http://www.usopencup.com/calendar/33714.html I'm assuming that the USL 1 Semi-Final Winner will be hosting the US Open Cup Final.
Jeje the sons imitates the father, now that the Islanders are in de CCL and are probably gonna be in the next one aswell, now Charleston wants to be in the CCL, typical.
wouldn't that be just great USL -1 team wins the US Open cup and the canadian cup as well. That would just be great for soccer in North America, and maybe the embarrasment of it would actually make MLS take it seriously. Lamar would be thrilled I am sure
Truth be told - I'm hoping Montreal knock TFC out. It might wake up all the MLS teams but Colorado. Our management doesn't want to stray too far from the cozy confines of mediocrity.
I hope they win so I can say I told you so to all those on the Concacaf board that were bitching that MLS gets five spots for the CCL. They were taking it as a given that TFC would win this. Wouldn't even allow the possibility that the other teams could win. HA! And I wasn't even saying that TFC would lose, I just brought up that it was possible.
It's pretty much a no win there: if TFC qualifies, then "MLS got 5 spots -- they don't deserve more than any other league". If Montreal qualifies, then it's "see, even even lower division teams can beat MLS teams -- they don't deserve 4 spots". Either way, the haters make their point.
awesome Montreal earns a spot in the concacaf championship, that is two usl teams. will their be a third
Not in 2008-9 -- the field is set. For 2009-10? Who knows, Seattle and Charleston will have a shot (though if Seattle wins... who knows who will represent). And of course, there's the possibility of a USL team representing Canada (again) and up to 2 Caribbean teams from the CFU (Puerto Rico and possible Bermuda if they decide to enter the CFU Club Championship).
Speaking of that, wouldn't it be cool if the USOC was pushed forward a few weeks so this year's USOC winner could enter this year's Concacaf Champions League? Is there any chance of that happening?
It would be tough because the CCL is taken into account when making the MLS schedule. Particularly you may notice that the CCL teams, as well as Toronto, were kept out of the Thursday night ESPN2 games in the weeks of CCL matchdays.
I guess I didn't necessarily mean right now, but that perhaps it would be nice to synch up some time in the future. So we could have a team that's a "current" winner in the tournament, instead of a winner from the previous year. However.... Ah, good point. The Superliga/CCL teams were all given major consideration when the schedule was made. I suppose it would be too much of a burden on the schedule at the end of the season if a random team were to enter the CCL on very short notice.
what's arisen the question yet again.. is the USL D1 really a 2nd tier division? according to TFC coach John Carver it's not http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/07/22/concacaf-impact-tfc.html
Actually, it would be great for soccer in North America. MLS wasn't embarrassed in 1999 when Rochester won it. Everybody survived. If everything went according to chalk, it wouldn't be any fun, would it? Part of us becoming a true soccer nation (or two, if you include Canada) is depth. We don't have as much as other countries. But if a USL team wins the Open Cup once every ten years or so, that's just a start - and it's hardly the end of the world. Win 90% of the time without trying, I'd say that's pretty remarkable on one hand and it points out the paucity of quality soccer in America on the other hand. And I would imagine Lamar would be thrilled. I am guessing he realized that things that strengthen American soccer as a whole are desirable, and not just the things that make MLS look good.
Carver was being gracious. Good for him. There IS a difference between the leagues as a whole. Whether Montreal (which is in tenth place in their league) would be competitive over 30 games in MLS, we'll never know. But in a situation like this, they did the business, and good for them.
We are going to have a problem if the Revs are going to play the US Open Cup Final. Tuesday August 26th is also their first leg qualifier for the CCL. I'm going to root for one of the two USL-1st Division sides, but there's going to be a scheduling problem if the Revs advance. http://www.usopencup.com/calendar/33714.html http://www.concacaf.com/competitions/champsleague/calendar.aspx
Any word yet on the venue for the final? Or might it be up in the air right now depending on whether New England needs them to change the date or not?
Either Charleston or Seattle is hosting the final. The Calendar on the US Open Cup site says so. The USL-1st Division team is the home side.
I don't think what happens in a national cup shows whether the second league is on par with the top one. Look at the FA Cup. Or the Scottish Cup. Queen of the South is not better than Celtic. Cardiff City and Portsmouth are not better than Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U, or Arsenal. A PDL team could win this, and I wouldn't care about the level of play.
No official word from USSF on that. Here's what it says on usopencup.com, which is, after all, unofficial. Tuesday, August 26th All Times Eastern U.S. Open Cup Final Charleston Battery (USL-1) / Seattle Sounders (USL-1) Winner vs. New England Revolution (MLS) / DC United (MLS) Winner I'm not sure how you get that the USL-1 team is definitely the host, given that not everybody adheres to that "home team first" Sean Wheelock-ism. Might be. But there's been no official word on it yet. The semis aren't for another two weeks almost.