In 2014, then-Helsingborgs forward David Accam lit up the Swedish Svenska Cupen, the country’s domestic cup competition played since 1941. The diminutive Ghanaian bagged six goals in six matches during the team’s run to the tournament final, an eventual 1-0 defeat to Elfsborg.
Fast-forward to August 2016. Accam has five goals in five total appearances in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as a member of the Chicago Fire and is on the brink of appearing in another domestic cup final.
“Cup games, it’s like…you’re always close to winning a trophy,” he said. “It’s four or five games to get to a final. I want to win trophies, so you’re really motivated to win a trophy. It’s all about the cup. You want to do well and try to win something.”
Read: The official U.S. Open Cup semifinal watch party is at Heineken Pub97
Standing in his way are the New England Revolution, whom he’ll look to sprint past when the whistle blows to kick off Tuesday night’s semifinal in Foxborough (7 p.m. CT, Watch ESPN, ESPN2). The Fire have played the Revolution twice already in 2016, both played at Gillette Stadium and both of which resulted in Fire losses. This week’s third time – he’s hoping – will be a charm.
“I’m really excited because we lost both already, and - for us - I don’t think we want to lose three times this season," he said. "Everyone is motivated and excited to have a go.”
Accam isn’t the only current member of the Men In Red to make a deep run in a foreign domestic cup competition before heading to Chicago. Most notably, forward Michael de Leeuw and Johan Kappelhof captured Holland’s KNVB Cup in 2015 with their former side FC Groningen. Kappelhof started six games in the team’s tournament run, while de Leeuw scored seven times in just four appearances.
“We have a lot of experienced players in the team,” Accam said. “Most of them have played in different competitions. Everyone brings their own experience to a team. Before the first game everyone spoke about the experience they had in cup competitions and how good and valuable it is for a player to win a trophy. We keep sharing experiences about our cup games so everyone is motivated to go all out.”
Read: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals to air live on ESPN2 August 9-10
Drawing from that collective experience has been a factor in the team’s run to the 2016 Open Cup semis. Assistant coach Logan Pause – who appeared in 337 games for the Fire from 2003-14 – led a discussion among the team about players’ successes and failures in cup tournaments both within the United States and overseas. Pause himself was a U.S. Open Cup winner in 2003 and 2006 with the Fire and a runner-up in 2004 and 2011.
“Logan started with it because he’s played here for a long time and won it twice, so he talked about him winning the cup for the Chicago Fire and how it felt as a player,” Accam said. “Then you have the guys from Holland, everyone started talking about their experience how, especially in Europe when you win the cup you go straight to Europa League, so that’s huge. Here it’s different. When you win you go to the Champions League, so it’s a lot of motivation behind winning a trophy.”
One of the Fire’s most experienced players in domestic cup competitions both at home and abroad is midfielder Arturo Alvarez. Alvarez’s FC Dallas made the U.S. Open Cup final in both 2005 and 2007, and his Hungarian side Videoton made runs to the League Cup final in both 2013 and 2014.
“Some guys here have experienced cup games overseas and also here,” Alvarez said. “I myself have been to two Open Cup finals that didn’t go my way, so I’m looking forward to the third one and maybe that will change things. We’re excited about the opportunity to play New England. It’s a good side, but I think we have what it takes to make sure we win that game.”
Read: Chicago Fire looking forward to "most important game of the season" after loss
Alvarez scored three goals in nine appearances during Videoton’s 2014 League Cup run. When asked how his experience both domestically and overseas in cup tournaments translates to his current team’s run in the U.S. Open Cup, he notes that a willingness to learn and share experiences sticks out as a difference.
“Ever since I got here, I saw it was a young group,” he said. “It’s been great. The young guys listen to you - they want to learn - which is something good. I’ve been in teams where maybe sometimes they feel like they don’t need that much advice from other players, but here it’s been different. I think it’s been great. It’s a good group of guys. These guys want to learn. They want to get better, so I’m trying to help them as much as I can. I went through it. I learned from older players myself, so I’m just trying to pass that down.”
Whether it’s Accam, Kappelhof, de Leeuw, Alvarez or any other of head coach Veljko Paunovic’s men, drawing from prior experience and applying it to Tuesday night’s 90 minutes in Foxborough will ultimately play a factor in their current team advancing to the final.
“I’m telling you, it’s a great experience. It’s a good way for the team to get used to winning ways, to winning cups. It’s always a good feeling, so I’m looking forward to doing that here with the Chicago Fire.”
