Jesus Ferreira discusses why the US Open Cup is important to him and other players
Jesus Ferreira discusses why the US Open Cup is important to him and other players
During Thursday's media day, the FC Dallas Homegrown forward talked about why the Open Cup is important.
If you ask any player what they think about tournaments like the US Open Cup, their typical reaction tends to be that they are important due to the fact that a trophy can be earned from playing in them.
Trophies matter to players, and for FC Dallas Homegrown forward Jesus Ferreira, seeing MLS teams remain in the US Open Cup is also important. When asked at the 2024 Media Day press conference on Thursday what he thought about MLS wanting to pull the first team clubs away from the tournament this year, Ferreira was open about why it is important to the players despite the extra games it adds to the schedule.
“I think as a player, we always want to play,” said Ferreira. “For me, it's more games, more tournaments, another chance to win a trophy. So that's how I look at it, and another opportunity to win a trophy and for me, and I know some of the guys in Dallas, we're excited.”
Ferreira saw the importance of winning the US Open Cup as he signed on with FC Dallas as a Homegrown during the 2016 season when the club won their second title in that tournament.
“It's exciting, you know, and for us, for me, personally, the US Open Cup, that's some of the some of the first few games in my career where I was playing,” recalled Ferreira. “It's something that you know, if we're able to, we can keep playing because, again, in nine games1, you win a trophy, so it's it's exciting.”
FC Dallas has struggled in recent Open Cups, failing to reach the quarterfinals in each of the last four tournaments2. Last year, FC Dallas lost their first match on the road in a fourth-round defeat at Nashville SC.
For now, MLS teams will participate in this year’s US Open Cup, which will give Ferreira and FC Dallas a shot at winning the trophy for a third time in club history.
I'm not sure if Ferreira was including the opening-round games that MLS teams don’t participate in or if he was just thinking of the nine games it takes to win the Leagues Cup here.
The USOC did not take place in 2020 or 2021.