There is no player on the current Fire roster that knows
more about what the Open Cup match means to American soccer’s lower level teams
than Daniel Paladini.
Originally drafted by the LA Galaxy in 2006, Paladini didn’t
appear in a match and was waived by the club at season’s end. He stepped across
the proverbial hall at the Home Depot Center, playing for Chivas USA’s reserve
squad in 2007 before playing eight matches for the first team in 2008.
Feeling the need for more playing time, Paladini turned down
an offer to stay with Chivas in 2009 and chose instead to join the USL First
Division’s Carolina RailHawks.
Over his two-year stay with Carolina, Paladini appeared in 62 matches,
recording 12 goals and nine assists, earned back-to-back all-league selections
and helped Carolina to the Second Division’s championship series, where they
lost 3-1 on aggregate to Puerto Rico.
Having played five matches against Rochester the previous
two seasons, the Fire’s central midfielder has a lot of familiarity with
Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup foe.
“Rochester is always a good test,” Paladini said Monday.
“They’re a good team that lives for the Open Cup. It’s always difficult for us
to play on turf. They’ll take that as an advantage. They’ll get a good crowd
and it’s a good community that supports soccer and we’re expecting a pretty
full house on Tuesday.”
Like any other cup competition around the world, the Lamar
Hunt U.S. Open Cup takes on perhaps more meaning to the players on the
tournament’s minnow teams than the big boys.
A local example Tuesday night will be when the Fire PDL side
plays its first-ever competitive match against an MLS team when they visit
Sporting Kansas City and even though Rochester has had plenty of Open Cup
success (champions in 1999), their players will be ready to prove their worth
against a bigger opponent according to Paladini.
“It’s a chance for those certain players to prove
themselves. Second division guys want to come up and play in MLS one day, they
take it very seriously.”
Paladini’s sentiment shouldn’t be news to anyone that’s
follow the Fire the last few seasons. Having last won the Open Cup title in
2006, the Fire have been eliminated by lower league sides in the early stages
of the tournament three of the last four years and lost to Paladini’s old side
Carolina 1-0 in 2007.
Recognizing
recent result fall out of line with the team’s history in the tournament, the
club has put special emphasis on the competition this year.
With Tuesday’s game being the third in six days for the
squad, it would be wrong to expect to see the same lineup that trotted out
against New York on Sunday, though the Fire are expected to travel their best
available 18 for the Open Cup clash.
“The Fire have a tradition with this tournament,” said
Paladini. “We’re the MLS team with the most Open Cup championships and we’re
taking it as seriously as a league game. The Open Cup is a trophy to win and we
want to take it again this year.”
Jeff Crandall is the
Team Writer for the Chicago Fire. Follow him on Twitter @JefeCrandall.