The U.S. Open Cup received a lot more attention than usual this year because in December, MLS announced that their teams won’t be participating in the tournament, which angered a lot of soccer fans in the U.S. Ex-pros, pundits, and journalists also spoke about their disappointment. 

While it may not be seen as a prestigious tournament for casual fans, the U.S. Open Cup is the oldest soccer competition in this country— which started all the way back in the 1913/14 season and is contested by approximately 100 clubs from leagues sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

In March, MLS made another announcement amid the backlash saying eight of their teams will participate, which still isn’t ideal but certainly better than nothing. Nonetheless, MLS’ treatment of this tournament put a spotlight on it instead, with more fans keeping an eye on the Open Cup this year than previously.

And the Open Cup delivered with a great Cinderella Story. El Farolito.

El Farolito Soccer Club are a semi-pro team named after a Mexican restaurant chain in San Francisco. They play in the National Premier Soccer League, and currently coached by Santiago López— the son of the former owner Salvador “Don Chava” López who founded both the restaurant and the club. 

The team’s operations manager is Irene López, sister of Santiago. She also runs the restaurant and the bar when she’s not handling the team’s issues. 

The squad of El Farolito is basically made up of local guys from the Bay Area, supplemented with some players who played professionally in Mexico, Colombia, and Central America. Nonetheless, none of the players are currently professional and all have full-time jobs, meaning they can only train twice a week at maximum. 

Some players also tend to play in regional tournaments. During an interview with Call It What You Want podcast, head coach López said he has to make sure fatigue doesn’t become an issue because some guys would play a game on a Saturday morning elsewhere and then meet up with the team to play a league game later in the day.

Despite all these challenges and complications, El Farolito sent shockwaves across the tournament. In the first round, they defeated MLS NEXT PRO side Portland Timbers II in Portland’s Providence Park. But the second round is what impressed a lot of people.

They traveled to face Central Valley Fuego, a team full of professional players coached by the USMNT legend Jermaine Jones. Despite going down 1-0 early in the game from a penalty, they came back to win the game 2-1.

It was an amazing victory which got the club a lot of attention, with López being interviewed by CBS Sports’ Call It What You Want podcast and ESPN’s Fútbol Americas show afterwards.

Unfortunately, their dream run came to an end on Tuesday night, when they fell to their fellow Bay Area rival Oakland Roots in extra time.

It was a tough task. They were playing in Oakland against a solid team full of professional players in the USL Championship— the second highest division in American soccer right below MLS.

This was the team that also knocked them out of the Open Cup last year and if that wasn’t tough enough of a task, El Farolito played a man down since the 50th minute.

Despite all those challenges, El Farolito still played an impressive game, only losing 2-1 in extra time after a deflection from a defender landed straight at the feet of an Oakland forward.

Don Chava, who’s no longer with us, would have been so proud to see how well this club is doing, and how his son is the one who’s getting the best out of the players.

El Farolito were founded all the way back in 1985 after Don Chava, an avid Cruz Azul fan, wanted to start his own soccer team. 

After migrating from Mexico City, his first dream was to start his own restaurant and bar in San Francisco, which he accomplished in 1983, so he tried to live his second dream to form a soccer club. Almost 40 years later, they’re still going strong.

The club also has a great history, even winning the U.S. Open Cup in 1993, three years before MLS clubs started playing in it. 

Winning the tournament helped El Farolito qualify for the 1994 CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup, playing against Mexican side Necaxa who would go on to win Liga MX few months later.

Now completing regularly in the National Premier Soccer League, they’ve won San Francisco Soccer Football League (SFSFL) 11 times and won NSPL Golden Gate Conference once.

Stories like this just show the magic of the U.S. Open Cup, and why it is still necessary for clubs across the U.S.