U.S. Open Cup

[seahawk10]

This thread is likely to die a page 1 death but in case you were interested there is an amateur team, F.C. Christos, that has made it to the final 32 and faces off tonight vs. DC United.

The team doesn't even practice, they just get together once a week for their games. They just got matching uniforms thanks to a sponsor
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/w ... story.html

Here is a link to a free live stream:
https://www.dcunited.com/2017usoc?utm_s ... um=Twitter

[seahawk10]

And Christos scores!!!! Up 1-0 in the 23rd minute.

[Sutekh]

What is the Open Cup?

[seahawk10]

http://www.espnfc.com/us-open-cup/story ... 88363631=1

[seahawk10]

What is the Open Cup?

It is the United States version of the F.A. Cup .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knock-out cup competition in American soccer. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. and the world's third-longest-running open soccer tournament.[1] The 103rd edition, held in 2016, was contested by 91 clubs from the three professional leagues sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation: Major League Soccer (MLS), the North American Soccer League (NASL) and the United Soccer League (USL), and also amateur clubs in the earlier rounds of the tournament after qualifying through their leagues. The overall champion earns a total of $250,000 in prize money, while the runner-up receives $60,000, and the furthest-advancing team from each lower division league receives $15,000.[2] In addition, the tournament winner qualifies for the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.[3]

[Sutekh]

Wow. some prize there for the winner. Thanks seahawk. I see Christos went down 4-1 in the end. Still a great achievement by the sounds of things though.

[seahawk10]

Final 16 are set:

[seahawk10]

Filled with MLS teams.

Here is more on the history and more background:
http://www.ussoccer.com/lamar-hunt-us-o ... s-open-cup

I am sure the F.A. Cup winners get a ton more cash. But $15,000 for FC Christos is not bad for an amateur club.

[seahawk10]

If you have insomnia at 1am in England there is a semi-final game in the U.S. open cup. FC Cincinnati is the last lower level club alive. They face MLS club New York Red Bulls for a shot in the finals against Sporting Kansas City.
You will be able to stream the game for free here:
http://www.ussoccer.com/

[handbags_harris]

Nice one Seahawk. I didn't even realise this was a thing, certainly not the sort of thing I'd expect Stateside with what feels like a closed shop approach to top level sport.

[double d]

Did they make the final?