Houston Dynamo turn “wild ride” into Open Cup final vs. Miami & Messi 

Olsen took the reins in Houston for 2023, aiming to book their first Audi MLS Cup Playoffs ticket since 2017. They’re on track, sitting sixth in the Western Conference table with 10 games to go, and now are on the verge of their second US Open Cup title in six years (their 2018 squad lifted the national trophy over the Philadelphia Union).

As Houston keep climbing, Olsen turned reflective on his team’s journey.

“The Open Cup journey is a circus,” began Olsen, who has won two Open Cup titles with D.C. United, in 2008 as a player and in 2013 as a coach. “We should have lost in Tampa. Kansas City, they had a red card and we skirted by them. Then Minnesota comes in and they got a red card. The first two or three games, it’s a wild ride. Then you get into the quarters and you tighten it up and you go forward and obviously tonight, we put our best foot forward and got the result.

“Each one that I’ve ever gone through, as a player and as a coach, it’s a wild ride. That’s all I can say. You got referees, different types of referees, you’re going to small cities, you get the home game versus the away game with a coin flip or however we’re doing it. To get here, it takes a little luck. But once you get into quarters, these games get real. I’m proud of these guys for getting through the last two games.”