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Sporting KC’s U.S. Open Cup campaign

SportingKC (Getty Images)

The Seattle Sounders have been a model of U.S. Open Cup success in the last four years, capturing the last three tournament titles and reaching the final for a fourth straight year.

Standing in Seattle's way in 2012 is Sporting Kansas City, a team that has made its intentions for this tournament clear both on the field with its play and off it with a winning bid to host next Wednesday's final in addition to an intense series of promo videos leading up to the anticipated match.

The videos feature individual players watching highlight clips from the past — both successes and failures — as motivation to capture the cup and wrestle it away from the three-time reigning champions. Doing so would prevent the first four-peat in tournament history while winning the team's first trophy since the 2004 Open Cup in the process.

Give the videos (after the jump) a watch and let us know what you think about them, Sporting Kansas City's chances in the final and your overall thoughts about this year's Open Cup in the comments section below. Enjoy:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-xi8oV3Bso]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkgO2n06yY4]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuvt1YXlJyk]

Comments

  1. LOL THAT’S FUNNY!!!
    Srsly d00d, most starting XI players played in about 3 matches, often not even starting. It’s called ‘squad rotation’ and it helps us get young players minutes. Which is why we can keep losing starting quality youngsters like Neagle, Fucito, Le Toux (Toux an extent), and why we manage to be a huge outlier compared to the correlation between injuries and low position in the table.
    Get real. We lose in the playoffs because teams from Seattle ALWAYS choke in the playoffs.

    Reply
  2. Well that’s one way to look at it. I completely disagree, but that is one way to look at it.
    Total matches in an Open Cup run is what, 5?
    Total matches to win MLS Cup is what, 5?
    Winner of the Broken Shiied is what, 34 games?
    Seems like winning the Open Cup makes the MOST sense, because you play the fewest number of matches to accomplish the goal.

    Reply
  3. It does, almost. The winner of the cup gets you a seat. The winner of a shield gets you a seat and the team with the next most points at the end of the season gets you a seat. If one of those teams already qualified through Open Cup (Seattle last year) the team with the next best points goes to Concacaf (This is how RSL got in this year). If you look at the past few years, the top four teams in the league qualified one way or another. You don’t just play in one open cup final. You play in a number of games to get to the final. That is a waste of energy and injury.

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  4. I don’t think it is ridiculous to say that playing all those extra games while you are trying to stay healthy for league play and Concacaf is a poor management decision. Especially when it has been the downfall of your team in the playoffs for the past three years. I also was not implying that anyone has said it was the same as the SS or cup. I am saying that if you get one of those you don’t need to play 8 added games to win a seat to Concacaf. It is a waste of time and energy if you are already a good team. Put your focus somewhere else and you will still qualify for Concacaf.

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  5. If you’re going to hate on the Open Cup you could at least come up with something that makes sense. Trying to win the Broken Shield is much more tiring than playing one cup final. Top two in your division doesn’t qualify you for CCL. If you don’t like it, ignore it.

    Reply
  6. Whether the winner should receive a CCL birth is something that USSF decides. Faulting any team for taking advantage of that is ridiculous. As far as the prominence of this trophy, I’ve never heard anyone imply that it was equal o the Supporters Shield or a MLS cup.

    My preference would have USOC modeled closer to the FA Cup.

    Reply
  7. Is this the tournament that gets you a seat to another tournament that you would get into if you didn’t suck anyway? Seems like a way to get your team tired and worn down before the playoffs even start. Go nobody. Go for the shield or finishing in the top two in your division and you will likely qualify anyway. Go away open cup. Go away.

    Reply

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