/San Jose vs. Colorado/Chicago; D.C./Philadelphia/N.E. vs. Houston/SKC

Who do you see gaining entry? Wish the set-up was different?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ideally I’d like to see the Union in the Cup, but that doesn’t seem too likely, considering we probably won’t take the qualifying stages seriously.

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  2. As a Union fan, I have to say that facing DC away, then New England at home, and finally either Houston or KC is about as easy a draw as you can ask for. Go Union!

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  3. These games, which obviously don’t mean much to most teams, are good chances for reserves to get game minutes. It’s not like teams are rolling out their starting XI until very late in the tournament (if ever).

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  4. Why do we have to go through qualifying? Just take the best teams from last season that aren’t already going to Champions League. For as much as MLS talks about trying to reduce scheduling congestion, THIS DOESN’T HELP. Or, do what USL-2 used to do and use the early regular season results as qualification.

    But come on, don’t make them play more games that no one can see on TV and no one wants to attend.

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  5. It would be nice if ALL the teams went into the US Open Cup and just have these teams go in earlier on then the other MLS teams. Though, it probably allows some of the lower level teams to get farther, which is fun too.

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