The U.S. Open Cup is the country’s oldest soccer tournament, but it has garner much attention in recent years. That has changed this year, with the tournament final pitting two MLS teams that seem intent on sparking the type of rivalry Major League Soccer is in dire need of.
The Seattle Sounders and D.C. United couldn’t be more different. The Sounders are the league upstarts, the flashy expansion team making all sorts of noise on and off the field. D.C. United is the established league power, holders of four MLS Cup titles. East Coast vs. West Coast. Loud rave green uniforms for Seattle vs. the more traditional black D.C. kit.
Those differences, coupled with some jab-trading between the front offices for both teams have helped create a unique buzz for this year’s U.S. Open Cup final, set for Wednesday at RFK Stadium (7:30pm, Fox Soccer Channel). Seattle voiced complaints about D.C. being awarded the final, which lead to a brief war of words and a D.C. United marketing campaign geared at revitalizing its fan base and reminding the Sounders which club is the rookie and which is the established powerhouse.
“We take our tradition in this league pretty seriously so it did feel like a bit of an insult for this first-year team to come in say some unfortunate things,” said D.C. United president Kevin Payne. “I think we have the beginnings of a great rivalry with Seattle and the Open Cup final should become a major part of that.”
Seattle’s controversial comments came from general manager Adrian Hanauer, who questioned the process that led to D.C. being awarded the Open Cup final, with the implication being that Payne’s status as a member of U.S. Soccer’s board of directors led to favorable treatment for D.C. United. D.C. responded by kicking off a marketing campaign titled “We Win Trophies“, which served to remind the public, and the Sounders, of United’s storied history.
The result has been a boost in ticket sales for Wednesday’s final, which is expected to draw double the paltry 8,212 fans last year’s U.S. Open Cup final drew at RFK Stadium (D.C. United beat the Charleston Battery).
"If our little public spat helped sell a single ticket, then good for the game. Good for U.S. Open Cup, D.C. United, Sounders FC, good for MLS," Hanauer told the Seattle Times. "If I have to push the envelope publicly and in the media to help sell tickets, then I'll do it again."
While the front-office jabs have gotten plenty of publicity, the Open Cup final will be decided on the field between a pair of teams that boast some dangerous attacks and vulnerable defenses, which could make the final a high-scoring affair (the previous meeting between these teams finished in a 3-3 tie).
"Offensively they’re very dangerous and do a good job of interchanging, so keeping tabs on their key players ad doing a good job of helping each other out is important," said D.C. United captain Ben Olsen. "We think our offense is good enough and defensively we’ve been been hit or miss but we’ve done a pretty good job the past few games."
D.C. is coming off an emotional 1-0 victory against the Chicago Fire on Saturday, a match that gave D.C. its first win of any kind since July 18th.
"I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a big weight off our shoulders, we all knew that we needed some points," Olsen said of the win vs. Chicago. "It was a long summer for us as far as results. To get that finally. It gives us a little bit of momentum."
Seattle is looking to win the first trophy in the club's brief career, and the second in less than a year for head coach Sigi Schmid, who won the 2008 MLS Cup with the Columbus Crew.
"For this franchise, in its first year to get to a final is already a great accomplishment, but we don't want to be satisfied with that," Schmid said. "We want to come back with the Cup. To be the first expansion team since Chicago to win hardware in its first year is definitely a goal we have."
The game itself will be loaded with great match-ups. The central midfield offer some of the headlining pairings,with Olsen facing off against Freddie Ljungberg and Christian Gomez likely to do battle with Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso in a rematch of their meeting in last year's final, when Alonso was playing with Charleston.
D.C. defender Brian Namoff faces off against rookie Steve Zakuani in another important match-up, while Fredy Montero is sure to give D.C. defender Dejan Jackovic all he can handle.
Seattle will be at a decided disadvantage defensively, with Jhon Kennedy Hurtado suspended for the match and Tyrone Marshall questionable with a hamstring strain. If the Sounders are without both starting centerbacks, stopping a D.C. attack featuring Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio could prove too difficult.
What do you think of this year's U.S. Open Cup final? Will you be watching? Who will you be rooting for?
Share your thoughts below.
Oops! Someone forgot to tell the MLS to give Seattle another set of red cards to even out the playing field like they do in league games. Oh wait…this was not an MLS match. Seattle’s juggernaut run through the league just diminishes MLS’ credibility. Do not expect the league to allow Seattle to win the MLS title. They can at least control that side of the game and try to add value to a league that is under talented. Seattle at full strength would be running away with the MLS, but ridiculous and inconsistent red cards have kept them in check. Their talent level is beyond their peers in MLS…in the first year. Oops!
Indeed with all the biggest and best fans ever talk seattle fans have graced us with, I expect to see no less than 3,000 Seattle fans at RFK tomorrow. 5,000 if you want to amount to the level youve typed yourselves into.
Anything less and all that greatest fans ever babble is null and void.
To be the best fans you have to show it everywhere your team plays.
ESPECIALLY AT A CUP FINAL!
3,000 Seattle fans or you are officially the biggest group of pansy @$$es to ever become an MLS expansion.(period)
Lose the game and you will just become another mediocre mls team waiting for next season to win a trophy.
——–
Rept’d for truth. If TFC can send nearly 3,000 to a single game in Columbus, Seattle should be able to get that many to a cup final.
I mean, if it’s so important in Seattle, and you’re such great, dedicated fans. Right? I’ll be watching that crowd tonight. Somehow I doubt, based on Parkdale’s video from Seattle V Toronto last weekend, that the dedication is there.
Nice fans. Very trendy. Take away the trendies and SEattle has no more hardcores than DC, TFC or Chicago.
DC fans- I love the aggression! Tell all your friends how aweful we Sounders are! Tell them we disrespected their moms, whatever it takes to fill the seats.
But regardless of attendance, hats off to the true DC fans who are fighting to make this a big game. The US Open Cup is a trophy any team should be proud of, and it deserves better recognition.
Posted by: Nate | September 01, 2009 at 08:07 PM
Well said, Nate. [some haters here are getting unruly and shouldn’t be allowed to cuss like sailors at fellow MLS fans.]
ok this is a steal:
Tickets start at only $12!
$2 domestic draft beers (16oz) and
$2 hot dogs all night!
b4 ya leave work tell the boss ya ain’t comin’ in thursday! $2 beers!
Go sounders! c’mon Monterooooo
I know in Italy for the cup final (Coppa Italia) the federation (FIGC) mandated that it be played in Rome, the capital, every year… So, although DC is not in the middle of the country like Rome is, we’ll just say it’s there because it’s the capital.
As an NY fan, I don’t know who I want to lose more… but i’ll tune in and help FSC’s ratings 🙂
Vamos, vamos Uniited, esta noche… tenemos que GANAar!!
DC United!!!
“Lose the game and you will just become another mediocre mls team waiting for next season to win a trophy”
Seattle is not expected to win. A Sounders win will only elevate the hate to epic levels.
Can’t wait
DC wanted a chance at trying to match Seattle’s crowd numbers.. and the USSF needed to prop them up since DC really didn’t play any tough talent this year on the road to the final.
===
Wrong. DC wanted a chance to win hardware without having to travel at this rather crucial juncture of the MLS season. Regarding your second “point”: It’s not DCU’s fault that the MLS teams on their side of the bracket all crapped out.
But don’t worry… You can borrow the Mystics’ Attendance Championship banner on your way out of town.
DC fans- I love the aggression! Tell all your friends how aweful we Sounders are! Tell them we disrespected their moms, whatever it takes to fill the seats.
But regardless of attendence, hats off to the true DC fans who are fighting to make this a big game. The US Open Cup is a trophy any team should be proud of, and it deserves better recognition.
Indeed with all the biggest and best fans ever talk seattle fans have graced us with, I expect to see no less than 3,000 Seattle fans at RFK tomorrow. 5,000 if you want to amount to the level youve typed yourselves into.
Anything less and all that greatest fans ever babble is null and void.
To be the best fans you have to show it everywhere your team plays.
ESPECIALLY AT A CUP FINAL!
3,000 Seattle fans or you are officially the biggest group of pansy @$$es to ever become an MLS expansion.(period)
Lose the game and you will just become another mediocre mls team waiting for next season to win a trophy.
I wanna echo jessemt up above. I live in Tacoma(45 mins south of seattle) and Sounders tickets are THE hot tickets in the area right now. Highly unlikely ticket sales will trail off next year. It’s more likely they’ll probably increase.
Seattle Sounders will win and the DC FO will look like a pack of Newbies
SILVERWARE for SEATTLE
DC wanted a chance at trying to match Seattle’s crowd numbers.. and the USSF needed to prop them up since DC really didn’t play any tough talent this year on the road to the final.
15K isn’t bad?
“15,000 is amazing attendence for a Flock of Seagulls reunion tour, not a professional soccer game”
NAte I need to buy you a beer.
HAHA ACES limp dicks
According to Jose Romero of the Seattle Times, Tyrone Marshall definitely will not play tomorrow. With Hurtado out as well (suspension), the Sounder back line could be suspect.
How many Flounder supporters are making the trip to the final?
Still think that is a fair comparison?
===
Still failing the simple math? No problem, I did too in my earlier plost.
It’s more like a ratio of two and a half for Chelsea nosebleeds (45 GBP) to DCU premium (a misnomer, since most tickets at RFK are in fact, “Premium”) seats (30 USD). Considering that MLS is the fourth to sixth (NHL? NCAAF? NASCAR?) most popular sport in this country and EPL is number one in that country, I’d say that’s about a correct ratio in price, and that it’s still fair to make a comparison between leagues. People pay a premium beacuse the want to see the game more, and because the quality of play is higher. To remove the questions of level of play, however would require a comparision between MLS and say, Coca Cola Championship or League 1.
According to Wikipedia, MLS is the eleventh most popular association football league in the world by per match attendance, sliding in just between Brazil’s top division (16,992) and Bundesliga 2 (15,550), with 16,460 per match. The Championship had 20,195 per match and League two had 8,324. The most popular league was the Bundesliga (41,914).
You are right. Instead of saying you can get season tickets for the price of an EPL game, I should have said EPL tickets cost 4X as much.
Still think that is a fair comparison?
The movie The Titanic had great attendance; And the boat still sank and the movie still sucked.
Posted by: baquito alyeska | September 01, 2009 at 02:10 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That;’s great.
To all you Sounders’ fans:
OK, WE GET IT!! YOU’RE THE F*CKING BEST EVER. NO ONE IN HISTORY COULD EVER COMPARE TO YOU. NOW PLEASE, KINDLY SHUT THE F*CK UP AND SAVE YOUR COCKY COMMENTS UNTIL AFTER THE GAME IS OVER. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
You sound like sniveling 5 year olds. “But…but…but…we have the biggest crowds! We should have got the game!”
OH WELL F*CKFACES; YOU DIDN’T GET IT. TOO F*CKING BAD. SHOW THE USSF IT MADE THE WRONG DECISION BY ACTUALLY TRAVELING TO DC, ATTENDING THE GAME, AND MAKING A TON OF NOISE. DON’T CRY ABOUT IT ON SBI AND OTHER FORUMS. GOD. I AM SO SICK OF YOU. YOU’RE WORSE THAN TFC FANS CIRCA 2007.
Not to mention that there are cheaper clubs than Chelsea to go and see in the EPL…
Nate-
Dude. You’re still mistaken because you’re using secondary market prices. At face, Chelsea’s cheapest ticket is 45 GBP, which is 72USD, or about three and a half games in the section 332 at RFK.
This thread is stupid. DC and Sounders both have great fans.
I have no doubt Seattle’s attendance numbers will stay strong in the coming years. It is the talk of the town among young people in the city – I’m 26, and everybody in my age group is jealous that I’ve been to games. Everybody wants to go, from long-time Seattle sports fans, to Seattle hipster types who are only casual sports fans – even eurosnobs. It’s the ticket.
I think DC’s going to win tomorrow, but bars in Seattle will be packed with people getting off work early to cheer on the Sounders and I’ll be one of them.
Mason- Just did a quick search, the cheapest ticket available for Chelsea/Stoke is 140 Euros. What is that $200? So I lied, two tickets in the EPL nose bleeds gets you MLS season tickets.
@ETR
I keep forgetting the rule because I’m a barely semi-reformed Californian.
@Mason
Shhhh…the first rule of East Coast Bias is don’t talk about East Coast bias!
Statement: “20k per game for DC/Baltimore doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to draw.”
Resp: There is no such thing as DC/Baltimore. There is DC and it’s suburbs. There is Baltimore and it’s suburbs. They run close enough to be statistically lumped together, but good luck many finding a Skins or Nats fan northeast of say, Laurel or Jessup.
Question: “Then why put the game during the work day in Seattle where people would actually watch the game?”
East coast bias. Most TV watchers are in EST or CST.
Not fair to compare MLS to the EPL. Nose bleed tickets cost as much for one game as MLS season tickets.
===
That’s just not true… They’re more expensive, to be sure, but on par with MLS season tickets?
Care to retract that?
EdTheRed- You have an excellent arguement. While the Sounders have had to wait all these years for a team, NY continues to wait for a good team. Just imagine if THEY had 12 trophies to brag about!
😉
Good luck tomorrow.
Baquito- You got me, that was hilarious. But if anyone is overdue for a goal, its him, with his head!
This is why everyone loathes you.
“Seattle is way overdue for a trophy, and we would get it tomorrow except I can’t find the goal.
Posted by: Nate Jaqua | September 01, 2009 at 03:43 PM”
Fixed.
Vamos United.
You know who has the most impressive attendance in MLS? Not Seattle, not Toronto, not LA, not DC…
…freaking Red Bulls. Why? Because after 14 years of being alternately ignored and mocked by most local media, marketed to children with short attention spans, sold to an energy drink company, having their own supporters banned from their stadium, and generally being run in a shockingly unprofessional and incompetent fashion, I can’t believe anyone actually still goes to their games.
I’m completely serious. Dallas has been almost as bad, but Red Bulls have been pathetic. I have more respect for the poor schlubs that show up in 101 week in and week out than all the Johnny-Come-Latelies.
– People keep saying Toronto’s attendance will drop so far it hasn’t and last I heard they still have a season ticket waiting list
– Comparing attendance across nations is dumb. Because of population, income, willingness to spend on entertainment.
– MLS in Seattle is a major sport and gets the same coverage as the Mariners or Seahawks. MLS in many other regions is seen as a minor league thing.
-15k in any market outside of Seattle and Toronto is a great pull.. but for the those other markets it would be a disappointment.
– And I love how every team try’s to say they have the most dedicated fans.. or they are better fans because they have been around longer blah blah blah.. If anything if your team has made in roads in the community like you claim why don’t you still draw 20k a year? 20k per game for DC/Baltimore doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to draw.
@sammysounder The USSF requested bids for a 9/2 final. Seattle submitted a bid for 9/1. Forget about the time of day, they didn’t even get the *day* right. Yeah, it would’ve been nice to see a big crowd of 32,000+ at the final, but come on, the bid just wasn’t there.
(Sounder fan here)
Sounders fans have been the loudest and most electric since ’74 and it will be the same in ’14. We’ll just have to wait on that one though.
Also, the whole “right time for TV” thing is absolutely moronic. The final is going to be at 4:30 PST. The best DC-hosting arguments I’ve heard is that the game needs to be during the evening for a TV audience, which makes sense.
Then why put the game during the work day in Seattle where people would actually watch the game?
Even pushing the game back an hour would let people get home from work.
I understand we want to make it easy for the east coast to ignore the match, but this is just stupid.
I know this is a huge difference, but know what you are talking about semi final attendance was 4,895 at a place that has parking for about 500 people and is no where near downtown. If they could have sold more tickets more would have been there.
That being said it makes sense to play the games there unless it was a Portland cup game or the final.
I think we are all a little disappointed that we didn’t get the chance to see if we could get 30K for a cup match.
I didn’t realize the attendance thing was such a tender issue for everyone!
Not fair to compare MLS to the EPL. Nose bleed tickets cost as much for one game as MLS season tickets.
$12 tickets and $2 beers. You guys can rally 20,000 with that, can’t you?
My seat will not be empty with or without the Sounders for the MLS cup. Perfect day for an outing start the day by watching NFL games all day with a few beverages and finishing it with a championship game.
I will be there to support the MLS.
Seattle had 3,000 at their semifinal game. You simply can’t pull out attendance smack with numbers like that.
Why do fans of expansion teams always think they’re God’s Gift to Soccer? Toronto was just as appalling. Even RSL was obnoxious, though not as bad as Seattle Salad Tossers FC. Don’t get me started on how bad Chicago’s fans were.
MWC- Yes, I’m a little off topic. If the Sounders don’t make the MLS finals and DC does you can have my ticket. My biggest worry is that we don’t make the it, and the final has thousands of empty seats.
Soccer is a top sport in Seattle. Washington State has more soccer players per capita than anywhere else in the country. Our attendance won’t fall off because of poor results. Just look at the Seahawks, Mariners, and huskies.
Seattle is way overdue for a trophy, and we will get it tomorrow.
USSF should announce a neutral site each year for the final, as is done for the MLS cup. DC was obviously the best option between the two for hosting, but I can see other teams complaints when they have had every cup game at home for the last 2 cups.
As others have pointed out, 15k isn’t bad for a Wednesday soccer game, by American or almost any other standards. The Premier League averages under 40k, and they play all their games on the weekend and dominate the nation’s sporting landscape.
It’s an indication that “passion” is all relative. The last place SEC football program in attendance (Vandy or Miss State, depending on the season) still outdraws the average Premier side.
Jayboy
People also think every game is the EPL is a sellout. Watching the review show there were at least 3 that had empty seats, and I am not talking about the visitor section.
Mason,
I don’t disagree, but for many on here to act like Seattle fans are new to the professional game is wrong. It has been a long time but the history is there.
Really this is a must win game for the fans of DC because of all the trouble they have gone to to squash the “newbie” has been entertaining. What happens if DC loses this game? Does it become http://www.wewontrophiesinthepast? Seriously hopefully something good happens to get this game more coverage.
As for future attendence no one knows for sure, but rumor has it they are going to open the Hawks nest next year (metal seats in the North end) The only reason ticket sale would go down is economic issues, it wouldn’t be game day atmosphere or team performance
I think everyone on this blog has gone to too many sold out stadium concerts and NFL games. The reality is that there are only 12 professional sports leagues on EARTH that average more than 20k/game – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attendance_figures_at_domestic_professional_sports_leagues . Getting 15k for a mid-week game isn’t terrible. It would be nice for it to be higher, seeing as it is a trophy game, but it’s certainly not bad.
MWC-
Well stated.
Lassidawg-
The Sounders past can count for you if you’d like it to, but it is most recently a second division past. As much as people rag on MLS, it has, since its inception, been the dominatnt in USOC play vis-a-vis A-League/USL.