“It’s our goal to win the tournament,” said the Colombian creator, formerly of Club America and Santos Laguna south of the border. “So the games we’ve won are in the past and if we don’t win the Cup, they won’t matter at all.”
Orlando City are mired third from bottom in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and might see the 2019 Open Cup as a welcome diversion for their fans. They open the doors of their newly titled Exploria Stadium to New York City FC, who won their first Open Cup game in club history this very year. The crew from the Big Apple might be smelling silverware in the air [WATCH].
Orlando’s Sacha Kljestan – who went to a Final two years ago with NYCFC’s rivals New York Red Bulls – has been in fine form with two goals in the side’s last two Open Cup games. But the men from the Bronx have also been banging in the goals in the 2019 Open Cup, besting North Carolina FC and Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United so far with six goals in the scored column and just one conceded.
Giants Collide in Los Angeles
Out west, in Downtown LA, you’ll find the marquis match-up of the round, with hosts LAFC opening the doors of their Banc of California Stadium to the Portland Timbers. Both sides are flying high in the Cup and the game will be a rematch of the testy 2018 Open Cup Quarterfinal that LAFC edged 3-2 [WATCH].
