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Wednesday kickaround

LAFC wins Open Cup over SKC, Whitecaps are Kings of Canada, notes from abroad, & much more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta looks at three midweek championship games, in the Open Cup, The Canadian Championship, and the Campenes Cup. Then we shift to news abroad. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
September 26, 2024
4:00 AM

LOS ANGELES FC have earned an unfortunate reputation of coming up short in finals. Ever since they dramatically won MLS Cup in 2022, the club has lost in the finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2023, MLS Cup in 2023, 2023 Campeones Cup, and Leagues Cup 2024. But on Wednesday night, the club got back on the winning track to lift its first ever U.S. Open Cup following a 3-1 extra-time victory over Sporting Kansas City.

North of the border, the Canadian Championships took place with the Vancouver Whitecaps lifting their third straight Canadian Championship with a shootout win over Toronto FC, which last won the tournament in 2020 but has lost in the final three times since then.

Then in Ohio, Club America won the 2024 Campeones Cup following a shootout win over the Columbus Crew after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation.

Let’s start your Thursday looking at all three games along with some news for American players abroad.

 

LAFC win the Open Cup

 

This has been an unfortunate year for the U.S. Open Cup. MLS teams didn’t want to play, U.S. Soccer pushed back, and a compromise was reached that said eight MLS teams would participate.

What was then interesting is that LAFC has historically treated the Open Cup as a non-priority by often starting back-ups and youth players. Instead, LAFC has prioritized MLS games, Champions League games, and recently Leagues Cup games. The Open Cup was fourth.

This year, however, LAFC upped their game and instead treated the Open Cup as a priority. They started their best players in most games. Recently, they rested many top players in MLS games so that they would be at 100% for the Open Cup final.

This also has nothing to do with earning a CONCACAF Champions Cup spot. They already qualified for the tournament via the run to the Leagues Cup final. Instead, they treated winning the Open Cup as a priority for its own end, not to qualify for something else.

 The result is that LAFC was crowned Open Cup champion. They opened the scoring via Olivier Giroud in the 53rd minute off a pass from Mateusz Bogusz – despite claims for an offside call.



Then after an Erik Tommy equalizer in the 60th minute, the game went to extra time. From there, LAFC took control with goals from Omar Campos in the 102nd minute and then the ageless Kei Kamara in the 109th minute with a perfect header.



Here are a few thoughts.

 

LAFC’s big players step up

 

In MLS, money is spent on big time players to help in elimination games more than the regular season. LAFC’s regular season campaign has seen the team struggle lately, but this game was more an accurate reflection of the their quality. Giroud delivered. Hugo Lloris made some huge saves. Denis Bounaga was dangerous all game and assisted Kei Kamara’s goal.

Yes, LAFC received big contributions from their supporting cast. But it was the big guns that were the difference.

For Sporting KC, this game was everything. They’re out of the playoffs and their regular seasons games the rest of the way are meaningless. Here, they went all in. The key takeaway for them is that SKC played a very good game. They went toe-to-toe with a much more talented LAFC team and took them to extratime. They had their chance to win it.

Big changes are likely on the horizon for SKC, but this was a chance for this core group to make one last statement.

Not all is lost for SKC. Since LAFC qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup via two paths (Leagues Cup runner up, Open Cup winner), they will adopt the Leagues Cup berth and this gives SKC the Champions Cup berth for next year’s tournament.

 

LAFC Momentum

 

LAFC is winless in its five MLS games since league play restarted after Leagues Cup (where LAFC lost in the final to Columbus). They have just two points in that run including a collapsing 4-2 loss to rivals the LA Galaxy, a 2-0 loss at home to Houston, and a 1-1 draw at home to a bad Austin FC team.

Will this win in the Open Cup final give them momentum heading into the playoffs, or will we see a cup hangover that sometimes affects teams who win a midseason tournament?

It’s a big test for Steve Cherundolo to get LAFC focused an in its best form heading into the playoffs. The East has three very good teams in Cincinnati, Inter Miami, and Columbus along with a surging Orlando City team. The West is not as stacked with talent and there is no reason why LAFC should not be seen as a favorite to go to the final.

We will learn a lot about LAFC when they make a tough trip to Cincinnati this weekend on limited rest.

 

Vancouver champions of Canada

 

The Vancouver Whitecaps are the Canadian Champions, after a third straight win of the country’s domestic cup tournament. This was a huge win and it was also terrible loss for Toronto, which squandered its best and its only realistic shot of qualifying for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

This game went to a shootout after a 0-0 draw, and from there it was the Whitecaps who prevailed.

The hero of this game was Isaac Boehmer, who is normally the backup keeper to Yohei Takoaka but was given the start in this final. He delivered, big time. His best moment came in the first half when he denied Federico Bernardeschi’s penalty attempt with a diving save to his right. Then in the shootout, he made another save en route to a 4-2 shootout win.



The takeaway here is that Toronto was the better team. They just couldn’t put the game away and allowed the Whitecaps to hang around.  

“This is the victory of love, of the love these guys have for each other, of the togetherness of this group,” Vancouver head coach Vanni Sartini said afterward.”Everyone was really pulling for each other, because even on a day when we didn’t play well, TFC played better than us, TFC deserved to win this game – let’s be completely honest about it – we fought, we fought, we fought."’

The Italian manager then went on to lobby Canada’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch that Boehmer should be called up. But that seems like a stretch until Boehmer assumes a starting job.

From an American perspective, two Yanks drilled penalties for Vancouver in the win: Brian White, who has been one of the league’s most dependable strikers, and Sebastian Berhalter, a competent versatile midfielder and son of the former USMNT head coach.

While Toronto might have played better, Vancouver has been the best and most consistent Canadian team the past five years. In that sense, they deserve things to go their way even when they’re a bit off.

That being said, Toronto will have to rebound quickly because they are still on the inside of the bubble for a wildcard playoff spot. They cannot affect a letdown run following the cup loss.

 

Club America win Campeones Cup

 

Club America won the Campeones Cup in a shootout over the Columbus Crew following a 1-1 draw. Is this game an exhibition or is it a meaningful prize in its own end? It varies from year to year depending on the teams, coaches, and players involved.

Full credit to Club America and the Crew, both teams played hard and wanted to win it.

The teams were evenly matched and the 1-1 draw reflected it. But Club America was doing it on the road in Ohio, which is a more challenging environment.

Still, Columbus had their moments. Victor Davila opened the scoring for Club America in the 67th minute and Malte Amundsen equalized for Columbus in the 77th minute.

In the shootout, Aziel Jackson missed his attempt in the fourth round to give Club America a chance to win it. USMNT goalkeeper Patrick Schulte then made a save to keep Columbus in it. But then Amundsen missed his chance and Club America then sealed the winner.

It’s good to see that Columbus never takes a game off and always wants to win silverware. It’s one of the many positive qualities of Wilfried Nancy, who should be considered the best coach in the league.

It’s good to see Columbus get fired up to play against Liga MX teams whenever given the chance. They play the best teams in that league very well.

From an American perspective, Patrick Schulte was very solid in this game and Max Arfsten is one of the league’s most underrated American players. For Club America, Alejandro Zendejas went 61 minutes and lifted the title.

 

News from Americans abroad

 

Gio Reyna is nearing a return for Borussia Dortmund. He could see the field before the international break. Whether he will be called up by Mauricio Pochettino is another matter.



Kayden Pierre transferred from Sporting KC to Genk earlier this month but has yet to play in Belgium due to obtaining his work permit. That was acquired this week, and he will now be able to play. He will likely start with the reserve team as he gets adjusted.

Matai Akinmboni is the target of AFC Bournemouth. The club has seen two bids for U.S. U-20 central defender rejected by DC United but a third bid is expected soon. Akinmboni has made just four starts this season as he has dealt with injuries. Steven Goff had the story. 


 

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