Open Cup Musings and the Zico Bailey Game
Open Cup Musings and the Zico Bailey Game
United sends MLS side Real Salt Lake packing and move on to the Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup
The tone emanating from the social media posts by Real Salt Lake feigned a bit of superiority. A club from Major League Soccer had to lower their standards and play on a minor league baseball field against a second tier team on their way to the next round. The joke writes itself.
They are merely following the lead of Don Garber, Commissioner of MLS. Since acquiring his prized asset, Lionel Messi, Garber has been loathe to have his teams sully themselves by appearing in games being played on baseball fields against lower league opponents while being broadcast on YouTube streams by U.S. Soccer.
Major League Soccer is desperate to elevate its image on the international stage and packaging Messi and the rest of the famed Barcelona retirement squad to new potential fans on shiny productions on Apple TV is essential to growing the revenues, er…, the reputation of MLS globally. And participating in the U.S. Open Cup doesn’t serve the package that Garber is trying to sell the rest of the world.
When MLS was founded in December of 1993, Bill Clinton was president and Nirvana had released their third and final studio LP, In Utero, produced by the late, great Steve Albini (RIP). That feels like a long time ago, but Major League Soccer can only hope to have the kind of rich and storied history that the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has, a tournament that launched 110 years ago in this country. While MLS attempts to increase its perceived value to fans, players and other leagues globally, in the meantime it’s willing and determined to kill off the Open Cup to make that happen.
Garber tried to pull all MLS teams out of the 2024 version of the Cup and replace them with MLS NEXT Pro teams, essentially the feeder clubs for Major League Soccer. After pushback from angry fans and U.S. Soccer, Garber begrudgingly acquiesced to send just eight MLS teams to participate, no doubt hoping that less eyes on the tournament would help to slowly kill this perceived inferior product that he’s forced to associate with. But playing on baseball fields and high school football fields during early rounds is an undeniable part of the charm of the tournament. It’s putting the game above all else and while playing in non-traditional venues is certainly not anyone’s preference, immediate budget and scheduling decisions require it. MLS, by far the richest league in America, could do plenty to raise the quality of tournament. But they’d rather create their own “fixture congestion” by inflating the Leagues Cup and hope the rest of the world simply ignores the Open Cup.
Question: If an MLS team gets thumped by a lower league team in a baseball stadium on YouTube, does it make a sound?
Unfortunately for Don Garber, it does.
On Wednesday night in front of 5,266 fans, New Mexico United improved to 3-2 all-time against MLS teams by walloping Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake 4-2, and advancing to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. While Open Cup detractors may point at an attendance figure of 5,200 as meager, this was a game that was not on any schedule three weeks ago. That’s a pretty good draw for a midweek match with a short, fixed time for the home side to promote.
New Mexico United’s attack was led by a brace from Zico Bailey (#19), and a goal apiece from Nicky Hernandez (#8) and Jacobo Reyes (#20). Bailey, I’m required to inform you, returned to just “ZICO” as the name on the back of his kit. As you’ll recall against Vegas, he had “ZICO B” as his name on back (NOB) on the road yellow kit. I’ll monitor this development closely because I love this uniform minutiae, and I’ll hopefully get the opportunity to ask Zico about it soon.
If there was just one memorable highlight from this already unforgettable night, for me, it was Bailey’s second goal, which he bagged before the celebratory delirium of his first goal had even subsided. After his 17th minute goal opened the scoring, the crowd began to make noise as we do during the Magic Minute, a window of time that kicks of at the 19:12 mark and rumbles until 20:18, symbolizing the years the state of New Mexico and the club New Mexico United were respectively founded. With fans already on their feet screaming and high-fiving anyone in their immediate vicinity, Bailey unleashed his second goal, which looked eerily similar to the first, so much so that one might have thought there was a glitch in the Matrix.
A Magic Minute goal, the first since Cristian Nava’s (#45) against Colorado Springs in October, 2022, was so sublime that maybe there was a glitch in the Matrix, as United fans were caught in a joyous celebration loop. These are the moments the Open Cup provides, the opportunity for a second tier team to knock off a first tier team and assert their place on the ladder of a true sporting meritocracy.
Go on, New Mexico United.
Literally, go on to the Round of 16.
It’s a shame that Don Garber would not try to use the vast resources of Major League Soccer to stabilize and improve the Open Cup instead of turning his back on it and chasing more high profile ($$) fixtures for his league. But what you do expect from the Monopoly guy?
