“It’s all about winning, finding a way,” said midfielder Timothy Tillman, discussing the complexity and intensity of Cup play. “In Germany we used to say that the Cup has its own laws, its own rules.”
He’s addressing a question about the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where he and his Los Angeles Football Club are days away from hosting a Final against four-time Champions Sporting Kansas City, but he’s also touched on the Magic of the Cup writ large. Those domestic competitions, the world over, where lower-league strivers come up against first division big shots. Where draws aren’t tolerated and a winner will be had on the day, no matter what. It’s here where luck and guts seem to count for more.
“The Cup means a lot in every country,” added Tillman, who was at his necessary battling-best in a physical Open Cup Semifinal against the Seattle Sounders in Tukwila, WA that he described as “all about mentality and intensity” in the end. “There’s excitement to the Cup, an opportunity for all, and that’s a great feeling.”
He and his star-studded side from the City of Angels began their 2024 Open Cup account in a dimly-lit baseball stadium off the Strip in Las Vegas. And Tillman was fully prepared for the challenges unique to the world’s domestic cup competitions.
Cup Darling to Runaway Favorite
“It’s a chance for the little guy,” the 25-year-old, always with a ready smile, told usopencup.com about the Round of 32 game against Las Vegas Lights of the Division II USL Championship. “They have their chance for glory in that moment, and you better be ready for it if you’re the higher-ranked side.”
It’s not just theory here. Tillman remembers the 2021 German Cup (known as the DFB-Pokal) as a “special moment.” He was playing for a second-division side from his Bavarian hometown of Fürth, way out of the spotlight, having returned from a teenage sojourn at Bayern Munich where he failed to break through to the big-time.
Tillman’s Greuther Fürth shocked Bundesliga powers Hoffenheim in that year’s Second Round. He scored his penalty in a marathon shootout after a dramatic 2-2 draw. “It was something you’ll never forget,” he said of the Cinderella win.
