Sigi Schmid, coach of the Seattle Sounders, who are aiming for a fourth straight U.S. Open Cup title, told JoshuaMayers, “I think U.S. Soccer is trying to make it difficult for us to win an Open Cup.”
His comments were spurred by news that the Sounders were drawn to go on the road if theyadvance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the fourth-round winner between San Jose (MLS) and Minnesota (NASL).
“Obviously the coin is not favorable to us,” Schmid said. “It seems to land onthe right side for K.C. and for D.C. United, whose president [Kevin Payne] of one club and coach [Peter Vermes] of the other (club) have been on the executivecommittee of U.S. Soccer — surprisingly. Being very frank, I think U.S. Soccer is trying to make it difficult for us to win an Open Cup. It’s almost like sometimes I get the feeling like they’drather not see us win it again, for whatever reasons. Maybe they think it dilutes the value of the Cup or they’re getting pressure from others that think Seattle can only win it because they’replaying at home.”
But yet Seattle played at home last week in the U.S. Open Cup and will play at home this week in the Cup. Okay, Seattle “bought” the rights to do so. A legit question is then: How fair is that? A note to Schmid (who knows this perfectly well already): There are teams in Europe who advance to their respective cup finals and don’t have a home match the whole way. In fact, in ties with lower leagues it is a no-exceptions requirement that the match is hosted by the lower club. (So that would rule out last week’s and this week’s home Seattle cup matches for the Sounders.) U.S. Soccer could eliminate any guesswork, speculation, rumors, and suspected favoritism if they televised live a cup draw format where the fixtures are set – just like we see at major FIFA and other world federation draws. Why not? Might make for some interesting TV/internet viewing. And the media might latch onto it, yes? Sponsors, too. After all, is this kind of single elimination cup format done in any other major US team sport? No. So capitalize on it.