history.
U.S. Soccer will crown a winner in its national championship tournament for a 93rd straight year, and while the storied tournament's history is certainly under the radar for many fans of the sport -- and even many players -- it is not lost on everybody. Some MLS teams prefer to treat the tournament as a sideshow to the league's regular season and push for the playoffs. That, however, can't be said about either finalist in next week's affair, as both the Fire and Galaxy have established themselves as far and away the two top teams in the MLS-era of the Open Cup.
For proof of how serious both Chicago and Los Angeles take the competition, all one has to do is look at the numbers. Since their inaugural season in 1998, the Fire have made room for three Open Cup trophies on their mantle (1998, 2000 & 2003) while stockpiling an impressive 23-5-2 record (.800 winning percentage) in the competition. Throw in seven semifinal appearances and now a fifth Final in just nine tries, and there's little doubt that the Fire take the Open Cup as seriously as anybody.
On the other side are the Los Angeles Galaxy, who, despite emerging as one of MLS's 10 flagship teams in 1996, decided not to take part in the U.S. Open Cup for its first three seasons. But since the Galaxy entered the Open Cup fray in 1999 they've been all business, compiling an astounding 20-4-1 record (.788) of their own. The Galaxy are the only other MLS squad besides the Fire to claim multiple Open Cup championships (2001 & 2005), with next Wednesday marking their fourth Final appearance - all of which have come since 2001.
That sets up a clash of the titans that U.S. Soccer could only wish for - the "kings of the Cup" vs. the defending champions. The most remarkable thing about this year's Final could be that it will be the first between the Fire and Galaxy ... not that they haven't had some memorable Open Cup clashes in the past.
In a strange twist, Chicago and Los Angeles squared off in the semifinal round three times in four seasons (2000, 2001 & 2003) to determine who would advance to the Open Cup Final, and each time the games produced drama that only a knockout competition can provide.
The Fire would stun the Galaxy on the road at Cal-State Fullerton's Titan Field in their first-ever Open Cup meeting in 2000, as Ante Razov's goal five minutes from time would tie the match at 1-1. Josh Wolff scored a 112th- minute game-winner that would help propel the Fire to their second U.S. Open Cup title in three years.
One year later Titan Field would play host to another classic semifinal bout, but this time it was the home side earning extra time glory when Alexi Lalas scored a 94th-minute goal, lifting the Galaxy to a 1-0 win. Lalas' famed "run for the hills" after the game-winner would set the tone for the L.A.'s run to the title, as it would go on to defeat the New England Revolution in the Final and lift the Dewar Cup for the first time in club history.
Two years later it would be the Fire hosting the Galaxy for the first time in Open Cup play at Naperville's North Central College, where a dormant first half was replaced with fireworks in the second stanza. The Fire's power trio of Razov, DaMarcus Beasley and Damani Ralph all scored within a 14-minute span to give Chicago a 3-0 advantage, but the party started prematurely as goals from the Galaxy's Alejandro Moreno and Arturo Torres two minutes apart put the game back in jeopardy with 15 minutes to play. But the "Men in Red" would manage to hold on and collect a 3-2 win, using the result as a springboard to their third Open Cup championship.
Now, three years later, either the Fire or Galaxy will rewrite the record books of the Open Cup, using the other as the postscript. Will a team from the Windy City hoist the Dewar Cup for a ninth time, cementing its place among the competition's all-time best clubs by becoming the sixth team to win four Open Cups? Or will the Galaxy stake their claim as the best MLS side to compete in the storied tournament by bringing the Cup back to Los Angeles for a 10th time?
Only time - or as the case with these teams has proven to be, extra time - will tell.
