{"id":268786,"date":"2026-04-15T08:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268786\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:34:14","slug":"open-cup-clash-ahead-for-phoenix-rising-team-seeking-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268786\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Cup clash ahead for Phoenix Rising team seeking history"},"content":{"rendered":"

History could be made this week by Phoenix Rising<\/a> as the club seeks its first-ever win over Major League Soccer opposition in the U.S. Open Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rising travels to face the San Jose Earthquakes <\/a>in the final match of this year\u2019s third round at PayPal Park. It\u2019s the first time the two sides have ever met in competitive play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of people will look at it and say we are underdogs,\u201d Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah<\/a> said. \u201cI never look at our team or myself as an underdog. We are equal once we step on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Open Cup, organized by the U.S. Soccer Federation since 1914, allows clubs at all levels of the game to compete in a single tournament. Based on a revised format due to the World Cup<\/a>, 16 MLS teams are competing in this year\u2019s edition of the cup. They joined the 16 second round winners, made up of nine teams from USL Championship<\/a>, six from USL League One and one from MLS NEXT Pro.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was excited [at the draw] because it\u2019s an opportunity for some of us,\u201d Rising forward Ihsan Sacko<\/a> said. \u201cWe have some young players in the team, so it\u2019s a big chance for us. We\u2019re excited because we definitely want to win this game. That\u2019s why we go there for this: for the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that Rising has faced a top-flight opponent under head coach Pa-Modou Kah. Last year, the side fell 4-1 at home to the Houston Dynamo after extra time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want, this game, for the boys, is to enjoy it,\u201d Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. \u201cListen, some of them have aspiration to be in MLS. Some of them beyond. There\u2019s no better test. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou go in and enjoy the game, and we showed last year over 90 minutes, obviously we were there, but you know that the budget, the different players they can bring [on], that is the difference. That is the difference from when I watched the game back against Houston [Dynamo] last year. Even at 2-1, Tico [Damian Rivera<\/a>] had an opportunity, maybe he passed it to [Dariusz Formella<\/a>], that\u2019s the what if. But yeah, they bring in guys that cost 8, 10, 20 million. There\u2019s nothing you can do. But the way that we fought as a team, the way that we showcase ourselves is the same thing I want to see this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season\u2019s clash wasn\u2019t the only time that Phoenix Rising has faced MLS opposition in Open Cup play. In 2024, Rising travelled to Tukwila to face the Seattle Sounders, taking the lead in first half stoppage time through a R\u00e9mi Cabral<\/a> penalty. Alex Roldan drew the sides level in the second half, before Kalani Kossa-Rienzi found the winner for the hosts with just two minutes to play.<\/p>\n

Prior to that, the team faced LA Galaxy<\/a> in the 2014 Open Cup under the name Arizona United. Matt Kassel put Arizona up in front of a home crowd in Peoria. Again, two second half goals sank the side\u2019s hopes, with Gyasi Zardes netting a brace.<\/p>\n

Last season\u2019s clash with Houston was the first time Rising took MLS opposition beyond the regulation 90 minutes, though, and Sacko described being \u201cmad to lose at the end like that.\u201d That\u2019s something, according to both Sacko and Kah, that can give the team confidence going into the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the reason also in preseason you want to go play these teams as well, because you get to measure yourselves,\u201d the coach said. \u201cYou get to showcase yourself. You get to see where am I now to where I want to be. For us, there\u2019s no better opportunity. As a coach and especially as a player, these are the games that you want to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising can also bring confidence from a resounding 3-0 win over rivals New Mexico United<\/a> last weekend. That match marked the first league win of the season, with Sacko recording a brace alongside a JP Scearce<\/a> goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou keep doing the things that you\u2019ve been doing prior,\u201d Kah said on carrying the momentum from the weekend. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to change anything. It\u2019s just making sure that again you stay consistent in the work that you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Rising\u2019s Open Cup run has already caused some early season fixture congestion. The team is now in the middle of a stretch of three games in eight days, which is only made tougher by the team\u2019s continued injury woes. Both Damian Rivera and Kelvin Arase are yet to feature in 2026, while Rafael Czichos<\/a> has been sidelined recently due to illness. Both Daniel Flores and Pape Mar Boye<\/a> have recently begun easing back in to game time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a balance, but sometimes when you have momentum, you want to keep that momentum going by also trusting the guys that fought and helped, and we know that we also have some game changers on the bench,\u201d Kah said.<\/p>\n

While Rising\u2019s rotation choices may be more limited, it\u2019s not clear how seriously San Jose will take this cup tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach the game with the same amount of detail that we want to provide for our players and game plan, and who we are,\u201d Kah said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about respecting the game so I will never take it lightly whoever I\u2019m facing. The planning, the detailing will always be there. What we can control is our preparation, our mental state and what we\u2019re going to do. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the opposition is going to do, I\u2019ll be honest to you, I don\u2019t know until the whistle or you see the lineup. When you see the lineup, you know, but we\u2019re prepared for whatever they\u2019re going to bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the lineup that San Jose puts out, Phoenix is looking to make club history in the Open Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d Kah said. \u201cWhy should we not aim for it? That is our ambition. And can we do it? I believe 100% that we can do it, because at the end of the day, it\u2019s football. Once you step in the white lines, it\u2019s not who you are. It\u2019s what you\u2019re going to do at that moment. And when our moment comes, we\u2019re going to take our moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top image: Mark Zaleski \/ The Tennessean \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"History could be made this week by Phoenix Rising as the club seeks its first-ever win over Major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-268786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}