After a messy 90 minutes of play with a ten-man Chicago Fire side, the match came down to an improbable period of extra time for Minnesota United FC in the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Quarterfinals.
Five minutes into the first half of extra time, Joaquín Pereyra sent a soaring long ball into the box that Carlos Harvey got his head to. Harvey headed the ball straight to Kelvin Yeboah’s feet, where he banged in a first-touch goal from close range.
That goal was all the Loons needed for the win but it wouldn’t be Yeboah’s only goal of the evening. Three minutes before the final whistle of the second half of extra time, Yeboah was fouled in the box.
Stepping up to the spot himself, Yeboah drove home the dagger, and secured himself a brace right at the dying seconds to give Minnesota a 3-1 home win. Those two goals in his 57 minutes of action after entering the game in the 63rd minute was all he needed to run away with TheCup.us Player of the Round honors.
The award is voted on by TheCup.us staff, a select panel from the North American Soccer Reporters and select backers (those that pledge $10 or more) from TheCup.us’ Patreon team.
He beat out Philadelphia Union’s Tai Baribo, who started and played a minute shy of 90 minutes, scoring an early equalizer (13th min.) and then assisting on a 74th minute equalizer by Milan Iloski in a 3-2 home win over the New York Red Bulls (MLS). Third place in voting was Nashville’s Jonathan Pérez who started and played all 90 minutes, scoring Nashville’s opening goal (25’) and assisted on two others in Nashville SC’s 5-2 home win over D.C. United (MLS).
Yeboah becomes the third Minnesota United player to earn Player of the Round honors. He joins Bongokuhle Hlongwane (2023 Fourth Round) and Mason Toye (2019 Semifinals). Darwin Quintero was also named 2019 TheCup.us Player of the Tournament, despite Minnesota finishing as runner-up.
For Yeboah, who has struggled at times this season in MLS league play, the US Open Cup has been the place where he’s shown brightest in 2025. The 25-year-old Ghanaian-Italian has scored 3 goals in 2 Open Cup games compared to 9 goals in 27 matches in league play. The other goal on his 2025 US Open Cup record came in the 10th minute against St. Louis CITY SC in a 3-2 home win in the Round of 16.
“Each game is important, and especially the Open Cup for us,” Yeboah said after Minnesota’s win over Chicago. “It’s also a very important competition and we want to win the games.”