Thirty days until Sept. 30.
When the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion will be crowned. When the Dewar Challenge Trophy will be raised. When a 2016/17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League berth will be secured.
Let the countdown begin.
As the calendar turns to September on Tuesday, Sporting Kansas City is resting up for a stretch of seven games in 24 days bookended by trips to Portland amidst a closely contested race for playoff positioning. But no match holds higher implications -- or anticipation -- than the U.S. Open Cup Final at PPL Park between Sporting Kansas City and the Philadelphia Union at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, September 30.
From a field of 91 teams -- the largest in the modern era -- only two remain. Today, we hear from Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin and captain Maurice Edu with their thoughts on all things #USOC2015.
Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin
His thoughts on Sporting KC…
“They’ve been through some tough injuries and different things during the course of their regular season. They’re a very good team, they’re a very well-coached team. Peter Vermes is a New Jersey guy. He brings an element of toughness and they’re a team that competes for the whole game. They’re never out of a game. They’re a consistent team. They’re well coached. They’re organized. They have good players. They’ve had some injuries that they’ve battled through and they have some young players on the field that we’ll have to look at and try to find a way to get at them. They’ve performed well this year but they’re still young players and hopefully we can maybe take advantage of a few of them.”
On the opportunity to win a championship…
“The biggest thing that I tell the guys that haven’t been on a championship team — and we do have a few sprinkled in our locker room that have been through it — it’s so important to stress that it’s forever. You can have great seasons with teams but if it doesn’t end with hardware and something physical to show for it, it doesn’t feel as special. The trophy is forever. No one can ever take it from you regardless of what your next season is like, what your season before was like, what your current form might even be. We’re not doing well in the league right now, but this could be something — if we do lift that trophy — it’s something that we’ll all have together forever. I think that the guys recognize that and have really bought into it. Their performances have been very strong in this competition…It’s a changing of culture, more towards a winning culture. A trophy does that. It legitimizes it. That everything you’re saying is not just words. Everyone gets a ring. And the front office gets a trophy in their building.”
On the prospect of qualifying for CCL…
“It puts you on the international stage. You’re playing in a competition with Mexican teams, with Central American teams, with Canadian teams. It’s good competition and obviously the exposure is good. The little known thing that people don’t realize is there is a financial aspect. If you do qualify for Champions League, you’re given more money to buy players because the difficulty of the schedule you go through, you need more financial stability to strengthen your team. So there’s a reward in that regard that maybe a lot of people don’t know about. To get that for the club is a huge step. It’s great exposure. It makes it a little harder for guys to learn what it’s like to go to Guatemala and go to Honduras and some of these places and play in hostile environments. When you talk about developing and growing as a player, to go through those battles is also an experience I really want our guys to have. So it’s important in our club taking the next step.”
On the U.S. Open Cup run…
“This is a true competition where literally any team can enter it. It’s kind of similar to March Madness in that it’s one and done. If you lose, you’re gone. There’s lower level teams. So there’s literally a bar league team, a Sunday side team, that will make a run and challenge and beat some of the lower professional teams, the guys that get paid to play. It usually weeds itself out. The MLS teams enter and get byes early on. So I guess the one comparison you could say is a little March Madness element to it. There’s only two trophies in our country, the U.S. Open Cup is one and MLS Cup is the other…We can play with anybody. On any given day, we can beat anyone. Kansas City probably would be, on paper, the favorite. But at the same time, in our building, that kind of neutralizes that a bit. We, for whatever reason, match up well against them and have had success against them home and away. We’re excited to get the game going.”
Philadelphia Union captain Maurice Edu
On his recovery from injury…
“I’m working hard to get back. It’s a little bit frustrating at times, obviously I want to be out there on the pitch helping this team especially at this time of year when you’re trying to make a push to get into the playoffs. In the back of my mind, obviously the U.S. Open Cup Final is getting closer and closer so I’m working as hard as I can in the gym and with the physio staff to get back as soon as possible.”
On playing through the pain in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal…
“It was difficult. That was a very important game, not just to myself but to this team and this organization, to help this team get to the final. It was a last-minute decision. And if I felt I wasn’t fit enough or able to contribute, I would have done what I thought was best for the team and sat out.”
On the importance of the U.S. Open Cup Final…
“It’s very important, I think. That’s what we all play for. You want to win games. You want to win things that are meaningful. You want to have something to show for it. Now we have that opportunity.”
