Tim Ream has been around the block enough to know every game matters.
Cup matches? Even more.
After all, they don't come along that often and are an opportunity to win a trophy and wear a medal. Ream has never won a domestic Cup competition, but the Charlotte FC center-back knows that there’s a first time for everything, including the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“I think it's important, especially with Charlotte being a relatively new club in MLS, within the soccer landscape in the country,” he said in a recent interview with ussoccer.com. “It's a chance to win a trophy. It's a chance to get a medal. It's a chance to put something into a trophy cabinet.
“If you're not going to take it seriously, then what's the point of playing?” he asked.
“As players, you want to win things. As players, you want to say, 'Okay, my team has a trophy. We've done this. We accomplished this. We set out to put a trophy in the cabinet this year and we succeeded.' It's about winning. It's about trophies,” Ream continued.
“And the Open Cup is an important one in the grand scheme of things, and the history of the game in this country and one that many different types of teams have won,” he added about the country’s most historic tournament, reaching all the way back to 1914. “It's still a proud history of the competition. It's one that we're taking seriously. I know the manager and the staff are taking it seriously, because it's an opportunity for silverware.”
After defeating North Carolina FC of the Division II USL Championship in the Round of 32 in an All-Carolina Derby (4-1 after OT) Ream and his teammates will take on fellow MLS side D.C. United in the Round of 16 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET (LIVE on Paramount+ and aired on the CBS Sports Network).
Ream came off the bench in the 78th minute and played for the final 42 minutes (which included 30 minutes of extra-time and saw five goals fall).
Because the 37-year-old defender has played most of his career in England, he has participated in only three Open Cup matches to date. In fact, his introduction to the competition wasn't a positive one as his New York Red Bulls suffered a Cupset, losing at the Harrisburg City Islanders in extra-time. He played 40 minutes as a substitute that day (June 29, 2010).
“It was pretty stinging at the time, being a rookie and playing in my first Open Cup game and losing,” he said of that game 15 years ago.
Only days after returning from the 2011 Concacaf Gold Cup, Ream assisted on John Rooney's winning goal in the 65th minute in a 2-1 home victory over FC New York on June 28. Ream admitted he doesn’t remember much about that game. “I probably headed 300 too many balls at this point,” he quipped.
Beyond the U.S. tournament, Ream has accrued plenty of domestic Cup experience across the pond.
Only 22 days after signing with Bolton Wanderers in 2012, Ream was introduced to English soccer in the FA Cup, helping the visitors to a 2-0 win over Millwall at the New Den in the Fifth Round that February.
Ream's memory of that match? Millwall's supporters, who’ve forged a reputation for truly unruly behavior. The veteran defender was diplomatic when talking about that match.
“That was some introduction,” he said. “As we all know, Millwall is a pretty intense place to play. Very interesting set of fans for that to be my very first game. That's not something that I'll forget going there, having it be the FA Cup, knowing what that competition is about. It's historic. It's special. So, to have that be my very first game was pretty neat.”
“It was nice that we came away with the win,” he said. “But quite the introduction to have it be at Millwall in front of those fans at The Den.”
By the time he ended his England tenure with Bolton and then Fulham in 2024, Ream wound up participating in 32 Cup matches. (20 FA Cup matches and another 14 in the English Football League Cup).
“You have that conversation each year before the FA Cup starts,” he added, discussing the English competition that the U.S. Open Cup is based on. “This competition means something, it means something to the fans, to the supporters. It's history.”
“A lot of teams and some managers will not take it as seriously,” he admitted. “And the ones who do, obviously, are the ones who tend to make it to the Quarters pretty regularly. That's been Fulham for the past probably two or three years.”
Ream's most memorable FA Cup confrontation isn’t even a win.
It was a devastating 3-1 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup Quarterfinals on March 19, 2023. Leading 1-0 in the 70th minute, Fulham had two players, Aleksandar Mitrović and Willian (and manager Marco Silva) red carded within a 40-second span, due to a handball call in the penalty area on Willian after a VAR ruling.
Man United converted the penalty kick. The Cottagers – as Fulham are known – were stunned.
“Just walking into the locker room after what has just happened, because we were so in control, we felt like we were on a cusp of getting through that Quarterfinal going to the Semifinals again,” Ream said. “It's a memory, probably the one that sticks out the most because of everything that went on and all the drama in the game.”
At 37, Ream might be the grand old man of the U.S. Men’s National Team, but he certainly hasn't played like one. He’s been a regular for Charlotte this MLS season and hopes to be picked for the team that will compete in the Concacaf Gold Cup. And of course, there's next year's FIFA World Cup.
“It's funny, because this goes back to when I played in New York, with Titi [Thierry Henry] and all those guys. I had set for myself a goal to get to 37-38 and then see what happens from there. Granted, I'm at that point right now, and I still feel really good.”
Ream has enjoyed a nice long career, but he isn't ready to hang those boots up just yet.
“Along the way, to be able to kind of hit those other milestones, being in the Premier League, and being in England for as long as I was, making it to a World Cup and playing, coming back here and still playing, and still having the goal of being a part of next year's World Cup – those are the things that kind of keep me motivated.
“Truthfully, I could probably feel good enough to play another two or three years, and that's physically, mentally, emotionally,” he added. “I feel in a really good spot. But as we all know, things can change quickly. This game throws up so many different things, good and bad, that right now I'm just at the point where I'm thinking, 'Okay, I have a singular focus, and that's to play every game I possibly can, trying to make it to next year's World Cup, and then, we see what happens.’”
And there might be other factors involved, on the family side.
"I think my oldest [child] will almost be driving in another two to three years,” Ream said. “So maybe I don't go that long, but that's kind of where my head and my feelings are at the moment. If you ask me the same thing at the end of next season, that might be a different answer.”
But before pondering all that, Tim Ream has one thing and one thing only on his mind this week: Defeating D.C. United and reaching the Open Cup Quarterfinals, with an opportunity to lift that elusive Cup trophy for the first time.
Michael Lewis can be reached at socwriter@aol.com and @Soccerwriter on X. His book ('Alive and Kicking: The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers') is available for purchase.