All Hail Charlie Bails
If you’ve ever needed anything from the Des Moines Menace in the last decade, you’ve dealt with Charlie Bales. And you should consider that your pleasure. We do. Not to say there are many Charlie Bales in this soccer world of ours, but they keep the lights on and the standards high. They hold the line in complicated situations. From patchworking a team together in the off-season, to promotion, to charming retired MLS All-Stars and trophy-raisers like Sacha Kljestan and Roger Espinoza to joining up with a bunch of Iowa amateurs on an unlikely run in the Open Cup, it’s all Charlie. It was also our pleasure too to see him run out on the field, late in a losing effort to the outstanding Union Omaha in the Second Round, to put an end to a nine-year Open Cup suspension (he received a red card in his last Open Cup game in 2015 and served it out as a registered player in this year’s First Round). The Des Moines Menace is a treasure of American soccer, and has been since 1994. So everyone say thank you to GM and general problem-solver Charlie Bales – the pride of Cedar Rapids, Iowa – who lives by one of the simplest premises in the game. Don’t leave the club worse than you found it.
Lukic’s Long Road to Chattanooga
You never know the route your life will take. Ask 27-year-old Stefan Lukic, who began in the Partizan Belgrade youth system and Serbia’s youth national teams alongside current Juventus star Dušan Vlahović and former Fulham ace Aleksandar Mitrović. He was tipped for stardom on those biggest stages himself, nearly securing a move to the Premier League and Everton. But life has a way of throwing obstacles in the mix – and the so-close stories heavily outnumber the success stories. He ended up an Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagle instead of center-stage under Europe’s brightest lights – and he averaged a goal every other game in his five years there. The game never left Lukic’s blood stream and so, now, he finds himself in another unlikely destination: Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the Red Wolves of USL League One. And when he scored the only goal in their Second Rounder against amateurs Apotheos FC in Georgia, his celebration was pure ecstasy. Wembley or Silverbacks Park, no matter. It’s the game, folks, and it’s always the same.
A Fond Farewell
If you think it’s not hard, you’re wrong. Every year, every round we watch on as our favorites – our dreamweavers and beloved strivers of the so-called lower leagues – go down fighting. And tiny tributes are the least we can do. So, Des Moines Menace – and your band of aging and well-meaning mercenaries – we thank you. For the buzz you provided and the reminder that the things that matter aren’t always pretty or shiny or new. And Vermont Green FC, up north, you gave us history and something to ponder and we know you’ll be back soon too. SCU Heat and FORO SC, we know it’s not easy, and there are many challenges, but you brought eyes to your cause – and we salute you. Same as we do our favorite flamingoes from Wisconsin and all those who fell at this hurdle with style and vigor.
So that’s that. Let’s take a breath, gather ourselves and go again – for a Third Round between April 16 and 17 when we’ll welcome our pals from the USL Championship.
See you soon, friends.
Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on Twitter.