As Houston Dynamo captain Hector Herrera and his team-mates lifted the 2023 US Open Cup in Fort Lauderdale, local parks and fields across the United States were already playing host to the qualifiers for the next edition.
Just three days after Houston had defeated Inter Miami at Fort Lauderdale, teams with such vivid and original names as Tennessee Tempo, Deportivo Lake Mary, Lansdowne Yonkers, Chicago House, Austin Longhorns and New York Pancyprian Freedoms started out on the road to the 2024 final.
It is at both extremes that a picture of the true character of American soccer be put together. From the grassroots, amateur and semi-pro clubs playing on college fields or in local parks on pitches that often have markings for several other sports; to the glamour of Miami, the world of professional franchises, and a game attended by Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.
Only one end of this soccer spectrum is usually
