Long reached the Open Cup Final in his first full year in New York. That 2017 run was one of those moments that a young player might think will happen again and again as a career progresses and grows – but an Open Cup legend, and Red Bull captain at the time, set him straight on that score.
“Sacha Kljestan was our captain and I remember before the Final in Kansas City, he gathered us all around – he was in his 30s and we were a young team. He said: ‘Some of you might think this is normal, to be in an Open Cup Final, but it isn’t. Making a Final is special and you need to cherish it.’”
Finals Rare & Trophies Rarer
In the end, the Red Bulls came up short. Long lost out 2-1 to Sporting KC and his current LAFC teammate Ilie Sanchez. But Captain Kljestan’s words stuck with him. “You just hope you can get back to that place one more time, and like Sacha said, it’s no guarantee – It’s been seven or eight years now...”
That word now hangs there in the air for a few beats. “It’s not an easy thing to do – to get to a Final, or to get back to a Final,” admitted the defender.
Long and his LAFC, with a squad he says is defined by a core that’s “very hardworking and willing to roll up their sleeves,” went undefeated in all competitions in the month of June and sit atop MLS’ western conference standings (as of July 1st). Just three wins away from lifting the oldest trophy in the American game, they’re in a position to align the bright and shining face of modern-day MLS, and all its glitz and glamor, with the country’s oft-overlooked grassroots.
“You always want to get to a Final. It’s the pinnacle for us as athletes,” said Long, at home in LA, or near enough to it, and looking to take that one step farther. “To win some silverware, and try to lift those trophies and to bring that history to a club, it means a lot. You’ve got to take that seriously.
“You do not want to be on the wrong side of an Open Cup upset,” added Long, a world away from the dirt roads of his youth but still with that grit around the edges. “And there’s tons of them. Every year.”
Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on X/Twitter.
