Barcelona provided Pep Guardiola with the perfect sendoff by routing Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the Copa del Rey final on Friday night, the club's 14th trophy in four seasons under its most successful coach.

Pedro Rodriguez scored in the third and 25th minutes, and Lionel Messi ended his record-setting season with his 73rd goal in the 20th minute.

Featured image: The Bethlehem Steel FC victory float after winning their second US Open Cup, then known as the National Challenge Cup, on May 6, 1916. (Photo: (Photo: University Archives & Special Collections Department, Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Tuesday night will be the first time that the Philadelphia Union has hosted a US Open Cup match.

The earliest internationals in Philadelphia involved English clubs such as the Pilgrims and the Corinthians, teams imbued with the spirit of amateurism who embarked on North American tours between 1905 and 1911 that were motivated both by the desire to show Americans how the game of soccer was meant to be played and to make money.

By Chris Wright

'Twas Pep's last game at the Nou Camp yesterday eve before he buggers off on his Gap Year, and the Barca fans gave him an emotional send-off during their 4-0 win over Espanyol unfurling a huuuge banner before the game reading 'T'ESTIMEM PEP!', which loosely translates as 'WE LOVE YOU!

Lionel Messi scored all four goals in Barcelona's 4-0 win over Espanyol because, well, that's just what he does. His fourth goal marked his 50th La Liga goal of the season and 72nd in all competitions -- a new record, surpassing the 70 Archie Stark scored for Bethlehem Steel in 1924/25.

After putting away the penalty, Messi jogged over to outgoing manager Pep Guardiola to give him a hug, which quickly became a team embrace.

The Bethlehem Steel FC tour to St. Louis in December of 1916 for the unofficial title of "Champions of America" was not the first time a Philadelphia-area team had made a trip out West. Five years before, Tacony FC, the winners of the American Football Association's American Cup tournament in 1910 and a semifinalist in the tournament in 1911, had made the same trip in what would be the first of a series of exhibition matches between St.

John Nyen on the U.S. Open Cup.

Ninety-two

years ago there was some big news in association football.

World War I was finally finished and in England, official competitive football was allowed to resume (between 1914 to 1919 the FA Cup and League Cup were suspended due to the war with regional competitions taking place in their stead).

Featured image: Courtesy of Dan Morrison and bethlehemsteelsoccer.org

Against the expectation of many in the US, the United States Football Association's first international tour in Scandinavia in the summer of 1916 had been a great success. The cash-strapped USFA had come out of the trip in the black—the Swedish FA had paid for the tour thanks to the backing of a leading Swedish newspaper—and the team had performed well to garner a 3–1–2 record despite having been put together only days before departure to Europe without the benefit of tryouts.

On June 9, 1916, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, "Word was received in this city yesterday that all arrangements had been completed for an All-American soccer team to tour Sweden and Norway in July. The Sweden Football Association, through its secretary, C.L. Kornerup, has cabled a guarantee of $4000 to cover the expenses of the trip.

A team new to the league.

A team with a backbone of experienced veterans, but also a team with a commitment to young players, led by a coach who wasn't afraid to put those young players in key positions to perform in important games.

A team with a tough, hard-nosed style of play backed by a dominating defense and keeper.

Photo by Stephen Brashear/ISIphotos.com

Either way, history is going to made in Seattle Tuesday night.

Should the host Seattle Sounders defeat the Chicago Fire in the U.S. Open Cup final (10 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel), then they'll put the finishing touches on a three-peat, something that has never been done in the Major League Soccer era and hasn't been accomplished since Greek American AA did so in 1967-1969.

As you walk into CenturyLink Field tonight take a moment to look around. No, there won't be 50,000 people there like many of us had hoped, but there should be at least 35,000. Another U.S. Open Cup attendance record is guaranteed to fall and the Seattle Sounders will have once again raised the bar.

Featured image: Bethlehem Steel in 1915 displaying their already impressive trophy collection. They would add their first US Open Cup, then known as the National Challenge Cup, on May 3, 1915 when they defeated Brooklyn Celtic in the final.. (Photo: Courtesy of Dan Morrison.)

Tuesday night will mark the 98th edition of the US Open Cup.

Seattle Sounders season-ticket holders have already been given the opportunity to buy their seats for the Oct. 4 U.S. Open Cup final at CenturyLink Field against the Chicago Fire. Even if every season-ticket holder were to buy their seats, there should still be plenty to go around when the general public is allowed to start buying on Tuesday.

The Seattle Sounders would host the U.S. Open Cup final for a second straight year if they beat FC Dallas on Tuesday. The game would be held at CenturyLink Field on Oct. 4 and will be played against the winner of the Chicago Fire-Richmond Kickers semifinal.

Either finals matchup would be intriguing, even if the Sounders would be considered prohibitive favorites.

Tonight's Chicago Fire vs. San Jose Earthquakes game at Buck Shaw Stadium starts at 9:30 PM CST. You can listen to the game at the San Jose Earthquakes website or check out this link which seems to be run by the San Jose Earthquakes too but doesn't have the chat. I like the feel of the latter link but I think I'll need the game descriptions from the chat.

Contributing Editor Dillon Young
(links posted are to images of the original documents from the era)
This Week in Soccer History: 1921
This week in May 1921, The American Soccer League was born, the first major effort at creating a professional league in the United States.

For a long time I felt guilty for not liking Run of Play, and more specifically, the writing of Brian Phillips. Of all the writers in the soccersphere, Phillips is probably the best example of one who can arrange words in a way the grammar nazis intended. Other writers I respect (and have in the past secretly aspired to be, although the Ives Galarcep references have mostly cured that by now) read and quote Phillips.

The Quakes begin their Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a qualifying quarterfinal match against Portland. Portland is coming off a nice run of games where they have won 3 of their last 4. The Quakes are on a poor run and have lost their last 3 of their last 4. The USOC is traditionally not something most clubs focus their full energies on until they get further into the tournament, which is a shame because the winners get a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.

For almost 100 years, the top soccer teams in the United States have enter fields of play with the agreement that the winner of the next game moves on in the U.S. Open Cup. From lush plots of Kentucky bluegrass to rough play lots carved out in the corners of Brooklyn neighborhoods, in times of World War and in times of social revolution, with players born in Athens, IL and players born in Athens, Greece, the U.