It had been eight years since Sporting Kansas City had won a trophy and 2011 was supposed to be the year to break that drought. With a new stadium, a favorable late-season schedule including 12 of the final 15 matches at home and a balanced attack led by Omar Bravo and Kei Kamara, Sporting KC was favored by many to win hardware in 2011.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Despite finishing the regular season first in the Eastern Conference, Sporting KC fell in the Eastern Conference Championship to the Houston Dynamo, the first of three consecutive playoff meetings between the two sides. Couple that with a fifth place Supporters’ Shield finish and a quarterfinal exit in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and for the seventh consecutive season, Kansas City finished a season empty handed.
Countdown to Cup: #USOC2015 Final is 30 days away
On to 2012, where the expectations were as high as ever. Future World Cup winger Graham Zusi earned his first call-up to the U.S. Men’s National Team during the January camp and the high-octane attack led by the trio of Kamara, Teal Bunbury and C.J. Sapong was ready to wreak havoc on opposing defenses. The team and city was hungry for a trophy and Sporting KC was more than ready to oblige.
On August 8, in front of a sold-out Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City defeated the Seattle Sounders FC on penalty kicks to win the 2012 U.S. Open Cup. But to get to the championship match, Sporting KC had to go on the road to play the Philadelphia Union, the same Philadelphia Union that Sporting KC will play in 29 days with the 2015 U.S. Open Cup on the line.
“It is all or nothing in this tournament,” former Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen said following the 2012 victory over Philadelphia. “If you win you go to the next round and if you lose you’re out. I think we showed a very good attitude and mentality for those games. We played some lower division teams but we take it dead serious and now we are in Philadelphia.”
While Nielsen said those words about the 2012 tournament, he just as easily could have referred to this year’s tournament. Sporting KC defeated USL side St. Louis FC in the fourth round before taking out MLS clubs FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake to reach the final.
The stakes rose in every game and with each game Sporting KC rose to the occasion. After once punching their ticket to the Open Cup championship at PPL Park, Sporting KC will once again play a winner-take-all match against the Union on their home field.
Twenty-nine days away: A rematch three years in the making.
