Is there a rivalry forming with the Crew SC? It depends who you ask, but there’s definitely something developing.
That’s what Lions goalkeeper Tally Hall said at training, at least. “I think these games have been battles against them. I haven’t put the word ‘rivalry’ to it but I definitely think we have something brewing with them.”
The teams first met in Columbus on April 18 in a game the Lions were eager to put behind them. A trio of bookings – including defender Rafael Ramos’ 34th minute ejection – turned that first meeting into a heated affair. Their second contest a month and a half later was even feistier as Columbus got a red card of their own and earned five more yellows.
“Certainly our two games have been eventful. They got a little touchy at times and I think it’s going to be an important game for both teams,” said head coach Adrian Heath. “We want to win, they want to win. There’s not going to be a lot given.”
Heath has constantly preached the importance of winning the tournament and his players are well aware of what’s at stake tomorrow.
“It’s a very important tournament for us. It’s the shortest way to get to the Champions League next year,” said striker Pedro Ribeiro. With Cyle Larin away with Team Canada and Bryan Róchez still with Honduras, Ribeiro is expected to shoulder much of the load up top.
The burners will be cranked up yet again on Tuesday when Crew SC comes to the Citrus Bowl for a 2015 U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 showdown. The winner advances to the quarterfinals – the loser is bounced out of the tournament.
“The first two games were kind of crazy. It’s an elimination game so I feel like everybody’s going to be throwing bodies everywhere and [getting] a lot of fouls,” Ribeiro said on Monday. “It’s going to be a very physical game but we’re up for the challenge.”
“There’s a different feeling to it,” said Hall. “It’s a special tournament. It’s a tournament full of history.”
But the U.S. Open Cup is also a difficult tournament; Orlando City learned that the hard way in Charleston. Their former USL rivals took the Lions, who were in the midst of a four-game stretch in 11 days, to the brink of elimination in a penalty kick shootout. City expects nothing less from their MLS counterparts.
“We’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, [the U.S. Open Cup is] important to us. We’ll be putting our strongest lineup out and hopefully we can continue in the competition,” said head coach Adrian Heath.
Rivals or not, both coaches have said they want to play a full 90 minutes with a full 22 players on the field.
“I want to see us both together and play a football match where all eleven guys stay on the field and let’s see what happens. I think that will be an entertaining soccer game,” said Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter after the 2-2 draw on May 30.
An evenly matched game should be quite entertaining considering the similarities between the two teams. Both managers operate attacking-oriented 4-2-3-1 formations with South American stars, Federico Higuaín (Argentina) and Kaká (Brazil), running the central midfield. To top it off, Orlando City leads Columbus by just two points in the Eastern Conference standings.
Orlando City’s farthest trip in the U.S. Open Cup was back in 2013 when the team was still in the USL. They defeated Sporting Kansas City, with whom they had just announced an affiliation in January of that year, 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In 2009, Tally Hall went to the Open Cup semifinals win the Houston Dynamo. Their run ended against the eventual champion Seattle Sounders in a thrilling extra-time contest.
“It’s a good feeling to win and advance so you want that feeling and we’ll do everything we can to make sure we do advance because it’s a special tournament. It’s an opportunity to win something very, very special.”
