The 99th U.S. Open Cup tournament comes to a close Wednesday night, as Sporting Kansas City attempts to end the Seattle Sounders' three-year reign of the annual knockout competition at Livestrong Sporting Park.
A capacity crowd is expected for what should be a great end to a memorable tournament. The change to the new format this year made for some tremendous underdog stories, none bigger than USASA side Cal FC's run that included a win over the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field before concluding at the hands of the Sounders in the Round of 16.
Sporting Kansas City will try to do what Cal FC and no other team has been able to do since Aug. 12, 2008: Eliminate the Sounders from the Open Cup like the Charleston Battery did to the then-USL Sounders, winning on penalties in the semifinals of that tournament.
Since then, the competition has become akin to the Sounders Invitational, and for Seattle, capturing the Open Cup in enemy territory has been done before. The Sounders began their historic tournament run in 2009 by defeating D.C. United at RFK Stadium before winning the last two titles at home; however, the combination of quality of opponent and venue should make winning the 2012 title the toughest challenge yet.
Which team do you think will capture the 2012 U.S. Open Cup tonight? Cast your vote after the jump:
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How did you vote? Which team do you see winning the Open Cup? What do you think will be the difference tonight?
Share your thoughts below.
What!?!? Polls conducted on fan websites are influenced by fans?? How could this be?
Vancouver fans are probably rooting for Seattle. I wasn’t aware that there was another professional soccer team up here though.
The PNW has two fanbases that would not want to see the other fanbase win the Open Cup.
I think everyone outside the PNW are rooting for SKC.
If Seattle win it, that will certainly shut up the segment that believe having it played at home has been a huge advantage (myself included in that segment).
…hopefully Sounders fans cheer at the end of the match, because if they lose, you guys will never hear the end of it.
For being a far superior channel to FSC, it’s disappointing most cable providers either:
A) Don’t provide it
B) Have it attached to their Spanish package
I do and no you can’t.
…unless you’re bringing beer.
Nobody watches because nobody has GolTV. Seriously.
New Poll.
Who has GolTV in Chicago and can I come over?
Thanks for saving me the time to post this!
I wouldn’t say Seattle has the better team at all. They are currently playing better than SKC though. Talent wise I think its pretty even.
I’m predicting the very predictable: Seattle will win the Open Cup again, their fans will claim that somehow this tournament and their large attendance proves they are the best, and then they will flame out miserably in the playoffs.
Sounders 2-1 SKC
Seattle has a better team and can basically rename the trophy at this point.
But I hope KC wins it.
These polls are totally unscientific. I’m sure the Sounders fans are stuffing the ballot box. You have home field advantage and should be the favorite.
As a Sporting Fan, I’m very excited that nobody expects us to win this.