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CONCACAF Champions League

Champions League kicks off tonight; Open Cup champ Sounders play Thursday

July 31, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

The fifth edition of the CONCACAF Champions League begins Tuesday evening with two matches featuring the defending two-time champions Monterrey in one contest and Real Salt Lake of MLS in the other. The 2011 US Open Cup champion representative Seattle Sounders open their third consecutive CCL campaign Thursday.

Sounders celebrate third Open Cup title | photo: Gerald Barnhart

The reigning three-time Open Cup champion Sounders, who will try for an unprecedented fourth August 8 in Kansas City, face Trinidad & Tobago side Caledonia AIA in their first match of group-play as the event kicks off under a revised format that has seen the elimination of the Preliminary Round that was utilized the past four years. Instead of the 16 non-seeded teams playing in a two-leg series to advance to the four groups of four, the tournament has shifted to a group format that has eight groups of three, leaving little room for error while providing more schedule flexibility.

The Sounders’ group also features Marathon, who return to the tournament for a fourth appearance after failing to qualify for last year’s event. The two sides previously squared off in the 2010-11 Group Phase with the Hondurans winning the opening match at home, 2-1, and the Sounders taking the second, 2-0, in Seattle. Caledonia AIA is making its first appearance in the tournament, and is the fourth different side to represent T&T.

Two of the Sounders’ four fellow MLS sides in the event are also kicking off their CCL campaigns this week. Real Salt Lake faces Herediano (Costa Rica) Tuesday night. Canadian champion Toronto FC opens against Aguila (El Salvador) Wednesday. Tauro (Panama) is the third team in RSL’s group while Toronto’s group features last year’s runner-up Santos Laguna.

The Houston Dynamo play their first game August 22 versus FAS and the LA Galaxy open up the following night against Isidro Metapan (El Salvador). Olimpia (Honduras) is the third team in Houston’s group. The Galaxy’s group features Caribbean power and CCL darling Puerto Rico Islanders, who stunned the Galaxy two years ago in the Preliminary Round. The US Second Division NASL entry reached the tournament yet again and will begin their campaign this Wednesday against Metapan.

The Islanders are one of only three teams that have advanced to the event all five years. Group foe Metapan, who eliminated Puerto Rico in the Preliminary Round a year ago, is one and and Olimpia of Honduras is the other. On the flip side, only five of the 24 teams are making their CCL debuts, two of them from Mexico. All five MLS teams have played in the event previously.

GROUPS

1: Toronto FC (MLS, 4th appearance)… Aguila (El Salvador, 1st appearance)… Santos Laguna (Mexico, 4th appearance)
2: Real Salt Lake (MLS, 2nd appearance)… Herediano (Costa Rica, 3rd appearance)… Tauro (Panama, 4th appearance)
3: Houston Dynamo (3rd appearance)… Olimpia (Honduras, 5th appearance)… FAS (El Salvador, 2nd appearance)
4: Seattle Sounders (MLS, 4th appearance)… Caledonia AIA (T&T, 1st appearance)… Marathon (Honduras, 4th appearance)
5: LA Galaxy (MLS, 3rd appearance)… Puerto Rico Islanders (NASL, 5th appearance)… Isidro Metapan (El Salvador, 5th appearance)
6: Alajulense (Costa Rica, 3rd appearance)… Real Esteli (Nicaragua, 3rd appearance)… UANL Tigres (Mexico, 1st appearance)
7: Chorrillo (Panama, 1st appearance)… Monterrey (Mexico, 3rd appearance)… Municipal (Guatemala, 4th appearance)
8: Guadalajara (Mexico, 1st appearance)… W Connection (T&T, 2nd appearance)… Xelaju (Guatemala, 2nd appearance)

SCHEDULE [+]

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Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: CONCACAF Champions League, Houston Dynamo, Los Angeles Galaxy, Puerto Rico Islanders, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders MLS, Toronto FC

CCL resumes: Numbers show MLS improving; new format protects US & Mexican clubs

March 5, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

(Editorial note: In league comparisons, clubs from MLS and USSF D2 are kept with league instead of federations of Canada and Puerto Rico)

As the CONCACAF Champions League returns to action this week with the Quarterfinals, Major League Soccer heads toward its greatest opportunity to win the confederation’s championship without serving as the event host. Improved performance away from home this year is arguably the key component to the league’s success.

Not surprisingly, the Mexican contingent ranks atop nearly every statistical category when it comes to the current format of the CCL. The dominance of the league’s clubs has seen it rank first in overall performance (point percentage) each year, including the current 2011-12 tournament. MLS, though is gradually improving and attempting to establish a firm hold as the number two nation going from near the bottom (ninth) in the 2008-09 season to fourth the following year and third a year ago.

The league has already compiled the second best road record over the course of the four years of the expanded tournament format.

Currently ranking second in overall performance for the ongoing tournament, MLS is in position to become only the second league to supplant the Mexican contingent from the top spot in road performance (of leagues with 5+ road games played) since the Puerto Rico Islanders and Montreal Impact made their remarkable runs in the inaugural edition of the new format representing the USL First Division in 2008-09.

The five MLS clubs compiled a .542 point percentage over the course of last summer while the Mexicans were a combined .472. If the numbers hold over the course of the championship stages, it could be just the second time in the four years of the event that a league surpasses the .500 record on the road with the Mexican sides finishing with a mark of .608 in 2009-10.

The Mexican clubs still hold a commanding advantage, however, in overall performance at .679 courtesy of ranking, as well as a tournament-best home percentage of .857. MLS trails by quite a bit with a mark of .573 overall and a below average performance at home of .604 that saw the league dip from its best home performance a year ago (third at .733) back to fifth.

Point-Percentage Rankings*

Overall Total 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
MLS 4 2 3 4 9
Mexico 1 1 1 1 1
Costa Rica 3 3 2 6 4
El Salvador 8 5 7 9 t-5
Guatemala 6 4 6 5 t-5
Honduras 5 7 5 2 3
Panama 7 6 8 3 8
USSF D2 2 t-9 4 t-7 2
Home
MLS 5 5 3 5 9
Mexico 1 2 1 1 1
Costa Rica 3 4 2 6 3
El Salvador 8 6 7 7 t-6
Guatemala 7 3 6 4 t-6
Honduras 4 8 4 2 t-3
Panama 6 7 8 3 5
USSF D2 2 1 5 t-7 2
Away
MLS 2 1 5 2 8
Mexico 1 2 1 1 t-3
Costa Rica 5 3 t-2 t-5 t-5
El Salvador 8 4 t-7 9 t-5
Guatemala 7 t-last t-2 t-5 t-5
Honduras 6 5 6 8 t-3
Panama 9 6 t-7 7 9
USSF D2 3 t-last t-2 t-3 2

* Leagues with minimal appearances excluded from table (data included)

New Expanded Group Format for 2012-13

The good news for Major League Soccer and the Mexican clubs – not that they need it – is that the announced new format for the CCL starting this summer will likely make the two leagues the confederation’s two dominant forces. With the Preliminary Round being eliminated and all 24 clubs entering into an opening round of eight three-team groups, the Mexican and American entries (most likely MLS) will be seeded into different groups. Without facing one another, the clubs from the two leagues will undoubtedly be the favorites in each group.

Mexico holds an impressive history against most of its opposition with a total point percentage to date over .700 versus Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama. Honduras, MLS and the USSF Second Division have proven to be the pests for the perennial powers, but the numbers are still well above .500 with the trends showing an increase in the gap with all but MLS as they have dominated Honduras the past two years.

While MLS has not dominated its non-Mexican opposition, the league is clearly expanding the gap between itself and the second tier of competition from Central America. MLS has improved the past two years against nearly every league with the exception of a rare drop-off against Panama (from .750 to .556), holding a .500 or better mark against Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for the current tournament.

The separation of Mexico and the American clubs is a present for MLS clubs, so long as they do not take the opposition for granted in favor of focusing on league play. Over the past four years Mexican clubs have accounted for nearly a third of MLS draws in CCL play (7 of 23) and almost half of their losses (20 of 43).

It will not be a walk in the park though if the MLS clubs draw teams from Costa Rica and Honduras, the two leagues other than Mexico than have traditionally been trouble for MLS. The two have accounted for a quarter of the league’s losses (11 of 43) in the event.

Mexico & MLS vs Other Leagues

League Opposing League Overall 2011-12 2010-11
Mexico Costa Rica .722 .750 .667
Mexico El Salvador .708 .500 .667
Mexico Guatemala .727 .500 .667
Mexico Honduras .650 .722 .750
Mexico Panama .778 – 1.00
Mexico Trinidad .833 – 1.00
Mexico USSF D2 .556 – .500
Mexico MLS .686 .633 .567
MLS Costa Rica .389 .500 .250
MLS El Salvador .694 1.00 .667
MLS Guatemala .583 .667 .500
MLS Honduras .472 .583 .583
MLS Panama .583 .556 .750
MLS Trinidad .542 – 1.00
MLS USSF D2 .444 – .500

Coming Up

With the three remaining MLS clubs on the same side of the bracket, changes to the current numbers for the league could be minimal. Toronto FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy square off over the next two Wednesdays (March 7 & 14) while the Seattle Sounders face 2008-09 semifinalist Santos Laguna the same nights as their peers.

The now three-time US Open Cup champions, in the midst of their second CCL campaign as the American tournament winners, have seen a dramatic improvement that is nearly double what they accomplished in their second year of play as an MLS club. A 2-1-5 record in 2010-11 has been put behind them with a 4-1-3 mark in the current tournament, going 3-0-1 on the road.

The Sounders became just the second team to win in Mexico, downing defending champion Monterrey, 1-0, a week after FC Dallas ended the winless status against Pumas. Toronto FC and the Galaxy have also both found success versus Mexican opposition. TFC is 1-2-1 over the last two years with a 1-1 draw in the current edition’s group phase against Pumas. Last year in group play they defeated Cruz Azul at home, 2-1, and played to a scoreless stalemate in Mexico. Los Angeles registered a 2-1 victory over Morelia in the group phase last summer.

Drawn into the other half of the bracket, Pumas or Monterrey will likely be the opponent awaiting the winner on the MLS side. They are joined by fellow Mexican side Morelia as well as El Salvador’s Metapan, who surprised many in becoming the lone club outside of Mexico and MLS to advance to the final eight.

Point Percentage: The calculation is determined from points that would be earned in a contest (3 for win, 1 for draw) out of points possible.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: CONCACAF Champions League, Los Angeles Galaxy, Montreal Impact, Puerto Rico Islanders, Seattle Sounders MLS, Toronto FC

CONCACAF Champions League makes changes; All 24 clubs enter altered group format

January 12, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

A day after the United States Soccer Federation announced significant changes to its annual championship tournament, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the governing confederation CONCACAF announced its own major alterations to its Champions League competition. The new format for the 2012-2013 edition of the event will see the elimination of the 16-team Preliminary Round in favor of advancing all 24 qualified teams into an opening group stage of eight, three-team groups.

The new CONCACAF Champions League format will largely utilize the same date windows as was done previously with group matches running from late July to mid October. The changes appear to incorporate a flexible schedule format for the main stage with six dates available for four group contests, allowing the clubs to balance their play in multiple competitions. It will also, undoubtedly assist CONCACAF with severe weather situations which have arisen in the Caribbean and Central America in previous years.

The Championship stage – Quarterfinals to Final – remains unaltered with the eight group winners advancing from the opening stage. The three rounds of two-leg series will continue to run from early March to the first of May.

Previously, US Open Cup champions were unseeded clubs that were required to play in the Preliminary Round, though the 2011 champion Sounders were slated for a direct entry into the Group Phase due to the LA Galaxy winning both the MLS Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup. Under the new format, the clubs that were previously seeded will now be placed in a pot together for the draw that will determine the composition of the groups, ensuring the seeded teams will be distributed equally and avoid one another.

Clubs will also continue to be placed in groups without members from their own nation, though the Can-Am nature of Major League Soccer could still see a Canadian MLS club in the same group as a US MLS side.

The 2012-13 tournament will mark the fifth edition of the event. The Seattle Sounders will represent the US Open Cup for a third consecutive year while league foes Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo also participate. A fifth MLS club is likely again via the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. The Sounders struggled in their first campaign, winning just once in the 2010-11 group phase after winning the Preliminary Round series against El Salvador’s Isidro Metapan. The lone win came against Marathon (Honduras).

Seattle has advanced the success of Open Cup champions under the current CONCACAF format, becoming the first to reach the Quarterfinals. The 2007 champion New England Revolution were stunned in the Preliminary Round in 2008, falling 6-1 on aggregate to Joe Public (T&T). DC United, champions in 2008, also advanced versus an El Salvadoran club, Luis Angel Firpo, in 2009 to reach the group phase, winning a penalty kick tiebreaker after a pair of 1-1 draws. In the group phase DC was 3-2-1, missing the cut by two points despite having higher point totals than the second-place clubs in two of the other groups.

The Sounders continue their second CCL campaign with the Quarterfinals in March. They will face Mexico’s Santos Laguna, a regular contender in the CCL, March 7 and 14 while their league rivals Toronto FC and LA Galaxy square off those same nights in the series that would determine their Semifinal opponent should they advance. Seattle rallied from a 1-0 Preliminary Round deficit against Panama’s San Francisco to win 2-1 in overtime. Seattle finished second in the group at 3-2-1 behind Monterrey, whom they defeated 1-0 in Mexico.

Prior to the Champions League format the Columbus Crew were the last club to represent the US Open Cup in the confederation’s club championship event. The 2002 champion Crew won the 2003 First Round series, 4-2 on aggregate (1-2, 3-0) versus Panama’s Arabe Unido before exiting in the Quarterfinals against Monarcas Morelia, who cruised to the aggregate win with a 6-0 opening win, allowing Columbus to take the second meeting, 2-0.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: CONCACAF Champions League, Houston Dynamo, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders MLS

The Other US Opens and marketing the ‘US Soccer Majors’

September 25, 2011 by Gerald Barnhart

Every year when the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament rolls into the lights shining down onto the stadium pitch, the inevitable comparisons to the FA Cup in England come into play as part of the explanation to what the tournament is for journalists. And often times it’s followed by the unfortunate analogizing of the event to minor and major league baseball teams playing one another in a single-elimination tournament.

But perhaps the better comparisons we should all be making is to the other Opens in which the American media already treat as serious events. These events also pit amateurs versus professionals on an open entry basis, and are also among numerous events within the specific sport. These events, of course, are the US Open tennis tournaments held annually in New York and the US Open golf championship held in a different location each year around the United States.

Each fall, the world’s best tennis players convene on the hard courts of the USTA’s Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, NY for the tour’s fourth and final major of what the sport considers the Grand Slam. Those top-flight professionals are joined by winners of an open playoff system that is comprised 16 sectionals and a national playoff event in which only USTA members may participate. In the end, 128 participants each take part in the men’s and women’s brackets (64 for doubles).

Last year, over 1,200 players took part in the USTA’s National Playoffs for a chance to compete in the singles events at the US Open. Unlike US Soccer’s Open Cup, only one male and one female earned qualification spots to compete against the world’s best in the tournament.

The Chicago Fire have won six majors, including four US Open Cup championships | Photo by Brian Kersey/Wireimage.com

The US Open golf tournament, held in June, is comparatively more open with approximately half the participants advancing from qualification play to join the world’s top players who are automatically in the field through 17 exemptions categories via such things as being tournament winners or holding a certain world ranking.

At the 2010 tournament, 75 of the 156 participants were non-exempted players who qualified through the two-stage process to reach the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links for the championship. The process begins with Local Qualifying, a series of over 100 18-hole tournaments held around the country. Many top players not already qualified through full exemption are, however, exempt from local qualifying and join the process at the Sectional Qualifying stage where they participate in one of several one-day, 36-hole tournaments in the United States. There is also a Sectional tournament in both Europe and Japan where 11 and 4 individuals qualified, respectively, in 2010.

The major difference between the US Open Cup and the US Open tennis and golf duo is that the US Soccer Federation event is the only one that is a championship tournament for Americans while the other two are open to foreign participants. The only clubs eligible for the US Open Cup are American-based teams that are affiliated through the USSF; however, for argument’s sake it does still feature a foreign component as teams are comprised, in part, of players that are not American.

The Los Angeles Galaxy have won eight majors, and are one of only two MLS clubs to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup (DC United). They won the Champions Cup in 2000 | Photo: Los Angeles Galaxy

Continuing on the golf tangent, another significant open tournament American media and sports fans are very familiar with and follow every July is the British Open (officially known as The Open Championship), which is the oldest of the four golf majors and is the only one held outside of the United States. Similar to the US Open, the majority of the 156 participants are automatic entrants through exemption with the remaining players advancing from a two-stage qualification process.

Through 2004, players from around the world were only able to qualify through 18-hole Local Qualifying events held around Britain and Ireland within two weeks of The British Open followed by 36-hole Local Final Qualifying tournaments a few days later. International Qualifying events, 36-hole tournaments, were added in 2004 to assist foreign professionals wishing to participate, holding qualifiers in Africa, Australia, Asia, America and Europe with more stringent entrance standards than Local Qualifying.

Packaging & Marketing US Soccer Majors

The golf and tennis tours are lengthy seasons that run from January to the fall with tournament events nearly every week, but it is the majors where media coverage amps up and fan viewership heightens. With the similarities of the American Open majors to the US Open Cup, perhaps there are other lessons to be learned from the golf and tennis tours, such as the incorporation US Soccer Majors as a marketing tool for the sports’ leading championship events for American clubs.

A matching structure of four championships already exists with the US Open Cup joined by the MLS Cup, MLS Supporters’ Shield (regular season championship) and the CONCACAF Champions League.  Currently, the MLS Cup is the leading championship, but by creating a platform that raises the perception of the other three events to a comparable level to the league’s championship playoff, it will increase awareness among the media and fans while also, hopefully, creating a greater sense of seriousness and urgency to win the other events among the clubs and coaches.

Bringing these four championships together into one packaged series allows for a greater ability to compare the success of clubs beyond just winning MLS Cup as though this was the NFL and the Super Bowl while clubs around the rest of the world are evaluated on all the various events in which they participate. It would be similar to how tennis players and golfers are measured by majors won.

DC United lead all MLS clubs with 11 majors, including the 1996 US Open Cup championship | Photo: DC United

For instance, the Los Angeles Galaxy and DC United are the only two clubs that have won all four majors (dating back to the CCL precursor CONCACAF Champions Cup). In fact, the two also hold the most total majors with DC boasting 11 (4 MLS Cups, 4 Supporters’ Shields, 2 Open Cups and a CCC) and the Galaxy having eight (2 MLS Cups, 3 Supporters’ Shields, 2 Open Cups and the CCC).

Only five clubs have won all three of the domestic majors with the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City having won everything but a CONCACAF championship at least once. The Fire are third in total majors (6) and the Crew are fourth (5).

Only three American MLS clubs are without a major championship, excluding expansion Portland. The New York Red Bulls, Chivas USA and Philadelphia Union have yet to claim one of the big prizes.

In the last five years, the most successful clubs in the United States have been Columbus and DC, each having won three majors. The Crew have won the Supporters’ Shield twice and the MLS Cup once. DC also has two Supporters’ Shields, but has a US Open Cup championship to round things out. Houston and Seattle each have two titles with the Dynamo winning MLS Cup twice in a row and the Sounders taking the Open Cup title back-to-back. Five other teams each have one major as nine clubs have won the 15 possible domestic majors while coming up empty in the Champions League, which is completing its third run with Real Salt Lake still in the hunt for a second major in the same cycle in which it won the MLS Cup title and qualified for the event.

All-Time ‘US Soccer Majors’ Winners List

11 – DC United (4 MC, 4 SS, 2 OC, 1 CCC)
8 – Los Angeles Galaxy (2 MC, 3 SS, 2 OC, 1 CCC)
6 – Chicago Fire (1 MC, 1 SS, 4 OC)
5 – Columbus Crew (1 MC, 3 SS, 1 OC)
3 – San Jose Earthquakes (2 MC, 1 SS)
3 – Sporting Kansas City (1 MC, 1 SS, 1 OC)
2 – Houston Dynamo (2 MC)
2 – Seattle Sounders (2 OC)
1 – Colorado Rapids (MC), FC Dallas (OC), Real Salt Lake (MC), New England Revolution (OC), Rochester Rhinos (OC), Tampa Bay Mutiny (SS), Miami Fusion (SS)

(MC – MLS Cup, SS – Supporters’ Shield, OC – US Open Cup, CCC/CCL – CONCACAF Champions Cup/League)

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: Chicago Fire MLS, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, concacaf, CONCACAF Champions League, DC United, FC Dallas/Dallas Burn, Houston Dynamo, Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer, Miami Fusion, MLS, MLS Cup, MLS Supporters’ Shield, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes/San Jose Clash, Seattle Sounders MLS, Sporting Kansas City/Kansas City Wizards, Tampa Bay Mutiny, US Open Cup

2010 Open Cup Champion Sounders Set for CONCACAF Champions League starting Tuesday

July 25, 2011 by Gerald Barnhart

The 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders will kick off their second consecutive campaign in the CONCACAF Champions League Tuesday evening with a first leg match against San Francisco at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama. The match is the opening contest of the 2011-12 edition of the CCL event, now in its fourth year as the new version of the confederation’s club championship. Current semifinalist FC Dallas is slated for its CCL debut.

Seattle Sounders in second CCL event as Open Cup champions

Currently in the midst of an 11-game unbeaten streak in league and Open Cup play, the Sounders have already booked a trip to the Open Cup semifinals in a bid to win a third consecutive tournament and are only third overall in the league table, four points back of first. With the postseason seemingly firmly in sight, the club may have an opportunity to seek redemption for its unfortunate results from a year ago.

In Seattle’s first CCL appearance last year, the Sounders advanced from the Preliminary Round 2-1 on aggregate against Isidro Metapan (EL Salvador) with a 1-0 win at home on a Fredy Montero strike and a 1-1 draw on the road with an Alvaro Fernandez equalizer. It then all went downhill in group play as they lost their first four games. Roger Levesque scored in a 2-1 loss at Marathon (Honduras) in the opener before they suffered a pair of 2-0 losses versus Monterrey (Mexico) and at Saprissa (Costa Rica) before falling 3-2 in Mexico in which Michael Fucito added to an own goal on the Sounders’ ledger. Fucito, who was recently honored as TheCup.us Player of the Round for his two goals in the Third Round 2-1 win against the Kitsap Pumas, continued to play a star role with two goals at home against Marathon for the club’s first group win, 2-0. Nate Jaqua tallied the final goal in their 2-1 loss to Saprissa.

San Francisco, meanwhile, is only two matches into its league campaign. Like Seattle, the club advanced to group play in its CCL debut in 2008-09 with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Jalapa (Guatemala), but came up winless in group play with only a pair of draws in six outings. Among the group matches San Francisco were a pair of games against the Houston Dynamo of MLS, playing to a scoreless draw at home and falling 2-1 in Texas.

Since then, however, San Francisco has failed to advance to the group stage. In their second appearance they were edged 3-2 on aggregate by San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad). A year ago, they received the unfortunate draw of facing two-time CCL Finalist Cruz Azul, who dominated 9-2 over the course of the two games.

Panama’s outing from San Francisco, Arabe Unido and Tauro last year was the league’s worst in three years as the trio went 2-8-0 for a point-percentage of .200, ranking only better than Trinidad, which was .167. MLS, meanwhile had its best combined CCL campaign a year ago with a 14-12-4 record and .511 point-percentage, which trailed Mexico (.722) and Costa Rica (.556) of the nine leagues represented.

Head-to-head MLS has had the better of the match-up versus clubs from Panama with a record of 5-2-3, going unbeaten at home (4-0-1). Last year MLS was 3-1-0 versus Panamanian opposition, winning both home contests.

Three other MLS clubs prior to the Sounders represented the US Open Cup in CONCACAF’s championship tournament. In 2009-10 DC United advanced from the Preliminary Round versus Luis Angel Firpo (El Salvador) via penalties after a pair of 1-1 draws. They would find themselves too far behind after losing the first two groupd games versus Marathon and Toluca (Mexico) to advance despite winning the next three (two against Jabloteh plus Marathon) before wrapping up with a 1-1 draw in Mexico.

The year prior, the New England Revolution were embarrassed in the inaugural edition of the CCL, falling 6-1 on aggregate to Joe Public of Trinidad after a 4-0 loss in the second leg. In the previous Cup-version of the tournament, the Columbus Crew (2002 US Open Cup champions) won their First Round series versus Arabe Unido of Panama 4-2 on aggregate before bowing out in the Quarterfinals, 6-2 on aggregate, against Monarcas Morelia (Mexico) as the two split the series with a pair of shutout wins.

Seattle also has a little more history in CONCACAF. The lower division edition of the Sounders were entrants in the 1996 Champions Cup as the 1995 winners of the A-League (second division). The club dominated in a playoff between US and Caribbean entrants, downing SV Transvaal (Suriname), 10-0, before losing all three matches in the Championship Group phase, falling 2-0 to Comunicaciones (Guatemala), 4-1 to Necaxa (Mexico) and 11-0 to Cruz Azul.

Current Open Cup semifinalist FC Dallas makes CCL debut after MLS Cup runners-up finish

Seattle’s Semifinal US Open Cup opposition, FC Dallas, is the other MLS club set to begin play in the Champions League. The club will make its tournament debut with a Preliminary Round series against Alianza of El Salvador on the road Thursday at Estadio Cuscatlan.

It is also the first appearance in the CCL for Alianza, who will kick off their current league campaign Sunday against fellow CCL-qualifier Isidro Metapan, who host the Puerto Rico Islanders (NASL) Wednesday evening in the first leg of their Preliminary Round series.

The other US-based league side in the Champions League is Toronto FC. They will be the lone club of the four to play at home in the first leg of the Preliminary Round, playing host to Real Esteli of Nicaragua. It marks the Central American nation’s return to the tournament for the first time since the same club fell 1-0 on aggregate to the Montreal Impact (then USL First Division) in the 2008-09 Preliminary Round.

Although it may be a debut night for both FC Dallas and Alianza Thursday evening, teams from the two leagues have met previously with MLS hold the 3-1-4 edge in the all-time record of the current CCL format, including an unbeaten 3-0-1 record at home versus Salvadoran clubs. Last year’s only meeting was the Preliminary Round in which Seattle defeated Metapan.

Overall, El Salvador has not seen much success with only four match wins in 26 games over three years (4-13-9). Salvadoran clubs have been eliminated in three of their four Preliminary Round series. Firpo was a direct Group Stage entrant in 2008-09 with Metapan getting a group seed in 2009-10. Last year FAS became the first to advance from the Preliminary Round, posting a 3-1 aggregate victory over Xelaju (Guatemala) courtesy of a 2-0 road win that was the nation’s only victory in 10 total games as they went 1-5-4 combined.

Visit TheCup.us blog Extra Time for a preview of all the Preliminary Round CONCACAF Champions League matches [+]

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Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2010 US Open Cup Final, CONCACAF Champions League, FC Dallas/Dallas Burn, Seattle Sounders MLS, Seattle Sounders USL

Sounders headed to the CONCACAF Champions League as Open Cup champs

September 4, 2009 by

CCL-horizontalThe Seattle Sounders captured the 2009 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup title, earning themselves $100,000 in prize money and a place in the 2010/2011 CONCACAF Champions League. This was officially announced by CONCACAF after rumors had spread that the number of club teams that would compete in the 2010/11 competition from the United States could be reduced from four to three, potentially leaving the Open Cup champion on the outside looking in. Those rumors appeared to be unfounded as the Sounders, who defeated DC United 2-1 in the Open Cup Final on September 2, are the first team to qualify for the 2010/11 tournament and unless they win MLS Cup or the Supporters’ Shield (which earn a spot in the group stage), they will begin in the qualifying phase in 2010.

For the full press release, visit the CONCACAF Champions League website.

“With their average attendance this year, the Sounders will be a great addition to the Champions League,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said. “We can’t wait to have them.”

Seattle, competing in its first season in Major League Soccer, has led MLS with an average crowd of 30,587 playing at Qwest Field, more than 10,000 better than the next best team: Toronto FC (20,308).

The United States submits four teams into the CONCACAF Champions League. The MLS Cup champion and the Supporters’ Shield winner both automatically qualify for the group stage, while the US Open Cup champion and the MLS Cup runner-up begin in the Preliminary Round. This is third year in a row that CONCACAF has accepted the US Open Cup champion into the competition.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2009 Final, CONCACAF Champions League, Seattle Sounders MLS

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U.S. Open Cup History

Jim Gregory, president of Charleston Battery supporters group The Regiment (right), presents the Coffee Pot Cup to Sachin Shah after D.C. United's 2-0 win in the 2004 Carolina Challenge Cup. Photo: Mike Buytas

How a US Open Cup classic, locker room vandalism inspired fans to create Coffee Pot Cup

It remains one of the greatest games of the US Open Cup’s Modern Era but what happened after the game gets more attention than the instant classic that took place on the field.

  • Highs and lows of Los Angeles’ 25 all-time US Open Cup Final appearances
  • Before Lionel Messi’s 2023 US Open Cup impact, Pele changed the 1975 Final in a different way
  • A history of violence against referees in US Open Cup
  • How St. Petersburg Kickers became Florida’s first US Open Cup champion
  • San Francisco Bay Seals, the ‘amateur’ pro team that reached 1997 US Open Cup Semifinals

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