“Anytime you can be a part of it, it’s fun," Yedlin went on.
Neither Tottenham, Sunderland nor Newcastle went deep in either tournament when Yedlin played for the clubs. So he admits that his Cup memories are limited.
"Those ones are hard because I never had the opportunity to win anything," he said. "I feel like when you don't win anything, everything goes into a blur."
But…
"Just competing, being a kid and knowing what the FA Cup is, what the League Cup is, just having an opportunity to be able to compete in that and one day telling my kids that I competed not only in the Premier League, but in those competitions, it was a big honor," Yedlin added.
Back at the Old USOC
This year’s tournament – the 108th edition of the Open Cup – is Yedlin’s third. His first game of the 2023 tournament came in the Third Round and was a wild affair that needed penalties before Inter Miami saw off lower-league neighbors Miami FC of the USL Championship at FIU Stadium.
That game finished 1-1 after regular time and then 2-2 after a wild five-minute scramble in extra-time that saw Yedlin both score in his own goal and smash the ball off the crossbar of Miami’s FC’s. That result led directly to another slim 1-0 win over high-flying USL Championship side Charleston Battery.
Inter Miami started the current MLS campaign on a high note with two consecutive wins, but they then went on to drop games. Yedlin believes that Open Cup victories could help spark a turnaround in league play – which seemed to be the case with a weekend win over the Columbus Crew.
"Absolutely," said Yedlin, who’ll face MLS league mates Nashville SC in the Round of 16. "Winning in the league or winning in the Cup, anything that can really change; change that confidence, change that belief, can definitely turn things around.
