Minnesota United’s Trophy Whisperer Julian Gressel Chases More ‘Special Nights’ in the U.S. Open Cup
We sat down with Julian Gressel, the serial winner whose departure from Inter Miami has led to good vibes in the Twin Cities as the Loons of MNUFC hunt a first-ever trophy.
Julian Gressel knows what it feels like to lift an Open Cup.
The versatile midfielder knows also, and more importantly, what it takes to make one of “those special nights” a reality. He still has vivid memories of that September evening in 2019, as a member of Atlanta United, when he hoisted this country’s oldest soccer prize, pyrotechnic smoke dissolving slowly in the humid air over the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. How champagne hosed the plastic-wrapped lockers and our old trophy ended up in three pieces amid the beer-soaked revelries.
It was a much different feeling down the hall in the away locker room that night. The Loons of Minnesota United were about the grim business of regret, having missed out on the chance to put a first piece of silverware in the cabinet at their brand-new Allianz Field up in St. Paul.
Gressel, 31 and among the most reliable midfielders in Major League Soccer, is one of those Loons now, having been traded away from the glitz and saccharine pink of Inter Miami in April. His passion for winning, and the Magic of the Open Cup, has him taking dead-aim at another special night. This time up in the North Country at the club he’s quickly come to love.
“Just the thought of it, a home Final here in St. Paul, it gives me goosebumps,” said Gressel, still with the faint edges of an accent from his native Germany, reflecting on a hosting Draw that promises MNUFC home-field advantage from the upcoming Quarterfinal all the way to the Final. “I’ve won a few and it’s an exciting opportunity.”
A Winner in Any Shirt
Let’s just say it plain: Julian Gressel is a winner. It’s never a coincidence when trophies follow a player wherever he goes. Gressel has been an integral part of some of the greatest teams in recent MLS history. He was a member of the 2018 MLS Cup-winning Atlanta United that drew huge crowds. There were the two Canadian Championships up in Vancouver and, of course, his role in Wilfried Nancy’s Columbus Crew that stormed through to an MLS Cup crown in 2023, went to the Final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and is spoken about in hushed, reverent tones to this day.
The 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year – a prize won while with a struggling D.C. United straight out of his time in the college game with the Providence Friars – Gressel also helped claim a Supporters’ Shield last year with Messi and Co at Inter Miami.
“I went from getting ready to play in the Club World Cup with Miami to the Open Cup with Minnesota United,” Gressel said with a smile, the subtext dripping when talk turns to his unhappy departure from the South Florida superclub after being frozen out of the first team by coach Javier Mascherano.
He admits to “not being very excited about coming to Minnesota” when he first learned of young coach Eric Ramsay’s interest in bringing him to the Twin Cities. It didn’t take long, though, for Gressel to realize he’d arrived at a club hungry for success. And the fans, who come out rain or shine to roar on their Loons, were thrilled to have a player of his stature – a “serial winner” according to Ramsay
Gressel’s first order of business, eight days after signing, was to board a plane for a Round of 32 date on the road against Division II side Louisville City in the 2025 Open Cup. As a newly arrived player with a high profile, and needing to get his life sorted after a rapid-fire transfer, it wouldn’t have been out of line to insist on skipping that particular trip.
“I’m a big fan of the Open Cup in general,” he said about his insistence on being a part of the road party in Kentucky – a hybrid mash-up of youth players and regular starters. “It’s the shortest road to a trophy. I wanted to send the message that we are up for the challenge and that we don’t want the opportunity to end in Louisville.”
It ended in a tense 1-0 win for the Loons, with Gressel – still working his way back to full fitness after months out of the first team in Miami – subbed out three minutes after 17-year-old Darius Randell scored the game-winning goal. “That’s a big part of the beauty of the Cup: young players stepping up in high-stakes games,” said the player, remembering back to his own path to the Open Cup as a 24-year-old in Atlanta. “If you go to the end, win the Final, everyone in the club feels that they had a part in it.”
Twin Cities Tailor-Made for the Open Cup
“I feel like Minnesota is really a perfect place to value the Open Cup,” Gressel said, immersing himself in the history of a club that, before joining MLS in 2017, was part of the NASL Division II from 2010 to 2016 – carrying on a tradition dating back to the middle 1990s and the Minnesota Thunder of old. “It’s unique here, how the club has been around for so long but not in MLS for very long.”
The Loons’ next test came on the road against fellow MLS side St. Louis CITY SC in the Round of 16. It was a classic, chock-full of blood and thunder and that special kind of Open Cup madness. “We were a goal down and you start thinking ‘oh man, we can’t lose this here’,” Gressel said, before a big smile spread over his face: “Then Anthony [Markanich] scores two goals in two minutes right at the end and you can feel that Magic of the Cup.”
Nothing comes easy in the Open Cup. Adversity builds the kind of calluses you need to grind through to the bitter end. “It takes a lot to win and this club has had to suffer to get into the positions to win things,” he said. “The people and the club have had adversity. And that’s what it takes to make that next step. You have to learn how to win.”
The Quarterfinal against four-time Champs Chicago Fire at home in St. Paul was full of incident. The Loons needed extra-time to storm back from an early deficit and, finally, book a place in the Semis (3-1).
Gressel has clearly come to love the club and, most importantly, the people. “These people are the heartbeat of the club here,” he said about his sixth MLS team, an MNUFC that fought through hard times early in MLS life, conceding more than 140 goals and missing the playoffs in their first two seasons. “You feel the energy. We want to give something back with a first trophy.”
Gressel in 2024 playing alongside Lionel Messi with Inter Miami
The opportunity to do just that is there for the taking. This Minnesota United, under the wily Ramsay, the youngest ever permanent coach in MLS history at just 33 years of age, is a long way from MLS’ basement. They’ve earned a reputation as one of the toughest teams to beat in the league.
Love or hate their style – with its lack of cosmetic possession, a focus on surgically-timed counter attacks, set-pieces and long throw-ins – it’s working for these Loons.
“We want to be a top team and we feel like we are a top team,” said Gressel, who couldn’t maintain his excitement after a 4-1 league win over his former club Inter Miami, earned with a scant 26 percent of possession. “Sure we’re a little bit different than other teams, we like to throw wrinkles at our opponents and we’re not okay with just being okay.”
You can feel his commitment to winning, to everyone pulling in the same direction, when talk turns to the importance of a team’s identity. “Having an identity is a huge part of it,” said Gressel, among the best crossers of a ball in MLS. “We’re tough to beat, tough to break down, tough to score on – but we also create tons of shots and chances in ways that aren’t just moving the ball side to side with 50 passes.”
Open Cup-Chasing MNUFC is for the Sickos
MNUFC’s peculiar tactical methodology – and Gressel’s contributions since his arrival – has the team firmly in third place in MLS’ Western Conference. They’re just two points off first-place San Diego FC and facing an Open Cup Semifinal against Austin FC at home (LIVE on Paramount+ and on air at the CBS Sports Network) on September 17. If they win that, they’ll host the Grand Finale, that Home Showdown Gressel so craves.
Gressel could well be the missing piece to unlock a first trophy for MUFC
But, and it’s a big but, Open Cup games rarely go as drawn up on the chalkboard. “When you can see the end a little, the games start to feel different,” he said with the Semifinal approaching. “You wake up in the morning and you feel that there’s something extra at stake. You sense it in your body. All the work you do leads up to having that do-or-die moment.
“It’s the same for the other team,” added Gressel, who earned six USMNT caps in 2023. “It’s do-or-die for them too, so you have to stay true to what you want to do and how you want to do it.”
Trophies aren’t about trophies. The trinket itself is meaningless. But what it represents is everything: Sacrifice. Will. Comradeship. Glory. These are the immortals. And Gressel knows them well. “I won’t ever dwell on what I’ve won or how much I’ve won,” he said, eager for a special night with a title on the line at the Allianz Field in St. Paul. “It’s the chance, and we have a good chance, to win something.
“That’s what makes me excited. There’s three games to go,” said the man driving this North Country club forward and ever higher. “And we want to make it happen, to see it all the way through.”
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