Daniel Salloi doesn’t just like the Open Cup. He loves it.
“I’ve always loved this competition,” insisted the Hungary-born striker, who became Sporting Kansas City’s all-time top scorer in U.S. Open Cup history with a pair of goals in last year’s Quarterfinal.
The four-time Open Cup champions from Kansas are through to Round of 32 of this year’s tournament after avoiding a Cupset at home against amateurs Tulsa Athletic in the Third Round. But these are trying times for the MLS side. They finished six places out of playoff contention last year and are off to a similar start in the current campaign – winless from their first ten league games.
Even at this early stage, the Open Cup represents a glimmer of potential salvation for Sporting. It was the same deal last year until they lost to second-tier underdogs Sacramento Republic in a dramatic Semifinal. The win against the Tulsans on April 25th – in which Salloi scored again to increase his tally in the Open Cup – is the club’s only taste of victory since kicking off the 2023 MLS campaign in February.
Another Open Cup – however unlikely and still a long way off – would make SKC the first team from the MLS era to win it five times. They’d join giants of yesteryear Bethlehem Steel and Maccabee AC of Los Angeles.
Salloi’s Special Cup
To watch Salloi’s involvement in the Open Cup over the years is to see his condensed progress from talented teenager to top pro. His love affair with the competition began back in 2017 with an auspicious introduction.
“Whenever anyone asks I always say that it’s the top soccer moment for me,” the 26-year-old Salloi told usopencup.com thinking back on his winning goal in the 2017 Open Cup Final against the New York Red Bulls. “It’s the top memory. Scoring a winning goal in a Cup final at home, you can’t match that.”
But Salloi, previously of Budapest side Újpest, who signed with KC as a pro in 2016 after an impressive year in the club's academy, wants to do just that. His opening goal in the 3-0 win over Tulsa Athletic is his eighth in the tournament’s history. And the win set up a Round-of-32 meeting on the road against 2018 champions Houston Dynamo on May 10th.
