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Silverware is up for grabs on Wednesday night when four-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions Sporting Kansas City travel to Los Angeles to battle first-time finalists LAFC at BMO Stadium.
Despite the 95-team tournament only involving eight of 29 MLS teams this season, two top-division teams rose to the top, earning their shot at a trophy. Sporting Kansas City beat Union Omaha, FC Tulsa, FC Dallas, and Indy Eleven to reach the final while LAFC dispatched Las Vegas Lights, Loudoun United FC, New Mexico United, and Seattle Sounders.
Since that win over Sounders, LAFC have suffered through their biggest slump of the season garnering just two points across their previous five games entering Wednesday’s match. On the contrary, Sporting KC have struggled most of the season but following Leagues Cup, Peter Vermes’ squad have picked up seven points from their last five matches.
“Our season so far is not what we expected before. We have the chance to turn the season a little bit around,” SKC midfielder Erik Thommy. “We are already in the Champions League next season. That is a good step for us, a good thing. The next step for us would be to get a trophy home, and like I said, to turn the season around.”
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo — who ironically coached Thommy for six months while an assistant at VfB Stuttgart in Germany — is less worried about form, choosing to heavily rotate and rest his starters at the weekend in Dallas which Vermes did to a much lesser extent in SKC’s Saturday game against Minnesota.
Last season, Cherundolo employed a similar strategy ahead of the 2023 Concacaf Champions League Final, resting his team in the prior USOC match vs LA Galaxy, before suffering double trouble by losing El Trafico and getting battered in CCL by Club León. Nonetheless, Cherundolo is sticking to his principles.
Those principles have seen LAFC reach four major finals (five including Campeones Cup) during his three-year…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/09/lafc-sporting-kc-square-off-in-u-s-open-cup-final
Author : Justin Ruderman
Publish date : 2024-09-24 21:11:16
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