The 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has reached its culminating moment. The trophy is polished and resting, the stage is set at BBVA Compass Stadium in South Texas, and one of the two Finalists on Sept. 26^th will be crowned champions for the first time. Philadelphia Union were twice-beaten runners-up in 2014 and 2015, while Houston Dynamo, two-time MLS champions, are playing in the big game for the first time in their history. Join ussoccer.com for a look back at how they got here and what to expect on Wednesday when the curtain raises at 7 p.m. CT (ESPN2, UDN).

• READ: Double Coach Q&A – Cabrera, Curtin & the Cup

Both sides opened their Open Cup account with lopsided 5-0 victories at home in the Fourth Round; the Union beat second division pro side Richmond Kickers of the United Soccer League (USL), while Houston scored all of their goals in the second half against impressive amateurs and Open Cup regulars NTX Rayados out of North Texas. From there on, both teams played all of their games at home, showing for good and all just how important the hosting coin-flip can be to a successful Cup run. The Dynamo slipped past Minnesota United (MLS) in the Round of 16 by a slim 1-0 scoreline before knocking out the defending champ Sporting Kansas City (MLS) 4-2 in the Quarterfinals. Their Semifinal against tournament debutants LAFC (MLS) ended 3-3 a.e.t. and needed a penalty shootout to put the Dynamo into their debut Open Cup Final.

(Young - Mauro Manotas - and old - Philippe Senderos - have been making an impact for the Dynamo)

The Union followed up their opening-day rout of the 1995 Open Cup champion Kickers with a pair of one-goal results against New York Red Bulls (MLS), 2-1, in the Round of 16 and Orlando City (MLS), 1-0, in the Quarterfinals. The Semifinal, the fourth straight game at their Talen Energy Stadium on the banks of the Delaware River in Chester, Pa., was their best performance of the competition so far. They scored all three goals of the 3-0 win vs. the Chicago Fire (MLS) in the second half of a game that not only sent them to the Final of the Open Cup for a third time in five years, but changed their momentum in the league. They are now right on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

• READ: Alejandro Bedoya – Philly’s Missing Link
• Q&A VIDEO: Philly Union Ain’t ‘Fraid of no Ghosts
• UNION Q&A: Jim Curtin – Philly’s Still Hungry for a Trophy
• READ: Seba le Toux – “I Hope Philly Will Do Well”

Offense vs. Defense
The numbers don’t lie. Houston have reached the Final, in large part, because of their dynamic offensive play. Alberth Ellis, Romell Quioto and, perhaps most importantly, Mauro Manotas form a three-pronged counter-attacking machine that saw the Dynamo score no fewer than 13 times in the space of just four games. Colombian striker Manotas, still 22, is in line to become top scorer of this edition of the tournament with a goal in the Final – and a brace would likely see him win the top-gun prize outright, outpacing LAFC’s Diego Rossi and David Ochoa of Miami United FC on four goals each. In case that were not enough in the achievement department for the lean, leggy Dynamo No. 9, he broke Houston’s all-time single-season scoring record across all competitions this year and holds the enviable record of being the Dynamo’s top all-time scorer in Open Cup play. “I allow myself to dream about lifting the Cup this year,” Manotas, who only broke into the Starting XI at the start of this season, told ussoccer.com. “In this life you have to dream in order to win, and you have to keep working too.”

• READ: No Looking Back for Houston’s Boniek
• READ: Senderos, Manotas & the Dynamo’s Alchemy
• READ: Dynamo Memo & the Need to be Ready
• Q&A VIDEO: Beasley – Soccer’s Not a Job Yet

While Houston rocketed to the Final by virtue of their impressive attacking array, Philly arrived at this stage by being stingy. While they scored 11 goals, they conceded just one over the course of the campaign. It’s a fact not lost on head coach Jim Curtin, a former defender who won the tournament twice as a player with Chicago Fire. “Our defense starts with Andre Blake [the Union’s Jamaican international goalkeeper who’s had an outstanding competition]. The way he’s been playing allows our defenders to be aggressive and to take chances,” said Curtin, who was in charge in the two consecutive Final losses in 2014 and 2015. “That’s a powerful feeling for a defender to have and it filters through the team. That said, we still conceded one goal so we could have defended better.”

(Union captain Alejandro Bedoya - center - has experience overseas and at the 2014 World Cup)

While Curtin sets an impossibly high standard for his backline, he knows full well the threats posed by a high-flying Houston Dynamo in the attacking third. “It’s a Final, and we know they’ll be up for it. We’re going to get their best punch in their building,” he said. “The key to the game will be who controls the tempo. If it turns into an end-to-end, wide-open game, we have no chance. We have to take that part of the game away from them.”

On the other side of the technical area, Wilmer Cabrera, a 50-times capped Colombian international who knows all about the big day, is hoping home field counts for something in this, the Dynamo’s fifth consecutive 2018 Open Cup contest at BBVA Compass Stadium. “It’s wonderful for us. It’s another home game for us. But you still have to win at home. You don’t get anything just because you play at home. It’s great to have the draws go your way, but you also have to put it in on the field. We’ve done that so far and hopefully we’ve got one more in us.”

Both teams have been through the fires and are now one win away from lifting a trophy. There will be nerves on the day and it will be down to the respective team leaders to calm the troops with everything on the line. “It’s OK for guys to be a little nervous. That’s natural,” said Union captain Alejandro Bedoya. “But you just need to go through your routines – take your walks and your naps and get ready like you do. In the end, there’s a trophy on the line and that’s all the motivation you need.”

Dynamo’s Old-Timers
While Bedoya leads a team that has relied on youth and Homegrown talent out of PA, The Dynamo has a raft of old campaigners in the locker room, wise old veterans like DaMarcus Beasley (36), Philippe Senderos (33), a former FA Cup winner with Arsenal in 2004-05, and Honduran international Oscar Boniek Garcia (34). “You need guys like this,” said Boniek on the eve of his first championship game since losing an MLS Cup Final in 2012. “These are the kind of guys who’d played in big games and won trophies and they can show the way for the younger guys.”

(Whoever wins it will be making history for their club - a first Open Cup title)

In the end, the winner will make history. The winning team’s picture will hang on the wall in either BBVA Compass Stadium or Talen Energy Stadium for as long as the clubs shall live. Houston are alive with the possibilities in their first Open Cup Final and Philly Union are looking to banish the ghosts of Finals past. “We’ve still got guys in the team like Ray Gaddis, CJ Sapong, Andre Blake and Fabino who were here for those losses and it would be extra special for them to win it this year,” said Union boss Curtin. “Being in a Final is big for any player and I want my guys to know that feeling of winning a trophy.”

Cabrera is aware of the same stakes. At home, there might even be a little more pressure on his men in orange. “This is the most important thing. It’s hard to put into words what it would mean for the club, the city, the fans and the players. You don’t win trophies every day. And the fact that we haven’t won one in a while [their two MLS titles came in 2006 and 2007] is proof that things have changed and become more difficult. But now we have the opportunity. Hopefully we can continue performing well. We are waiting and preparing now and our goal is to get the Cup.”

Whoever wins will be doing it for a first time, and they will join a list of winners going back to 1914 to where the oldest soccer crown in American history. All will be known on Sept 26^th in South Texas.

CHICAGO (Sept. 20, 2018) – More than 20,000 tickets have been sold for the next stop of the U.S. MNT’s Kickoff Series when the United States will host 14^th-ranked Colombia at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. FS1, UniMas and UDN will broadcast the match beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. [KICKOFF SERIES TICKETS]

The match could set an attendance record for a MNT visit to Tampa. A crowd of 31,547 witnessed a Landon Donovan hat trick in a 3-0 win against Ecuador on March 25, 2007 in the same venue. The U.S. is coming off a 1-0 win against archrival Mexico on Sept. 11 in Nashville, with 19-year-old Tyler Adams scoring his first international goal in the shutout victory.

The match falls on an international fixture date, which makes all players available for selection.

Tickets are on sale through ussoccer.com and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. [Note: Tickets are not sold at Raymond James Stadium except on the day of the event.] Groups of 20 or more can order directly at ussoccer.com. Ultimate Fan Tickets (special VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a custom-made official U.S. National Team jersey with name and number, VIP access to the field before the game, and other unique benefits) are also available exclusively through ussoccer.com.

Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle members supporting the U.S. Soccer Development Fund can receive individual customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Click here or contact circles@ussoccer.org for more information.

Colombia is one of six teams in the Top 25 of the FIFA World Rankings facing the MNT in the Kickoff Series, joining Brazil (3), England (6), Italy (20), Mexico (15) and Peru (21). The six-match set will provide the aspiring young U.S. side with top-level competition at the start of their four-year journey toward the 2022 World Cup.

U.S. MNT 2018 KICKOFF SERIES SCHEDULE

Alejandro Bedoya is the link-up man for the Philadelphia Union. He’s the No. 8. The hidden playmaker. He’s the club’s captain, leader and chief schemer. He’s a conduit on the field from back to attack, doing “what I do best: moving the ball from the defense to the front.” He’s a link between personalities and teammates in the locker room, “managing egos and pridefulness.” And he’s a link to a bigger world – one he met head-on, with no promises of success, when he set off for Europe at the tender age of 20.

• READ MORE: #USOC2018 Double Q&A - Cabrera & Curtin
• READ MORE: No Looking Back for Dynamo's Boniek
• READ MORE: REWIND - Texas Teams in USOC Finals Past
  
• READ MORE: FIVE Things to Know about #USOC2018 Final 
• READ MORE: Le Toux: I Hope Philly Will Do Well
• READ MORE: #USOC2018 Final LIVE on ESPN2 & UDN

“I was just out of college where I had a kind of free role, and at that level what matters is if you’re better than the guys around you. You don’t learn much about tactics in the college game,” said Bedoya who, after visiting his friend and Boston College teammate (future U.S. National Team and Union teammate too) Charlie Davies in Sweden during his senior year, knew what his next step would be. “Pretty quickly, I realized there was a lot more to the game than getting into a good spot and demanding the ball. Over there [in Europe] we’d watch game film for hours after training and before games. I learned about how to move in certain formations, how to move when you have the ball, when you don’t. When to step up. I got an overall education in tactics there.

(Bedoya during his years with Nantes in France's top flight) 

Soccer Education in Europe, Not College
Bedoya’s not the best player in Major League Soccer. He’s not the fastest. He’s not a genius born to make art with his feet. What he has, and what he is, came with measured decisions, considered outcomes and chances taken. He’s not boastful when he sizes himself up; he’s confident. “I consider myself, tactically, one of the most intelligent players in the league [MLS] and all of that came from my time in Europe.”

There were many decisions to make before his debut in a Svensk Cup game with Orebro in Sweden. There were many questions to ask: Will I be homesick? Will I miss my family too much? Why not take one of the other roads open as a top collegiate prospect? “I always dreamed of playing over in Europe, even from when I was a little kid. When you play FIFA you never pick your local team, you always pick a team from over there,” said Bedoya with a laugh.

He went from strength to strength in his seven years across the Atlantic. He acclimated quickly in Sweden’s top flight, moved on to Rangers in Glasgow to taste the roar and howl of Ibrox and the blood and thunder of Old Firm derbies against Celtic. In France, with Nantes, he played in one of the top five leagues in the world. Each step was a part of a school of soccer where he took extensive mental notes and rarely got caught daydreaming. Along the way, Bedoya broke into the U.S. National Team and fulfilled another lifelong dream: playing in the World Cup – all four of the USA’s games in Brazil in 2014. “I’ve always been an ambitious person. And I guess I took the road less traveled, but I hope it becomes the path more American players take in the future because there’s a lot of great play over there. It was a big learning curve but it helped me tremendously.” 

(The Union captain struck early in the 2018 Open Cup Quarterfinal against Orlando City) 

Bedoya grew up in the game. First in New Jersey, then in the western part of Florida. His father, born in Colombia and a former professional with Millionarios, made his family in America. And while Alejandro remembers supporting Colombia and “wearing my Carlos Valderrama wig” while a seven-year-old during the 1994 World Cup, something tugged him back to the States after seven years abroad. He’d passed on a chance to start his career in Major League Soccer, but in 2016, with a second child on the way, he felt the tug of home. Again, he measured the pros and cons. He had a list of reasons and many things to consider.

Philly the Right Fit for Homecoming
“I met Jim [Curtin – Philadelphia Union head coach] while I was still in France when he was over scouting a teammate of mine at Nantes,” said Bedoya about his decision to join the Union and return to MLS as a Designated Player, a title he puts in air quotes in the Union locker room in Chester, Pa. a few weeks before the 2018 U.S. Open Cup Final against Houston Dynamo (7 p.m. CT on Sept. 26; ESPN2, UDN). “I liked the things he was saying. I liked the plan they had here, their youth academy and the fact that they wanted me to play as a No. 8, a defined role. And it all just kind of fit. I love living on the East Coast. Philly is close to New York and New Jersey, where I have a lot of family. And people say I’ve got the right attitude for Philly!”

It wasn’t an immediate marriage made in heaven, but the Bedoya-led Union is clicking now in 2018 after the club failed to reach the league playoffs last year and went out early in 2016. They’re on the cusp of reaching the MLS post-season and they’re back in the Open Cup Final again. “I reached a Cup semifinal in France, but we lost so I never played in a Cup Final,” said Bedoya, who came to the Union just after the club’s heartache of a pair of Open Cup Final losses on home soil in consecutive years in 2014 and 2015. It was a chance for the Union, founded in 2010, to win its first trophy. “I’m sure those losses hurt for the guys who were here, but there’s no looking back really, and it’s about what’s in front of us. We have a great opportunity to lift a trophy.”

(Bedoya played in all four of the U.S. National Team's games at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil)

Bedoya, 31 and closer to the end of his career than its start, is an old campaigner in a Union side that relies on youth and Homegrown talent. He’s a steadying influence on those younger players and they look to him to lead the way. He scored an early lone goal in the Open Cup Quarterfinal against Orlando City – one of those sloppy games you just need to grind out if you want to get to the Final. But in the Semifinal, against Chicago Fire, there was no hanging on for a result. It was a performance in which the Union were as good as they could be. “In games like that you need your best players to be your best players and Alejandro just took the game over,” remembered coach Curtin about the 3-0 win at home that put Philadelphia into the Final, and gave the club another chance to lift a trophy for the first time in its history.

The opening goal didn’t come until ten minutes into the second half, but it was snapshot of what Bedoya does best. Receiving a return ball from Borek Dockal at the edge of the penalty area, he was faced with a wall of red defenders. There wasn’t an obvious way through or around. So it had to be over the top. Bedoya’s delicate chip cleared the wall but dropped too far from Chicago goalkeeper Richard Sanchez for him to claim it. Union forward Cory Burke collected the pass and fired home. It set the stage for a comprehensive 3-0 win. “We dominated them and we should have scored more,” said Bedoya, the orchestrator and split-second decision maker. “The pressure was on and we came through.”

Cup Momentum Leaks into League
It wasn’t just a convincing win that put the Union into a Final. It was a turning point in the league too. It turned the year around and changed the atmosphere in the locker room. They didn’t drop a result in the entire month of August. Burke got on a roll in attack, the confidence of CJ Sapong, veteran of the 2015 Cup Final loss, returned with his goal. Everything clicked, and all of it, in no small way, came from the link-up play in that moment of the team’s quiet captain. “When things like that happen, the spirit in the locker room just picks up,” said Bedoya about the upturn in good vibes that can come with a deep Cup run. And while things haven’t all gone their way in September, the Union will arrive in Houston for the Final on Sept. 26^th with justifiable confidence. “Everybody’s happy and the banter is flying left and right. The guys are talking more and joking. You can just feel it.”

(Bedoya, who's been with the Union since 2016, can be the club's first captain to win a trophy)

When asked what his last minutes before kick-off in the away locker room at Houston’s BBVA Stadium will be like, Bedoya doesn’t describe pep talks and rallying cries. “It’s a trophy we’re playing for. And that’s all the motivation you need,” said the captain, the man brought to Philadelphia to link the young and youthful Union with silverware. “This club has only been around since 2010 but we have no trophies, and we want them. That’s a big reason I cane here. We’re playing some good stuff this year, but we haven’t won anything yet. A trophy, though, that’s something no one can take away.”

After two post-Olympic years of growth and progress, on Oct. 4, 2018, the U.S. Women’s National Team will begin its quest for a spot in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup when it takes on Mexico inside the confines of Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The USA will also be pursuing a sixth Concacaf World Cup qualifying title.

• 20 Players Named for 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship

Placed into Group A at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship alongside Mexico, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago, the USA will be looking to advance out of the group and into the all-important semifinals in Frisco, Texas.

The 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship features eight countries divided into two groups of four with each group’s top two finishers after round-robin play advancing to the semifinals. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match will qualify directly to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The fourth-place finisher will earn a spot in a two-game playoff against Argentina, which finished third in South America qualifying, for a final berth to the tournament.

2018 WCQ Schedule

Top of the Region
There has been a total of seven Concacaf World Cup Qualifying tournaments contested for women’s soccer, dating back to the first one hosted by Haiti in 1991.

The USA has been crowned champion on five occasions: 1991, 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2014. In 2010, the USA lost to Mexico in the semifinal and had to win the third-place match to earn a home-and-away playoff against Italy to book its World Cup spot, which it did with a 2-0 aggregate victory. As host of the 1999 Women’s World Cup, the USA did not compete in the 1998 edition which was won by Canada. The Canadians also won the tournament in 2010.

Besides the one setback in Cancun, Mexico in 2010, the U.S. Women have been incredibly successful during qualifying. Throughout 28 total qualifying matches, it has outscored opponents 158-5, and has only lost once.

A Solid Mix Comes Together in North Carolina
Continuing the theme that has been seen on the U.S. WNT roster for the last two years, this 20-player squad brings together a mix of familiarity and novelty. Evenly split up the middle, 10 players on the roster have previous WCQ experience, while 10 are new to World Cup qualifying. Only four have never participated in any regional competition at the senior level. These players are: Defenders Abby Dahlkemper, Hailie Mace, Casey Short and midfielder Rose Lavelle. The remainder 16 players have, if not at World Cup qualifying, at least been part of a Concacaf Olympic Qualifying roster.

Of the ten players with previous Women’s World Cup qualifying experience, four have played in multiple qualifying tournaments. This will be the fourth World Cup qualifying tournament for forward Carli Lloyd, while forwards Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe and defender Becky Sauerbrunn will compete in their third.

The other players who were on the team for the 2014 qualifying tournament are: Morgan Brian, Julie Ertz, Ashlyn Harris, Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press. Crystal Dunn, who was named to the roster for the 2014 tournament before an injury ruled her out, will be playing in her first World Cup qualifying competition at the senior level. She was replaced by Julie Johnston, now Ertz, on that 2014 roster, but Ertz did not see action.

Scoring Goals Is What They Do
The six U.S. forwards on the USA’s qualifying roster have combined for 28 of the 37 goals this year. All six have played in a world championship, and five of them have played in multiple world championships. Alex Morgan leads the USA in scoring this year with 10 goals, followed by Mallory Pugh with six and Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe with four each.

In U.S. WNT World Cup qualifying history, Lloyd leads the USA with seven goals, while Rapinoe has three and Heath, Morgan and Press have two each.

Alex Morgan has scored 10 goals so far in 2018 to lead all goal scorers.

Watch it on FOX
FOX Sports, the home of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, will show 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship across the FOX Sports family of networks. For viewers on the go, matches can be streamed live via FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app.