Former MLS stars lace up the boots for an amateur Iowa team in US Open Cup

Unknown to most, the Des Moines Menace have got some big names on their roster — retired MLS stars Sacha Kljestan and Benny Feilhaber among them — and they’re aiming to make some noise in the U.S. Open Cup.

Problem is, they’ve never played together.

The Menace open the 110th edition of the Open Cup on Wednesday with a first-round match at Sporting Kansas City II. In addition to Kljestan and Feilhaber, other retired stars on the Des Moines roster include Dax McCarty, Osvaldo Alonso, Justin Meram, Matt Hedges, A.J. DeLaGarza and Bradley Wright-Phillips.

The team was meeting in Kansas City for a lone practice on Tuesday night. Part of the game plan will involve figuring out which players, mostly in their late 30s and early 40s, can still go a full 90 minutes.

“Fortunately for us Benny Feilhaber used to be the head coach of Sporting KC II, and he’s got a good scouting report on them,” Kljestan said. “He’s going to be helping us out tactically and how to set up the team.”

The Menace are part of USL League Two in the fourth tier of the soccer pyramid in the United States. Because the team’s season is during the summer months, the Menace draws many elite college players who want to continue to train and compete in the offseason.

The MLS stars aren’t taking up roster spots on the regular team and won’t be paid. But they will undoubtedly help the team — with its angry red-eyed soccer ball logo — get some attention and even sell some merchandise.

Last year, Kljestan was at a Southern California gym owned by a former Menace player who introduced him to the team’s GM, Charlie Bales. Even though Kljestan — an MLS Season Pass analyst for Apple TV — hadn’t played for more than a year, Bales convinced him to suit up for the Menace in the 2024 Open Cup.

The Menace won their first match against Southern California club Capo FC on penalties after a 2-2 draw, with Kljestan netting the game-winning spot kick. But the team was eliminated in the next round with a 3-1 loss to Union Omaha.

Kljestan said Feilhaber asked him if he was willing to give the Menace another go this year.

“He hit me up and asked if I was going to play again this year and if I was, if he could join, too. And I said, `OK, we’re doing this, let’s do it right, and let’s get a whole cast of ex-MLS All-Stars and really give it a shot.'” Kljestan said. “So it was pretty easy to get most of the guys to join once Benny and I were in and threw the possibility out there.”

Founded in 1914, the Open Cup is the nation’s oldest soccer competition. It includes both MLS and lower-tier teams, including amateur sides like the Menace.

Since the start of MLS in 1996, the only lower-division team to win the competition was the 1999 Rochester Raging Rhinos of the USL’s second-tier A-League, which beat the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the final.

In late 2023, MLS said it would pull senior teams from the tournament, and instead enter developmental clubs from MLS Next Pro. After blowback, eight MLS teams competed in 2024. This year there are 16.

“I love the Open Cup. I think it’s a fantastic competition with the most history of almost any team sport in the United States. I’m glad that they found a solution and we got MLS teams back in the Open Cup because that’s where they belong,” Kljestan said. “I went to the final last year to watch LAFC play against Kansas City, and the atmosphere was fantastic and LAFC lifted the trophy. So I’m glad that they found a resolution that works right now.”

AP soccer: