Soccer in the USA
The finals are now set for the 2007 US Open Cup soccer tournament and the winner will once again be an MLS team. FC Dallas and the New England Revolution each advanced with semifinal victories Sept. 4 over USL Division I clubs.
The two finalists will meet on FC Dallas' home field, Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, on October 3. The Cup--officially, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup--is the oldest professional soccer championship in North America, having been contested since 1914.
The Open Cup, as the name implies, is intended to be a single-elimination for all US soccer clubs recognized as competitive by the US Soccer Federation including the MLS, and the several professional divisions of the USL.
The USL comprises three divisions of professional-, and three of amateur or development soccer clubs for men and women, from North America (US and Canada) and the Caribbean. In general, only the top three divisions participate in the Open Cup, but the Federation does maintain the competition as truly "open".
While the MLS clubs are given something of a pass into the later rounds, the Cup does present an opportunity for a Cinderella to emerge in the same way as do the national open tournaments for other sports like golf and tennis. This would seem to be particularly true of late as the monetary prize of $100,000 for the winnng side (to be shared by the entire team mind you) has become less and less significant.
Despite the slight nature of the prize money however, MLS clubs have won the Cup in each of the league's 11 years of existence, excepting 1995 and 1999.
And so again in 2007.
Soccerphile.com