KANSAS CITY, Kan. - There was a time not so long ago that the U.S. Open Cup was an afterthought, a nice trophy to win for a Major League Soccer club but nothing compared to the league's MLS Cup.
That's not how Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls have treated it.
And perhaps more than any other reason, that's why the two teams will meet tonight to decide the nation's oldest ongoing soccer competition.
Three-time champion Sporting KC and the Red Bulls, who lost in their only other finals appearance, have fielded some of their strongest lineups throughout the single-elimination competition. That's a stark contrast to many other MLS clubs, which have often fielded backup lineups to keep their top players fresh for the league schedule - especially against lower-division teams in the early rounds.
"When I first came to Red Bulls, I was aware of the fact that this organization and many of the managers here had not always taken this tournament seriously," New York manager Jesse Marsch said. "When I came here, this was going to be something that we emphasized, and we've played a lot of good lineups in my three years here and this year we managed to survive four tough games."
Indeed, neither Sporting KC nor the Red Bulls were given any free passes.
The charm of the U.S. Open Cup is that, along with the MLS clubs, it includes teams from the North American Soccer League, the United Soccer League and top amateur leagues. While none of those clubs has won the title since 1999, they occasionally pick off a few MLS clubs along the way.
But Sporting KC had to knock off Minnesota United, the Houston Dynamo, defending champion FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes to reach the finals. New York beat New York City, the Philadelphia Union, New England Revolution and USL powerhouse FC Cincinnati to reach the championship match.