The U.S. Open Cup needs less McCarty and Kljestan, and more El Farolito | OneFootball

Of the four amateur sides that have advanced from the U.S. Open Cup First Round already this week, the two that have drawn the most attention have been the Des Moines Menace of USL 2 and El Farolito SC of the NPSL.

One is a the ultimate romantic example of what the Open Cup can be for the entire American men's soccer ecosystem. The other an embarrasing anecdote that serves the worst instincts of the game's most powerful brokers.

First, the good news.

Like many of the best historic USOC darlings, El Farolito is an amateur club named after a business, in this case El Faro restaurant in San Francisco.

And like many of the best USOC stories, theirs goes back a very long way, back to the final years before the tournament opened to professional clubs in the early 1990s, where they actually won the 1992-93 Open Cup title with a 5-0 romp of United German-Hungarians in the final.

Fast forward to present day, and the club came into this year's tournament already possessing a modern USOC pedigree after beating two pro sides in the 2024 competition before losing to second-tier Oakland Roots in extra time. The tournament needed a feel-good story after Major League Soccer's almost universally maligned attempt to jilt the competition, and the Burrito Boys provided it.

This week, El Farolito is again doing the righteous work of the little guy, beating MLS Next Pro's Real Monarch's 3-1 in extra time despite having to travel to Utah. And in an era where the overwhelming majority of soccer development stories seem to center around celebrating wealthy investors deciding it's finally time to acknowledge the sport's existence, the lasting image from this year's Open Cup early rounds may be the lone El Farolito away fan who reminded all of us how noble it is to support your most-local club, even when it involes a 1,400-plus mile round trip.

Now, the problem.

Des Moines Menace earned their victory over Sporting Kansas City II, also of MLS Next Pro, primarily by relying on retired MLS pros and/or pro players who are without a permanent club but actively looking.

At least those MLS ringers -- and that's what they are -- weren't taking opportunities from the Des Moines Menace's regular roster. The Menace are one of many USL2 teams that relies primarily on college talent during its May-to-August season, and those players aren't available when the Open Cup begins.

But there is a hugely problematic aspect to their story, even if in general you like seeing old heads come out of retirement and prove they're still as good once as they ever were. (I'm 41. I genuinely don't mind it most of the time.)

McCarty, Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips aren't only former MLS players, they're also studio pundits on the league-produced MLS Season Pass service that streams every MLS regular season, playoff, and Leagues Cup match. And their entrance into the tournament comes in the immediate aftermath of MLS Commissioner Don Garber attempting to make the argument that the standard of the tournament is too low for his first-tier clubs to be a part of.

I don't doubt the intentions of McCarty, Kljestan and others, who have always professed their love for the history of the American game beyond top tiers, and of the Open Cup in particular. One of their Des Moines teammates -- former MLSer Benny Feilhaber -- was actually a two-time USOC champion with Kansas City.

But if the league wanted to use the leverage from its broadcasting role to make the case that the Open Cup isn't a serious competition, having a bunch of your 40-year-old broadcasters go play in the first round, park the bus tactically, win the game via two penalty kicks (one very dubiously awarded), then moan about how much playing hurt their aging bodies would be a pretty effective strategy.

Fortunately this is a problem can be easily partially solved with a rule tweak that requires competing clubs to field a minimum number of players on its Open Cup roster who played in the competition that qualified the club for the Open Cup. If those teams can't do that, then the berth should be given to the next-best qualifying side that can.

That might have a disproportionate impact on USL2 teams, many of whom draw on collegiate talent like Des Moines for the bulk of their seasons. But if the teams that qualify can't compete in the tournament proper as functionally the same entity, why are they being let in? Especially if they provide an avenue for ringers whose involvement may actually not help the tournament's reputation as much as it first appears.