Fresno Fuego learn their opening-round foe for U.S. Open Cup

The Fresno Fuego drew La Máquina FC for the opening round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Wednesday.

The Fuego will host the match at 7 p.m. May 10 at Chukchansi Park.

With a win, Fresno also would host USL side Phoenix Rising FC on May 17 at Fresno State’s Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium.

Should the Fuego advance to the second round, expect a packed crowd to see Phoenix stars Didier Drogba (who signed with the club Wednesday), former Chivas striker Omar Bravo, and England’s Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The third round will be May 31, with MLS clubs entering in the fourth round June 14.

This will be the Fuego’s fourth appearance in the national club tournament that consists of 99 teams, with Fresno among the 21 from the Premier Development League. The tournament has crowned a champion since 1914. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.

The Fuego earned its 2017 berth by clinching last season’s PDL Central-Pacific Division title. The last time Fresno played in the Open Cup was 2014, reaching the third round before losing 6-0 to Sacramento Republic FC.

La Máquina FC is an amateur club that plays in the United Premier Soccer League. They reached the fourth round last year, losing 4-1 to the L.A. Galaxy of MLS in extra time.

The Open Cup champion receives a $250,000 grand prize; the team that advances furthest from each lower division wins $15,000.

MLS club FC Dallas beat New England Revolution 4-2 for last year’s championship.

Tickets for the May 10 first-round match go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at bit.ly/FuegoTickets or the stadium box office.

Ex-Freeze, Bulldog defender off to Europe – Former Fresno Freeze and Fresno State soccer standout Fanny Johansson is on the move to Norway.

The 22-year-old defender signed her first professional contract last week with Medkila IL, which plays in Norway’s top women’s soccer league, the Toppserien.

Johansson is from Gävle, Sweden.

In December, Fresno native and former Buchanan High and Cal Poly standout Elise Krieghoff signed with Norwegian club Vålerenga.

Former Buchanan High and Pepperdine standout Anisa Guajardo, who was part of Team Mexico at the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup, is with Valur FC in Iceland’s top-tier league.

Valley sweeps Neymar qualifiers – The San Joaquin Valley has made its mark on Neymar Jr’s Five Tournament, with three teams from the area capturing California qualifiers.

Defending U.S. champion TC (Taft College) Broders won the Los Angeles qualifier; Fresno Fuego-bred Broken Drum won in Fresno and Team Yolo, also out of Fresno, won in San Jose.

Qualifiers advance to the U.S. tournament on June 10 in Miami.

Broken Drum team members are Fellipe Souza, Milton Blanco, Tony Torres, Moises Martinez, Elijah Martin, Renato Bustamante and Diego Casillas.

Team Yolo comprises Jonathan Navarro, Michael Munoz, Fernando Rodriguez, Mason Gonzalez, Oswel Mariles, Jorge Garcia and Miguel De La Torre.

TC Broders are brothers Charlie, Jose Salvador and Christian Gonzalez, as well as Julio Ayala and Andy Reyes.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Fresno Fuego learn their opening-round foe for U.S. Open Cup."