“An atmosphere like that, it’s second to none,” said Head Coach Tommy Soehn, when asked about record crowd of 18,418. “I’m so proud of Birmingham for showing we can be a soccer town too.”
BIRMINGHAM, AL (June 7, 2023) — Birmingham Legion FC’s historic Open Cup run came to an end on Wednesday night. In front of the 18,418 person crowd at Protective Stadium the Boys in Red played their hearts out, and the club and city cannot be more proud of them. Inter Miami CF scored in the 56th minute to clinch the 1-0 victory.
Legion FC nearly took the lead in the second minute of the match. Gabriel Alves fed a curved ball in behind to Prosper Kasim on the left channel, who found Enzo Martinez at the top of the box. Martinez found the target, but the shot was snuffed up by Miami’s goalkeeper, and recent US Men’s National Team call-up, Drake Callender.
Later in the 23rd minute Kasim shot a ball on the volley that ricocheted off the arm of a Miami player in the box. Protective Stadium roared in disapproval when instead of being awarded a penalty kick, Miami were awarded a goal kick.
“We all saw it on the replay,” said Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “It was a handball, and that changes the game. Nothing we can do about that. All I could say is we try to play the game the right way, the way we can be proud of ourselves and now it’s gonna hurt. But we will pull up our socks and do it again and now we can focus on the league and make sure we take that as far as we can. But for a division two team to go as far as we did, it’s still a real credit to our guys.”
Both sides left the field at halftime even on shots, four to four, with Birmingham leading in shots on target (two to one).
Play remained back and forth throughout the first part of the second half, with Legion FC narrowly missing out on a couple of great chances. The Herons then would go on to score the lone goal of the match in the 56th minute. Nicolás Stefanelli received the ball at the penalty spot and the Argentinian bounced it onto the ground, over VanOekel, and into the net.
For the remainder of the match Legion had the momentum, but could not equalize. Fans roared against Inter Miami throughout, who played a large role in the ten minutes of extra time added to the end of the 90 minutes.
Tonight’s talking point, however, was not about the final score. It was the outstanding support that Birmingham showed for its city and the sport of soccer. Attendance was higher than the average attendance of 14 Major League Soccer teams. Birmingham showed it can be a soccer city.
“Just thank you [Birmingham],:” said Soehn. “At the end of the game, I felt it the most when I looked up and saw everybody, not a single person left, I felt like and were applauding. I credit our guys, they put on a good show today. Obviously, some of the issues you’re disappointed with today, like the officiating. I felt like [the referee] fell into a trap of what they were trying to accomplish and allowing them to do it. You know, that’s the part of the game we want to get rid of. And he allowed that. And that’s disappointing because the fans deserve better, and we deserve better. But amazing atmosphere, absolutely amazing. Seeing this thing grow from when they first came [in 2019] to today, it’s an amazing feeling. It really is. It’s pretty cool.
“Our guys didn’t quit. They pushed and pushed and, and at times I felt like we pushed more than [Miami] did. And, you know, look at the salaries, how different it is, and that stuff doesn’t matter. We had more heart today and we played the right way. And that’s important to me. If we were doing some of the things they did, I’d be disappointed in my guys tomorrow and they would know it. So, we did it the right way. Our fans were there. I felt like we put on a good show for them, and I’m so thankful that they were here. It was an amazing feeling today … It won’t change the hurt in the locker room, but we’ll get up and do it again and, I’m just thankful that Birmingham noticed.”
Defender Alex Crognale when asked about the crowd and match:
“Look the crowd came out today. Birmingham showed out, and they deserved more. They were fully in the game. That was maybe the loudest game I’ve ever been a part of in my whole career. So, I’m really proud of the way that Birmingham showed out and they deserved more. But yeah, this second half a lot of guys stayed down for cramps and grabbed their face and just made that game difficult. I think we created enough chances as a team to get a result. We had more shots than Miami. But, this is football, this is the way it goes. It doesn’t always bounce your way, but I think there’s a lot to be proud of as a group and something that we can grow on as a team and as a club moving forward.
“It’s hard to not be ready to go and willing to fight your ass off for the group when you see 18,000 fans cheering for you. Right? So the credit goes to the fans. We’re a very close-knit group. We have each other’s back. So when we see a few plays not go our way, we’re gonna rally behind the next guy and continue to fight, continue to scrap until the final whistle.”
Box Score:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| Birmingham | 0 | 0 |
| Miami | 0 | 1 |
Goals: MIA – 56’ – #22 Nicolás Stefanelli (assisted by #14 Corentin Jean)
Starting XI:
BHM – 4-4-3 – #1 Matt VanOekel; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #16 Gabriel Alves, #21 Alex Crognale, #4 Collin Smith (90+1′) #7 Diba Nwegbo); #6 Anderson Asiedu, #5 Mikey Lopez, #10 Prosper Kasim; #15 Tyler Pasher, #19 Enzo Martinez, #9 Juan Agudelo
The squad will return home to Protective Stadium on June 17th for league play against Indy Eleven! Get tickets here.
For all club news and updates fans are encouraged to follow @bhmlegion on social media and keep an eye on bhmlegion.com and the Legion FC app. Download the Legion FC app today on Apple or Android, and sync our 2023 schedule to your calendar HERE.
