At least for today (because of the relentless rain), the future of San Francisco soccer was contested in the sleepy suburb of Fremont.
On one side of the opening round of the 2023 US Open Cup was the storied club, El Farolito, established in 1985 and named after its late owner Salvador Lopez’s chain of restaurants. His son, Santiago, now helms the ship in the NPSL.
On the other was Inter SF, a brand new amateur team founded two years ago by an ambitious soccer lover, Amir Darabi, an outsider who talks a big game. According to him, no one has been able to harness the talent in the City by the Bay correctly until now.
Two men with very different ideas. And two teams with very different personalities. Ninety minutes would not be enough to set one apart from the other. The winner would be the last remaining San Francisco club to represent the City in the nation’s oldest tournament.
It ended up taking 120 minutes—where El Farolito won 3-0, scoring all of their goals in extra time, remarkably so after being reduced to 10 men because of a red card in the 85th.
“[Inter SF] played a great game,” El Farolito head coach Santiago Lopez said. “But we took advantage of our set pieces, which is what these games sometimes come down to.”
“Believe it or not, [the red card] actually simplified our attacking ideas,” Lopez said.
Colombian center-back Johnatan Mosquera broke the deadlock in the 94th by winning a scramble for the ball off of a corner. Then, just five minutes later, his countryman, winger Jhon Quinones, added a second, emerging with the ball after several deflections.
With Inter chasing the game and leaving space behind for a counter, Quinones combined with fellow attacker Cesar Benetiz to put the game away for good in the 113th.
“The game was tight for so long,” Benetiz said. “[Inter SF] were disciplined. But once we got the first goal, that’s when the space we needed really started to open up.”
For most of regulation, it was actually Inter SF who had asserted themselves more. They defended well in a compact 5-4-1 shape and created better chances before falling behind.
In the 12th minute, Inter forward (and former USL MVP) Matt Fondy smashed a volley from a well-worked cross that missed just right of the goal. Later before halftime, he also put two separate headers over the bar.
“This game was ours for the taking,” a dejected Darabi said after the final whistle. “We didn’t convert our chances and slipped in extra time. That’s just how it goes in football sometimes.”
The Iranian, who doubles as a medical doctor by day, was hopeful for a deeper run in the Open Cup, which would’ve affirmed his lofty promises to his growing team and provided another positive data point for potential investors to consider.
Since debuting in 2021, Inter SF has already climbed to the top division in SFSFL and won four straight games to qualify for the Open Cup. After Wednesday’s loss, they return to the amateur league with their sights set on winning it before pushing for a fully professional team.
The Open Cup already holds a special place in the hearts of those in the El Farolito organization. In 1993, an amateur team, then known as “CD Mexico,” led by Lopez’s father, won the entire competition.
Now, on the 30th anniversary of that title, Lopez hopes to honor that tradition.
“Once the pro teams started entering the competition [in the 90s], we sort of stopped trying in the Cup,” Lopez said. “But 3-0 today on the 3-0 anniversary; it doesn’t get any better than that.”
El Farolito will face Bay Area rivals and USL side Oakland Roots SC in the second round of the Open Cup on Tue. April 4th at Pioneer Stadium at the Cal State East Bay in Hayward.
About the Author: Kevin V. Nguyen has covered soccer for The Guardian, The Sacramento Bee, and The San Francisco Standard. Follow him on Twitter @KevinNguyen_89
