1998 U.S. Open Cup final

The 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final was the 85th final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the United States's oldest soccer cup competition. The match, contested by the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew, took place on October 30, 1998 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.^[1] It was Chicago's and the Crew's first U.S Open Cup campaign and their first final in the U.S. Open Cup. The Chicago Fire won the game 2–1 in overtime thanks to goals from Jerzy Podbrożny and Frank Klopas while the Crew goal came from Stern John.^[1]

Fire defender, C. J. Brown, was named the Man of the Match after the game.^[2]

The final was originally scheduled to take place on August 26, 1998, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but was postponed by a day after the arrival of Hurricane Bonnie.^[3] After a second postponement, the match was moved to Chicago despite objections from the Columbus Crew front office.^[4]

Match

Details

October 30, 1998

Chicago Fire	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Columbus Crew
Podbrożny 45' (pen.) Klopas 99'	Report	John 53'

Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 18,615

Referee: Arturo Angeles

Chicago Fire

Columbus Crew

GK Zach Thornton RB Luboš Kubík  14' CB C. J. Brown CB Francis Okaroh LB Chris Armas MF Jesse Marsch MF Ritchie Kotschau  91' MF Piotr Nowak MF Josh Wolff CF ' Ante Razov CF Jerzy Podbrożny Substitutes: MF Josh Keller  14'  77' MF Zak Ibsen  77' FW Frank Klopas  91' Manager: Bob Bradley

GK Juergen Sommer RB Mike Clark CB Thomas Dooley CB Ricardo Iribarren LB Ansil Elcock MF Robert Warzycha  78' MF Andy Williams MF Brian Maisonneuve  67' MF Rob Smith FW Stern John FW Brian McBride Substitutes: MF Todd Yeagley  67' MF Jason Farrell  78' Manager: Tom Fitzgerald

References