Anything can happen in a cup match. A winner-goes-on, loser-goes-home game is potentially fraught for the favorites like the Colorado Rapids. Wednesday, they faced a hungry bunch of underdogs in USL expansion club New Mexico United. In this match, the Rapids were playing just another match in between more prestigious MLS fixtures, with a mixed roster of tired veterans and inexperienced youngsters. New Mexico, on the other hand, was playing the most important match in the clubs history — its first meaningful game against a first division opponent.

In these players heads, this was every underdog comeback movie come to life, and at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Every single guy on that New Mexico roster had been passed over by a host of MLS teams. Told they weren’t good enough. Told they weren’t “at that level.” Santi Moar was drafted by Philadelphia Union and played for its USL affiliate, but never got a call-up to the big leagues. Chris Wehan was cut by San Jose at the end of 2018. Heck, two of the players on the pitch, centerback Sam Hamilton and goalkeeper Cody Mizell, had played for the Rapids in the not-too-distant past, but were told to clean out their lockers and try their luck somewhere else. Fewer things will motivate you more than being in the visitor’s locker room of your former club.

That kind of pure adrenaline and soul-stirring rocket fuel is hard to prepare against if you are Colorado, and that’s why the Rapids conceded a goal in just the first three minutes of the game and looked back on their heels for the better part of the first half. When the game went to extra time at 2-2, it was almost inevitable that the two exhausted clubs would grind their way into a penalty-kick finish. And when Mizell dove to his left to stop Tommy Wilson’s shot and give Underdog FC the lead in the shootout, you could almost hear the violins swell. It was inevitable, even while simultaneously being an extremely unwelcome surprise.

Meanwhile, for the Rapids, nothing ever seems to happen for them in a cup match. The Rapids are one of only three MLS original teams to have never won the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, alongside the San Jose Earthquakes and New York Red Bulls. The club’s overall record of 17 wins and 24 losses tells you that going out in the first round is a frequent occurrence. It was the 11th time in Open Cup history that Colorado was knocked out by a lower league side, most of any MLS team, and it marked the third time in franchise history that the team was knocked out of the US Open Cup by a lower-division side in back-to-back years.

#Rapids96 eliminated by a 2nd-division side for the 2nd year in a row.

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That has happened to the Rapids *twice* before.

Eliminated in '96 by Rochester Rhinos

Eliminated in '97 by Chicago Stingers

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Eliminated in '00 by Richmond Kickers

Eliminated in '01 by Pgh Riverhounds — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) June 13, 2019

Some folks might point to the lineup as the reason for the loss: Rapids interim coach Conor Casey gave regular starters Kei Kamara and Tim Howard the night off and had Tommy Smith, Kellyn Acosta, and Sam Nicholson coming in off the bench. At the same time, replacement Rapids Johan Blomberg and Axel Sjöberg had sub-par performances. Others would say that the tactical plan was at fault: the Rapids, ostensibly the better team, had only 33 percent possession. You might counter that Colorado was playing down a man after Sjöberg was sent off with a second yellow in the 72nd minute. That would make sense, except that the Rapids were totally out-possessed throughout the match, including those first 71 minutes when it was normal 11-versus-11 soccer.

I was surprised to learn that #Rapids96 were dominated in possession by USL side New Mexico United in their #USOC2019 match.

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You might react by saying 'well yeah, they were playing with 10 men.' But they were out-possessed for the first 71 min, before Axel was sent off. pic.twitter.com/4Vk3RhDcYb — Mark Asher Goodman (@soccer_rabbi) June 14, 2019

That strongly suggests that the team had planned to absorb and counterattack, and the defeat shows that New Mexico was ready with a plan to defeat that. The Rapids were trying to defend their 2-1 lead in the second half, rather than push for that third goal to seal a win. Not only is that a bad indicator for how Casey planned for this match — it’s a bad indicator going forward. Teams are figuring out the Rapids’ counterattacking M.O. and planning around it. It’s hard to be a successful team throughout a long MLS season if you’re nothing more than a one-trick pony, tactically speaking.

I don’t know if the Rapids failed to take this game with an adequate degree of importance. I know that a lot of fans I interact with believed that a deep US Open Cup run would have soothed the frustrations that come with being low in the standings with a slim chance of making the playoffs. I think the Rapids should prioritize the Open Cup because it has a history stretching back to 1904, and is a trophy that the club has never won.

And I know that the club’s approach to the tournament for the past 23 years hasn’t worked.

Cries and Whispers

Speaking of Axel Sjöberg, let’s talk about Axel Sjöberg. No player has tumbled as far for the Rapids since perhaps Dillon Powers, who won the MLS Rookie of the Year award in 2013 with 5 goals and 6 assists, followed it up with a good sophomore performance, and then steadily regressed for the rest of his career to the point that he is now a reserve for Orlando City.

Sjöberg finished third for the 2016 MLS Defender of the Year award after serving as one of the lynchpins in the Rapids’ league-best defense. The team went to the MLS Cup semifinals that year as well. At the start of the 2017 season, Sjöberg tore his hamstring, an injury requiring surgery, and missed the next three months.

Since then, things have been rough for the big Swede. Sjöberg has looked more unsure of his actions and positioning and has been less reliable at the back, letting players blow past him, and making occasional, critical mistakes. The Rapids struggled in 2017 while he was injured, but once he returned, the results were no better, with the team compiling a record of 4-7-5 in matches he started. In 2018, he was part of Anthony Hudson’s rotation of unsuccessful centerbacks, getting a run of games in July that failed to reverse the club’s fortunes and ultimately saw him return to the bench.

Against New Mexico, he found himself in the first half as the last defender as Chris Wehan broke toward the goal. The two players collided — or perhaps Sjöberg intentionally knocked Wehan down. It was a moment that could have been an instant red card if the referee desired, but instead resulted in only a yellow. Later, in the 72nd minute, Sjöberg slid in to win the ball after a footrace with New Mexico’s Kevaughn Frater. A step late, Axel got Frater instead of the ball, bringing his man down and drawing a second yellow to get sent off.

It was, to some degree, indicative of Sjöberg’s play over the last two years: mostly he provides solid play, but when a critical moment arises, there’s a little mental mistake, and it costs the team dearly. In 2019, Sjöberg has had an own goal in one match and a red card in another that ultimately doomed the Rapids in those games, to add to his sending off in the Open Cup.

Sjöberg’s success in 2016, plus his genial attitude, endeared him to supporters, and his number 44 jersey is a popular replica kit with fans sighted in the stands on game day. But it has been a while since he was a difference-making defender, in a good way, and instead of ‘Defender of the Year’, fans are hoping that Sjöberg can someday get into the conversation for ‘Comeback Player of the Year.’

Salary Drop

The MLS Players Union released the salaries of players in MLS the other day, and nothing much about the Rapids pay details were surprising.

Tim Howard is still the highest-paid player at $2.6 million a year, and former Rapid Shkelzen Gashi is the team’s second-highest-paid at $1.7 million. Third highest is striker Kei Kamara at $750,000, which is a steal if you consider that Kamara made $1 million for Vancouver last year and scored 14 goals, and his 8 goals to-date puts him on pace to score 15-plus in 2019.

Other than that, there were few surprises. The younger homegrown and SuperDraft players were all signed to affordable contracts at between $70,000 and $100,000 dollars. And, as expected, veteran free agent bench pieces Kofi Opare and Clint Irwin were pretty inexpensive at $70,250 and $138,707, respectively. Striker Diego Rubio, earning $320,000, and midfielder Nicolas Mezquida making $353,750, are middle-income earners in MLS and would be expected to be productive for that amount of outlay.

The only interesting piece of information to come out of the usually revelatory salary drop was regarding the specifics of Kellyn Acosta’s contract. Originally revealed as a contract “worth an average of $800,000 a year,” Acosta’s salary for 2019 will be $665,000. That tells us his 2020 and 2021 contracts will cost the Rapids more — likely around $800,000 in 2020 and $935,000 in 2021. Colorado will hope that, as Acosta settles into the team more over time, his production will rise to justify those pay raises. The need to pay Acosta a little more over the next two years also means that the Rapids will have less targeted allocation money to spread around for other players in ensuing seasons. Not a big deal, unless Acosta underwhelms, and the team is short the available cash needed to replace him with a diamond-in-the-rough. Because like most sports, soccer is not just a game of yards and inches, but also a game of dollars and cents.