Enzo Martinez got a souvenir the first time he made waves in the Open Cup.
“It was a corner-kick, I was marking him and I just saw the chance to ask for his shirt,” he said, remembering how he landed American soccer legend Landon Donovan’s jersey after an historic Cupset in 2014. “He was really cool about it and we traded after the game.
“I still have it,” smiled Martinez, a decade later and once again on the cusp of Cup history.
That was a Round of 16 game in Cary when the second-division Carolina RailHawks beat Donovan’s LA Galaxy 1-0. “They used all their big names,” said Martinez, now of Birmingham Legion, his mind drifting back through the years. The Galaxy were MLS powerhouses at the time. League champs in 2012, they’d lift the trophy again later in 2014.
Martinez was just a 23-year-old starting out – a kid riding the chaotic energy of the Open Cup and trying to carve out a little corner for himself in the American pro soccer ecosystem.
Cupset Redux in Birmingham
A decade later, with a full beard making him look a fiercer version of his younger self, Martinez is back at it. Now a hugely respected veteran leading the charge for Birmingham Legion, he was in inspired form in the 1-0 win over MLS’ Charlotte FC.
It was the first time the Legion ever knocked out an MLS opponent. And the second-tier USL Championship club from Alabama are one of just two non-MLS teams still alive in the Quarterfinals.
