The spark of a moment is ever alive in our Open Cup. High-highs turn to low-lows and vice versa – in an instant – making both promises and threats.
Brandon Vazquez, of hulking frame, chiseled chin and Superman-inspired goal celebrations, is the closest thing we have to a superhero in this year’s Open Cup. He dragged Austin FC, a club devoid of pedigree, history, or much profile in MLS, farther than anyone expected. Two goals down to Division II pros El Paso Locomotive with 20 minutes to go, and facing a humiliating early exit, he refused to let his team lose. Vazquez flexed with a pair of goals and an assist in a dramatic 3-2 comeback.
He scored again in a win over two-time Champs Houston Dynamo to put Austin FC in the Last Eight for the first time in their history. There, with a place in a historic Semifinal on the line, he put his side up from the spot in the 65th minute with his fourth goal in three games – making him the top scorer in the tournament. He was soaring, like any Man of Steel of comic page or silver screen, when, in an instant, boom, kryptonite.
A wrong step. No contact. His large body – much feared and able and producing the best displays of any player in this year’s tournament – spread out on the ground in the sticky San Jose night. His hand went up and waved for the medical team. The hush of the crowd said it all: This is serious. Out he went on a stretcher, his hands up to his eyes and knowing the struggles of the road ahead.
Scant seconds had passed from his goal to his fall. His Cup and his MLS season, sadly, are over. ACL rupture. Surgery. Best wishes. But his Austin FC team – guided largely by his incredible performances – survives in the 2025 Open Cup thanks to a slim win in a penalty shootout. So, it's onto a first-ever Semifinal for this young Texas club.
A win over Minnesota United FC on the road in St. Paul on September 17th would bring the U.S. Open Cup Final to Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium. Will Vazquez be there, a bespectacled Clark Kent in street clothes? We’ll have to wait and see how all the moments build toward that grand finale on October 1st.
Fontela is editor-in-chief of ussoccer.com/us-open-cup. Follow him at @jonahfontela on X/Twitter.