Los Angeles isn’t perfect, equal parts Angels and Demons, but there’s always a party.
Despite the much-documented challenges to this year’s tournament, with the threat of MLS pulling their first teams out of competition in the months leading up to our 109th edition, the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on September 25th offered a heady celebration of this country’s soccer.
U.S. Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson was the ceremonial pre-game falconer because…well, why not? Members of the historic LA Kickers Open Cup-Champion teams from 1958 and 1964, including 90-year-old Eberhard Herz, brought out the trophy ahead of kickoff – because, of course, and we’ll say it again for those in the back: Our history matters.
Look to your left and there’s Ted Lasso stars Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt. To your right, a thumping electro-funk rock duo sending soaring riffs into the downtown night air. And all this before Los Angeles Football Club captured a second major trophy in the space of two years with a 3-1 victory over four-time Champions Sporting KC at a packed BMO Stadium. On a school-night, no less.
“Congrats to Los Angeles for putting on a good show, and congrats to our fans,” said LAFC manager Steve Cherundolo, who’d been tight-lipped in the days before the game, weary of fielding questions about why his team often so seemed to wilt when trophies were on the line. “This is the City of Champions and we got another one.”
It’s a first Open Cup title for LAFC as the ambitious MLS club, born only in 2018, became just the 11th Los Angeles-area team to win this country’s most historic prize. “Tonight felt different, it felt more electrified,” said a visibly relieved Cherundolo, whose players battled to put an end to a run of four straight losses in various Finals. “The boys really wanted it.”
French World Cup winner Olivier Giroud, playing in his first-ever Open Cup game, Omar Campos and Kei Kamara did the scoring while Hugo Lloris made four saves in the win. It all amounted to LAFC claiming a first trophy since their 2022 MLS Cup triumph.
“This trophy is very important,” said Giroud, the former Arsenal and AC Milan ace who joined LAFC this year in the twilight of his storied career. “We made it as a team, together, and now we can enjoy.”
During a charged first half, it was the goalkeepers showing off as Sporting KC forced a pair of fine early saves out of Lloris. Tim Melia – hunting a personal third Open Cup victory at the other end – made a point-blank stop on Giroud to keep the game scoreless near the break.
“For us the first half was very controlled and played at a high tempo, and we knew that would open up things later and that’s exactly what happened,” Cherundolo added.
With the ‘3252’ – LAFC’s famed supporter’s group – in full voice to start the second half, their heroes hit Sporting KC on a deadly counter-attack. The hosts caught the outstanding Melia off his line in the 53rd minute and Mateusz Bogusz played the ball through to Sergi Palencia, who crossed it low into the box for Giroud to tuck home.
“I got the chance to score and it was special,” said Giroud, who adds an Open Cup crown to his cabinet of more than a dozen major trophies over an illustrious career – including the World Cup at international level and the Champions League on the club side. “I was a fox in the box, and I’m so happy for the team.”
Following a turnover by LAFC in the middle of the field, Sporting KC equalized in the 60th minute. Erik Thommy ran on to a centering pass from Daniel Salloi – SKC’s all-time top scorer in U.S. Open Cup play – and fired off the inside of the post past Lloris.
“I think we did a great job of getting back into the game,” said Sporting KC’s manager Peter Vermes. “The boys played fantastically well but [LAFC]’s second goal was the one that changed that game.”
A sold-out crowd of more than 22,000 supporters – including a large contingent of traveling Sporting KC backers – gasped when LAFC’s Bogusz hit a close-range shot into the body of 38-year-old Melia in the 74th minute. The Black and Gold then peppered balls through SKC’s backline as the second half wore on.
Aaron Long hobbled out of the game in the 87th minute having battled hard for the LAFC cause, and from there on out the match took on a frenetic pace. Cracks were beginning to show in SKC’s rearguard. Calls for an LAFC penalty near full-time went unanswered by referee Armando Villareal – and both teams produced shots on goal in a wild six-minute stoppage time.
LAFC co-owner and renowned funnyman Will Ferrell appeared on the big screen to get the crowd pumped-up before the first period of overtime. And LAFC finally delivered a second goal in the 102nd minute.
Campos curled a beauty inside the far post to finish off a long spell of possession from the home side. “It’s the first time I’ve seen him shoot the ball with his right foot since he’s been here,” Cherundolo said with a smile.
Then it was Kamara’s turn to put a final shine on the night.
The veteran striker, who claims Los Angeles as his hometown after arriving there in his youth as a refugee from war-torn Sierra Leone, made his presence felt in a major way. The oldest active player in MLS, at 40 years of age, he sealed LAFC’s first Open Cup [and his personal second] in the second period of overtime, rising high to slam a towering header home in the 109th minute.
That goal – nail in the coffin for SKC, one of Kamara’s many former clubs and the one where he first lifted this trophy in 2012 – set off coordinated smoke flares and victory chants to cap a wild night in this City of Dreams.
“This one is special. This one is big. I get to have my babies around me,” said Kamara, joined at the podium by his young son. “To be able to come home to my hometown of Los Angeles and be a part of the young, rich history of this club is awesome.”
Dennis Pope writes about local sports for the SoCal Newspaper Group and serves in a communications role for both NISA Nation and the Southwest Premier League. Follow him at @DennisPope on X/Twitter