First and foremost, Sporting Kansas City and the Philadelphia Union are focused on their MLS Week 28 matches at hand...
Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew SC | Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on Direct Kick, MLS LIVE
Sporting Kansas City at Orlando City SC | Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes
...but in 18 days time, the two sides will meet in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at PPL Park.
This week, Philadelphia Union players and head coach Jim Curtin voiced their thoughts on the title tilt.
HEAD COACH JIM CURTIN
On the team's remaining schedule...
People remember how you finish a season and that’s the one thing we can still control right now is how we finish. Obviously, we have an Open Cup final and six big games left.
On the legacy of winning a championship...
When the final whistle blows and everybody runs on the field, that feeling of accomplishment, it's permanent. It's forever. Once you win a trophy, it stays with you and the club forever.
On the potential return of Maurice Edu…
It’s a tricky one. You obviously don’t want to tweak something that’s going well. We have still three games before the final to make some big decisions and again, over the course of games, over the course of training, the team tends to pick itself. It really does. If we shutout the next three teams and play great, we’re not going to change a lot. So that’s kind of how that one will go. Mo is getting better. It’s a groin injury. Listen, there’s going to be pain when he plays next no matter what. It’s going to be a thing of getting him ready in enough time to make sure he’s got game sharpness. He would need - from me in my mind right now, how I am approaching it at least — a full game, targeting Houston as that full game. And then we’ll see on the turf in New England what that would look like, what makes the most sense in terms of minutes and then obviously the quick turnaround to play on Wednesday. We’ll see.
FORWARD C.J. SAPONG
Looking back on the 2012 U.S. Open Cup championship with Sporting KC...
One thing I remember is remembering what you accomplished as a player, even as a person; remembering the little victories that got you to that position, because you are there for a reason. No words can describe lifting the trophy with a group of guys that you spent 10-plus months with preparing for a moment exactly like that.
FORWARD SEBASTIEN LE TOUX
On what's at stake in the final...
I did win the U.S. Open Cup in 2009 with the Seattle Sounders. To be able to win the first trophy as a franchise, I think it’s a pretty big moment for all the club.
MIDFIELDER MAURICE EDU
On the magnitude of the match...
We have a big opportunity in front of us. And I think it would mean an enormous amount to not only us and to the club, but to the fans and to the city. To get the first title, to do it here on our home soil, and to be able to celebrate with these fans who have put so much into this team, who are the catalyst for bringing the team here, it would be an unbelievable way to reward them and to show how much we really appreciate them and how much they mean to not only this city, but us as players -- how much we actually appreciate them.
MIDFIELDER BRIAN CARROLL
On what the title would mean...
Anything can happen. We certainly want to be lifting a trophy at the end of this tournament and hopefully using that to propel us throughout the rest of the regular season. So we’ll put everything we possibly can into it. Believe me, we want that trophy.
