Who are the Des Moines Menace? USMNT and MLS stars return for USL League Two side in U.S Open Cup second round

Iowa is perhaps best known for corn, caucuses and Caitlyn Clark, but on Wednesday it will, no matter how unlikely this seems, to have the eyes of the American football world on it as the Menace Menace Meet Union Omaha in the second round of the Lamar Hunt Us Open Cup. Usually a second round game in the US Open Cup would not attract much attention, but the threat has done something revolutionary in American football. As a club with a lower division, they have recruited WHOs who recruited from retired American and Major League football stars to populate their schedule, giving them a lot of name recognition and perhaps a chance to make a run against some of the top clubs.

“I think we are the underdogs every time we get on the field. We have an average age of 35 plus, so there is no doubt that we will be the underdog for the amateurs, just as long as we have played once ago, we are the amateurs. Now this is no longer our daily job and we are our families of the Middelste states here,” the Moeil’s Dreigen.

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Remember some boys FC

USL League Two teams play their league matches between May and July, with mainly NCAA football players, which ensured that the Scramble finished a team after a qualification for the US Open Cup. Enter the old boys. Under the leadership of former American international Sacha Kljestan, a current broadcaster for MLS on Apple TV, the threat was a “Remember Some Guys FC” a real football team. With players such as Dax McCarty, AJ Delagarza, Benny Feilhaber and Bradley Wright-Phillips, there is a lot of international and top experience, but the majority of the team is also between 35-40, while they balance their day tasks in open cup matches.

It is something that shows the magic of the competition, that no two teams have the same selection composition, and the stories behind how they originated could be quite fascinating. Amateur players such as Leroy Enzugusi, Kyle Owen and Enzo Carvalho will still be involved, but essentially this is just the second game that this team played together.

“[Not having prep time between games]That is huge and different from the age and fitness for me, that is the biggest challenge because it is a team sport and we cannot train together. The first game that we had a light training session a few days earlier with probably half of our selection and then we had our entire schedule exactly the day before, “said Feilhaber.” This time we can only get a training session … and probably a kind of walk through a tactical perspective, maybe Day of the Game. That is huge and as a former player, as a former coach, I really understand that time with players and time together as a team is invaluable, so that is by far the biggest challenge and you are almost king of figuring out when you go. “

The threat will have one competition to go after the beating of Sporting Kansas City II in the first round of the competition and Feilhaber acknowledged that it will help determine the Squad -Setup that comes in this competition to be a little more balanced, but that still does not make the challenge to overcome their lack of training. But the lack of fame is something that both sides works in, because Union Omaha does not have much to get off with setting up on their part for this competition.

“It is a bit difficult to plan a team that does not play together often, but in all the games in the focus of our game plan is on the best version of ourselves, while it understands how the opposition might hurt us and how we can hurt them,” said Union Omaha head coach Dominic Casiato. “A game of des Moines together is clearly not much to continue, and I am sure they will bring in a few more players for this game, so I think it will focus more on ourselves and at our highest level are the best game plan that we can compile.”

As a team that plays together every week, Union Omaha has been able to have a suitable plan a little closer, while they also won their last two games in all competitions and the new season starts.

Remarkable monks endangered players

Omaha is a USL team on the rise

With a rich history in this competition itself, including bouncing a threat -side with many of the same retired players last season, Union Omaha is not strangers to open Cup Success and beat two MLS sides during their 2022 run in the competition. Now, able to turn that into a strong competition while building a sustainable team under Casiato, Union Omaha will not take anything light on their path. Because of the experience of winning titles, she only wants more silverware, while they also show that they have a blueprint in large competitions that can be successful.

“I think that the experience of the together winning-our-our third title in two seasons after back-to-back regular seasonal titles in 2023 and 2024-the boys give the trust that they know what is needed to continue and be successful in large competitions,” said Casiato. “The experience to win consistently, year after year, despite the turnover in the play team, the boys gives a lot of conviction that, regardless of circumstances, competition or opposition, we will find a way to win together.”

There is a reason why this team has been so successful, even among different coaches, success has continued to wave the flag for Nebraska Soccer. They become the road team in this competition on Wednesday 2 April, but from a big win, that feeling will follow them in this collision to push them past the experience of the threat. There is also fame because in the preseason during his time as manager of SKC II, Feilhaber will coach against Casiato in the preseason, because the football landscape are connections everywhere.

Even in the changing landscape of the Open Cup, Feilhaber gets the chance to play for his family when his children rarely saw him during his professional career and Casiato will test his team against former pros who have been there and have done that in a knockout game.

“It’s almost like your own version of March Madness, but every step you play a team at a higher level. We played an MLS Next Pro team now that we play a UCL League One team, and if we play a USL Championship team, and if we beat an MLS team in some way.

Both teams have this vision on Wednesday, but only one can continue to the third round.

How to look at the Moines Menace vs. Union Omaha, Odds

• Date: Wednesday 2 April | Time: 8:30 pm and
• Location: Valley Stadium – West des Moines, Iowa
• Live stream: YouTube
• Chances: Moines endangered +300; Drawing +280; Union Omaha -140