The true measure of a team isn’t just whether it wins championships – although there is nothing wrong with that – it is how the coach and players handle adversity, disappointment and defeat. It is how do they deal with it and bounce back after an excruciating loss or a stunning red card in a match.

During the early years 1990s, the Brooklyn Italians experienced the agony of defeat and ecstasy of victory in two separate Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup finals. First, some agony. With the score knotted at 1-1 apiece in the waning minute of the 1990 Open Cup in Indianapolis, Ind., Pitor Modrezejewski of the AAC Eagles (Chicago) ripped a 20-yard shot that goalkeeper Dragan Radovich got a hold of.