Warm glowing warming glow of win still radiating; U.S. Open Cup lineup speculation

After basking in the warm glowing warming glow of that late winner, it's hard to look past it in any significant way. It was the sort of exciting finish we have come to almost expect from our side — which, to my mind, is a little dangerous but also very, very fun.

It's such now that, come stoppage time, I felt almost confident that we could score. Even after Fabian Espindola hit the crossbar with a header, I remained optimistic. Or, well, as optimistic as I'm likely to feel with my heart in my mouth. But you know the drill.

This can't be good for anyone's nerves, tough. Our late-game antics are brilliant when they come off, and I love that we push for a win at home and on the road. But my word, I'd just like to win nicely one of these days! At any rate, we've got a rather longish break from league action, so maybe we can get that sorted and just, you know, win a little more easily next time.

Don't take me for looking a gift horse in the mouth, though.

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Right, let's talk a little about the U.S. Open Cup, shall we? With our lads setting off on international duty, and injury taking its toll, we're left a little depleted. Let's take a breather and look at who'll be notably absent.

Out with the U.S. team are Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman. No surprise, really, because they've been gone for a bit of time now. Luis Gil has been called up to the U.S. Under-20s, but if I'm not mistaken, the camp starts on Wednesday, and he'll remain with our side for the Open Cup match. That's certainly not confirmed, so it's just me taking wild stabs in the dark. Watch out and perhaps step back a bit.

Off for Canada is Will Johnson, who certainly deserves national team attention. He's some player, that one. Alvaro Saborio, likewise, is off to his home nation of Costa Rica. I suppose that about wraps it, really. We've also got a few injuries to contend with, so let's touch on 'em.

Certainly we'll be missing the following: Chris Schuler, Javier Morales, Chris Wingert, Leone Cruz. Well, perhaps less certainly about Chris Wingert, but I doubt he's risked for this match — as much as we're focused on winning it, it's not worth risking a player. I've not heard about any injuries following from Saturday's match, so hopefully there's nothing bad that's come about.

This leaves us with a potentially strong lineup:

Reynish / Tanaka, Olave, Borchers, Beltran / Alvarez, Grabavoy, Steele, Gil / Paulo, Espindola

With a bench of:

Lalo, Estridge, Enzo, Muñiz, Velasquez, Bonfigli, Arnoux

Who knows, though. Jason did say something along the lines of "We'll put our best possible eleven… almost." What does that even mean? At any rate, it'll be a good test for the side and a good time for the fans. I hope to see you all there.

'Til tomorrow, when I'll aim for a more in-depth match preview.