Put your best foot forward

TUKWILA — The Seattle Sounders have won two consecutive U.S. Open Cups, and are three wins away from a third in part because of talent and depth.

But to be frank, Seattle also has succeeded in the tournament because they actually take it seriously.

A third title may be tougher than th

e first two, however, because ever so slowly, more Major League Soccer teams are starting to care about the Open Cup, a knockout tournament that dates back 1914 and is open to professional and amateur teams.

When Seattle plays the Los Angeles Galaxy at Starfire Stadium tonight in a quarterfinal, coach Sigi Schmid will field as competitive of a team as he can allowing for the fact that his team played Sunday and has another game Saturday. The question is whether Los Angles, which has a friendly against Real Madrid this weekend instead of a league game, will do the same. The Galaxy brought essentially a reserve squad to Seattle last year and lost in the quarterfinals, but Schmid thinks L.A. will take the game more seriously this time around.

“Obviously the Open Cup is more important to them as a group,” Schmid said. “They only play an exhibition game on the weekend so there’s nothing that hinders them from throwing out their best team unless they feel the Real Madrid game is more important than the Open Cup game. That’s a decision that they would make within the organization, but I think they’re going to come out with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm.”

And even if the Galaxy elect to leave there stars at home, there is plenty of other evidence around the league that the tournament is gaining more credibility. Kansas City, which opened a new stadium this season, along with FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire, all have used competitive lineups and appear to be making the tournament a priority.

Salt Lake, in fact, outbid Seattle to host a semifinal, something that has rarely happened to the Sounders in the past three years because of their financial resources and ability to draw big crowds to the games. Fortunately for Seattle, Dallas beat Salt Lake on Tuesday, meaning if Seattle wins tonight, it will play host to the semifinals, having outbid Dallas. Still, Salt Lake’s commitment is yet another sign Seattle likely will have a tougher road ahead in future Open Cups.

“It does show that other teams are seeing the Open Cup as a viable tournament, as a trophy that means something,” Schmid said. “Certainly the (qualification into) the CONCACAF Champions league that comes with it is something that teams have now stepped up and recognized and said, ‘Wait a second, we want to be a part of that.'”

Still, not all teams are treating this tournament equally. New York went to Chicago for Tuesday’s quarterfinal minus its head coach and with only 14 players, and not surprisingly the Red Bulls lost big. And despite the schedule working in its favor, as Schmid pointed out, there is nothing keeping the Galaxy from fielding another lineup full of reserves like last year. But even so, it seems clear that, ever so slowly, the Open Cup is gaining credibility amongst MLS teams. So maybe next year that could mean another road game or two for Seattle, which may not be great for its chances of winning, but is a good sign for the future of the tournament.

“Clearly teams are taking the tournament more seriously,” said general manager Adrian Hanauer. “I guess I’m proud that maybe the last couple of years of us focusing on it, and some of the bidding wars and the games that were held over the last couple of years — whether it was (Seattle’s 2010 Open Cup final) against Columbus or the (2009 final against D.C. United) — have raised the importance and the attention that teams are paying to the Cup. Consequently their bids are obviously larger, and in the case of Real Salt Lake, they were able to outbid us to host a game. I know what I bid, which was a fairly significant sum of money.”

Good news for Hurtado

Defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who left Sunday’s game with a knee injury, has an MCL sprain and is not expected to miss a significant amount of time, although he won’t play this weekend. An MRI taken Monday revealed no damage beyond the sprain.

“He’s definitely out for the games (tonight) and this weekend, but there’s no ACL, there’s no meniscus or anything else,” Schmid said. “It’s just MCL sprain.”

White off the disabled list

Forward O’Brian White, who has been out since late April after a blood clot was discovered in his leg, requiring surgery, was removed from the disabled list Tuesday, making him immediately eligible to return to action. Schmid said White could come off the bench in Saturday’s game against Colorado, or if not, he would likely make his return in next week’s friendly against Manchester United.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.