


We need to face it from the perspective it's a final."

SKC head coach Peter Vermes, meanwhile, downplayed the home field advantage during a media teleconference on Tuesday, insisting that his team doesn’t have to “approach it from the perspective we're at home. Despite the recent return of Honduran Olympic hero Roger Espinoza, SKC will miss Aurelien Collin (suspension) and could also be without wingers Bobby Convey (hamstring) and Peterson Joseph (ankle) for the match. On to Sporting KC, who face some issues heading into the final that could seriously affect their lineup. “Those are the types of guys that help you win championship.” And he absolutely hates to lose – maybe more than anyone in our organization,” Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer says. Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso is no stranger to the final, having helped steer the Sounders to their fourth appearance and adding another with the Charleston Battery in 2008. “You want to be remembered when you're done because people forget about you real quick. “There's a lot of professional athletes around the world that played for many years, made some good money in their careers, but haven't won anything,” Johnson says of the final. No team in the modern era has won four straight USOC crowns and no team in England, France, Germany or Italy has won four straight domestic cups. has you covered for tonight’s game, including a live stream beginning at 8 pm ET.Īs for the storylines heading into the match, the biggest one is a shot at history for the visiting Sounders. “I had my breakout year in Kansas City, so it’s good coming back to this place,” Johnson says, “because the fans believed in me and the organization believed in me.” Johnson’s return to where he made his mark is perhaps the juiciest storyline of them all in tonight’s USOC final (9 pm ET, Gol TV, Live Chat on ), as the Sounders’ newest star looks to maintain his torrid 2012 pace and give Seattle their fourth consecutive USOC crown. Now he’s five years older and undeniably wiser, back in a form similar to that landmark 2007 season and looking to light it up in Kansas City once again, this time in the US Open Cup final against … wait for it … Kansas City. Eddie Johnson was an absolute terror against MLS defenses back in 2007, using a scintillating 15-goal, six-assist season to leverage his way to Europe as one of the most promising young American strikers in MLS history.
