Heading into LAFC’s Wednesday night matchup with Sporting KC in the U.S. Open Cup Final, LAFC.com spoke with the four players on the Black & Gold roster who have already played in the championship match of the country’s oldest ongoing national soccer tournament: Kei Kamara (2012, 2016), Ryan Hollingshead (2016), Aaron Long (2017), and Ilie Sánchez (2017).
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
LAFC.COM: Trophy matches are always big, but what makes the U.S. Open Cup special for you?
HOLLINGSHEAD: For me, as a California kid, watching this league and this sport grow in this country, it means a lot to see where it is now. The U.S. Open Cup is part of that picture of what has happened over the last two decades. We talk about MLS and what it's become … the U.S. Open Cup is another connection to what this country has built with this sport.
ILIE: The importance of different trophies – fans are the ones who establish that for the rest of us. For this one, no matter what division you play in, what city your team represents, anyone can have a chance. Yes, the teams in the lower divisions have to go through a few more rounds than the MLS teams [to reach the Final], but still, what you do on the field can put any team in a position to lift a trophy. That's what makes it special to me.
LONG: It's not just special to MLS players, it's special to so many players around the country.
HOLLINGSHEAD: Yeah, semi-pro teams, Sunday league teams, a group of guys that puts together a pub team – this is where they can fight through this tournament and play against the top teams in the U.S. That is so cool! It’s like an American spirit type of thing, like if you work hard enough, anything's possible. It's why the FA Cup [England’s national competition, established in 1871] and similar tournaments around the world are so fun to follow, because anyone can enter, and there's always a Cinderella story.
KAMARA: The games you play in the beginning stages, you might have to play in Des Moines. I've done those before, you’re playing in Iowa against a small club that never gets to face MLS or top-tier teams, but now here comes in the Open Cup and they get to play. That's why, for me, the trophy means so much.
LONG: I think the U.S. should embrace it. My experiences with it have been amazing.
KAMARA: Look at this year. Indy 11 [a second-tier USL team] made it all the way to the semifinals [where they lost to SKC]. They could be playing us in the final. It's about the grind of making it here. I grew up in this country and I know what it means to play in each of the different levels I played in before reaching the top. So why not celebrate it?
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2012 U.S. OPEN CUP FINAL
SPORTING KC 1-1 SEATTLE SOUNDERS (3-2 PKs)
LAFC.COM: Twelve years ago you scored SKC’s only goal in a 120-minute thriller that was decided on penalties.
KAMARA: The day was beautiful. If you watch the highlights, there was rain, then sun, another delay, we came back outside for warm ups, there were rainbows. It was a movie, really. Sold out stadium. At the time, the thing in Kansas City was “paint the wall.” We wanted to paint the wall, put our mark on the club’s history.
LAFC.COM: No score in the 84th minute, a handball gets called and you convert the penalty to give your team a late lead. Seattle equalizes two minutes later. And after 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, you took the first penalty of the deciding shootout.
KAMARA: I don’t think I’ve ever been a designated penalty taker, but I was always a goal scorer. Back then, in pressure moments, I wanted to take penalties.
LAFC.COM: That’s still considered one of the best finals ever.
KAMARA: Yeah, going that far into the game nil-nil, then taking the lead, then they scored and sent us to overtime, it was just a back and forth game. Like I said, it was beautiful.
2016 U.S. OPEN CUP FINAL
FC DALLAS 4-2 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
LAFC.COM: Ryan, when you were with FC Dallas you defeated Kei and the Revs in a six-goal shootout to win the Cup.
HOLLINGSHEAD: We hosted that final at home. We were super confident. We were playing at a really high level that year, we won the Supporters’ Shield, so we were at the top of the standings. Sometimes you're in a rhythm where things just feel good, feel right. It was one of those games that it just felt inevitable that we were gonna win, which turned out to be true.
LAFC.COM: Some interesting names on the roster sheet. Future LAFC players Walker Zimmerman and Kellyn Acosta were your teammates. New England’s captain was [LAFC original] Lee Nguyen.
HOLLINGSHEAD: Yeah, some of those guys are still among my best friends. Chris Seitz, Zimmerman, Tesho Akindele, Kellyn, Matt Hedges— guys that I've been friends with and played with for a really long time. It’s so cool to have those memories with them. That’s why you go hard to try to win these trophies because you'll never lose that. You can always look back and be like, Remember when we won that trophy together?
LAFC.COM: And the Revs had a striker named Kamara.
HOLLINGSHEAD: Ugh, he was always such a nightmare in the box. He had the athleticism that he still has today. At 40 years old, this guy is just unbelievable in the way that he can still perform. Back then it was even worse. Luckily on this night we were able to contain him.
2017 U.S. OPEN CUP FINAL
SPORTING KC 2-1 NEW YORK RED BULLS
LAFC.COM: Ilie and Aaron, in your first seasons as MLS starters, you faced off in a classic.
ILIE: That year, in 2017, I could feel in Kansas City that this was an important competition since it is the oldest tournament in this country, one that involved every single team within the country. You could feel it.
LONG: I actually won [a U.S. Open Cup Final] when I wasn't officially on the roster, when I was with Seattle [in 2014]. I was there that day. So I have seen both sides of it. I know how big it is.
LAFC.COM: Your Red Bull teammates in 2017 included current MLS Season Pass analysts Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan.
LONG: Sacha [Kljestan] was our captain, and he gave a very emotional speech before the game, like, ‘This is why we play, this is what our careers are for, for moments where we can lift trophies. They don't come around very often, and there's a lot of young guys in this room’—I was one of them—and [Kljestan] was like, ‘You guys are so young, you don't realize this yet, but this could be the last trophy you ever have a chance of winning. There are some senior guys here and we know how important these moments are, so don't take it for granted. Leave everything on the field. No regrets. Do it for each other because these are the moments you're going to remember for the rest of your life one way or another.’ That made an impact on me.
ILIE: We took the U.S. Open Cup very seriously in Kansas City. We were able to host that final, and I think that gave us extra motivation to play against that strong Red Bulls team. It was a tough game … Bradley [Wright-Phillips] scored in the final minute to make it 2-1, but we were able to secure the win.
LONG: Ilie was a big part of our game plan, to take him away. Like, ‘OK, guys, the way they build is through Ilie Sánchez, if we can take him out of the game and they have to go around and they can't go through the midfield, it bodes really well for us.’ He was a big part of our plan. I remember that vividly.
LAFC.COM: Ilie, does it matter that you will be facing your old club Wednesday night? Peter Vermes was the coach of that 2017 team, he’s still at SKC. Tim Melia is still in goal. Daniel Salloi scored the gamewinnner that night …
ILIE: It is not something I will think about heading into the game but definitely something that afterward I will look back and realize it was special, because obviously I had a great time when I played for Sporting Kansas City. I’ve heard they are bringing their whole front office to the game. They all will be together in LA for the Final. For me it will be special but it’s not going to change my approach, but I cannot just say that it will be the same as playing against any other team in this league.
On Wednesday Sept. 25, LAFC hosts Sporting Kansas City in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at BMO Stadium at 7:30 p.m. PT. The championship match will be broadcast free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 710 AM ESPN LA, the ESPN LA app, and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish).
