KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The reigning U.S. Open Cup Champion Kansas City Wizards will begin defense of their title on Wednesday, August 3rd when they host the PDL's Des Moines Menace in the 4th round of the 2005 U.S. Open Cup. The match will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. CT at Park University's Julian Field in Parkville, Missouri.
Tickets for the Wizards first U.S. Open Cup match will be General Admission and are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (15 and under). Tickets will go on sale Monday, July 18th and will be available in advance at the Wizards Box Office, located at Gate D-1 of Arrowhead Stadium, or at Julian Field on the day of the game.
Should Kansas City advance in the tournament by beating the Des Moines Menace on August 3rd, the Wizards would be the host team for the quarterfinal match. The Wizards would host the winner of the Colorado Rapids (MLS) vs. Minnesota Thunder (USL1) match on Wednesday, August 24th.
Dating back to 1914, the 91-year-old U.S. Open Cup is the oldest soccer cup competition in the United States and is among the oldest in the world. The tournament is open to affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, and is single-elimination format. Pairings, dates and kickoff times for the Quarterfinals will be announced at a later date. Log on to www.kcwizards.com or www.ussoccer.com for the latest scores and information on the 2005 U.S. Open Cup.
At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team which advances deepest in the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels. The U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation's National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world.
