Now Barrera is back to face his old mentor, so too is Menjivar.

“Eric Wynalda jump-started my career,” said Menjivar, now a full international with El Salvador, who’s had pro stints in Denmark, in New York with the Cosmos and Penn FC – to name only a few. “That 2012 [Cal FC] team was just tons of fun. All the players knew each other from way back and it felt like playing in your backyard with your friends. The chemistry was so good that it really showed on the field.”

Chemistry, Guidance & the Open Cup Mystery

Wynalda fostered that critical chemistry, to help make the players believe what might have sounded, even to them, like a fantasy. “He [Wynalda] had so much knowledge of the game, and I tried to soak it all up,” added Menjivar, who’s been capped 41 times for El Savaldor’s national team. “We were a very talented group of players and in a lot of ways, he just let us play. He made the right adjustments, but he believed in us.”

“When we went to Portland, we didn’t really have any expectations, the guys just wanted to be out there and soak it in,” added Menjivar, who Wynalda brought with him to the Atlanta Silverbacks when he took over the Georgia club later in 2012. “We just wanted to enjoy what we did. We didn’t have any pressure that day – and that was the best part. We had such a great fighting spirit. I was sore for days after that game [a 1-0 win in extra-time of a game in which Cal was out-shot 37-8].”