Ben Olsen knows the Open Cup.
The ups and downs. The chaos. And, of course, the glory.
“You just have to keep on keepin’ on in this thing,” said the 47-year-old Dynamo boss, who won an Open Cup in 2023 with the Houston-based MLS side and ten years before that as coach of D.C. United. “The Open Cup is always a wild ride and no matter what, if you want to win, you have to hang in there.
“It’s always interesting,” Olsen added with a sigh.
Interesting. It’s a word he uses a lot. And it seems to contain an infinity of meanings. Especially when talk turns to how his D.C. United side of 2013 won the Open Cup, when they were mired in last place in MLS, to salvage what would have been an irredeemable season of misery.
“Winning it [the Cup] in 2013 saved my job, and that’s no exaggeration,” said the current Dynamo boss, who also won the Open Cup with D.C. United as a player in 2008. “It was a horrible season. Everything spiraled away from us. But the Open Cup kept us together as a group and gave us a north star during really, really tough times.
“It adds up when you have so many losses in a row,” Olsen said about a 2013 season he calls “fascinating” and his “most valuable” as a leader. “The Cup kept us from imploding.”
Olsen started resting players in league games that year so they’d be fit and ready for midweek Cup action – where hope still sprang forth. And the opportunity to win a trophy in a year defined by hardship (three wins, 24 losses and no chance at the playoffs) was all-important for the former USMNT midfielder.
Master Motivator
“He [Olsen] is the master at motivating players,” remembered Bill Hamid, the current Miami FC (USL Championship) goalkeeper, who was named Man of the Match in that 2013 Open Cup Final, played away at Real Salt Lake and won 1-0 by the underdog visitors from D.C.. “He’s got that heart of a lion.”
Hamid calls that Open Cup Final win “one of the biggest moments” of his career and he puts most of the credit for it at the feet of Olsen.
The coach brought his master-class motivational abilities to the fore again a decade after that 2013 victory. But in 2023 he had a decade of coaching experience built up and “a lot of leaders” in his Houston Dynamo side. Among them were Mexico legend Hector Herrera and Panama star ‘Coco’ Carrasquilla.
