The Countdown to the Minnesota Super Cup Begins

Image courtesy of Minnesota Super Cup

52 days.

Mark it on your calendar, clear your schedules, and start learning some chants because we’re only 52 days away from the first kickoff of the inaugural Minnesota Super Cup. The highly anticipated contest has been leading us on with a slow tease, first the competition proper being announced, followed by the participating teams: Minneapolis City and St. Croix Legends of USL2, Minnesota United’s U19 Academy team, Duluth FC and Med City FC of the NPSL, and Vlora FC of UPSL fame.

And now comes the knockout punch: the schedule.

The most interesting thing about this schedule (besides the obviously juicy match-ups) is the timeline. The tournament will begin on May 5 with Minneapolis City taking on the MNUFC U19’s, almost three whole months before the Final will occur on July 29. Obviously it has to be difficult to schedule around four different leagues and their various competitions, and honestly, it’s all the better for us.

Group A

Group A kicks off play on the opening day of the competition, pitting Minneapolis City against the MNUFC U19 team. We will then have a full month break before either team plays again, this time with Duluth FC getting to take on the academy on June 7, and providing us with a no-holds barred closing matchup between long time rivals Minneapolis City and Duluth FC on July 18. Look for all the fireworks to be going off in this game, especially as there’s the chance that the loser of that game could be sent home.

Group B

Group B is the second of the two groups to start play, with their first game coming on May 17 as Med City takes on Vlora FC. However, they also will be the first group to wrap-up play, with a June double header with St. Croix taking on first Med City on June 6 and then Vlora FC on the 21st. This will give the Group B teams a month long build-up as they wait to figure out who they will take on in the Semi-Finals.

Semi-Finals and Finals

As for how the knock-out rounds of the tournament will go, the Minnesota Super Cup website looks as if we can expect the winners of Group A to take on the runners-up of Group B with the same going for the winners of Group B and the runners-up of Group A. These matches will take place between July 21 and 23, all of which will lead up to the Final on July 29th. Also, according to their website, the losers of the Semi-Final games will participate in a game for third place. There currently isn’t a date for this game listed on the website.