In the old sepia-tinted days of yore, Massachusetts-born Billy Gonsalves, once called the ‘Babe Ruth of American Soccer’ and coveted by overseas clubs, was an eight-time winner. His former USMNT and FIFA World Cup mate, Bert Patenaude, scorer of the first-ever World Cup hat-trick was another well-known Open Cup champion. So were Archie Stark and Jimmy Lawson of Bethlehem Steel.
As for foreign-born champions, there’s a bunch. Obafemi Martins, Peter Nowak, Marco Etchevery, Hristo Stoichkov and Jaime Moreno are all recent Open Cup winners.
Designed for Fireworks
Name another American team sports competition that provides a pathway for amateurs and pros – and all points in between – to meet in direct competition for a national title. There’s no rush, we’ll wait.
Throughout the tournament’s history, its open design has set the stage – much like England’s FA Cup – for any old dog, no matter how humble, to have his day. And since the onset of the tournament’s Modern Era, the hits have kept on coming. The Rochester Rhinos win in 1999, in which they beat four MLS teams, was a touchstone event. But each year – without fail – amateur teams beat professional teams and lower-league pros get the better of MLS’ first-tier stars.
The Open Cup is proof positive of the notion that anyone, on any given day, can do the improbable.
'99 Rhinos Highlight Underdog Spirit
Only once since 1996, and the inception of MLS, has a team from below the summit of the U.S. soccer pyramid won the competition. Rochester’s Rhinos beat four MLS teams to claim the crown in 1999.
The Charleston Battery, then of the second division, reached the Final in 2008 and as recently as 2022 Sacramento Republic, a second-tier team from California’s capital who were twice denied entry by the powers that be in Major League Soccer, beat three top-tier sides and finished runners-up to Orlando City.
That same year, third-division Union Omaha beat two MLS teams to reach the Quarterfinals
While we don’t yet know who the underdog heroes of the 2023 tournament will be, you can rest assured that upsets will happen. Teams with no earthly chance on paper will beat back their so-called betters. We're not going out on a limb here as we’ve got history, 109 years worth of it, backing us up.
Jonah Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on Twitter.
