Since 2019, the City Lions have been going down the road of proving themselves as a football powerhouse in the Midwest Region of the United States in both their league and domestic cup games.
Their defeat to Milwaukee Bavarian of Wisconsin in the spring of 2019 at the Regional Quarter finals of the US Nation Cup meant that FC Minneapolis would go without any silver ware that year after failing to advance to the National Playoffs of the United Premier Soccer League, but the City Lions were determined to not let the underperformance of that year hold them back from writing bold statements in the years to come.
In 2020 following the disruption of football by the pandemic, FC Minneapolis was able to come back stronger in the 2020 Fall Cup Semi finals when Uganda’s Sendi Ian scored a late header to the send his side in the extra time of the game where the City Lions emerged as leaders over Granite City FC before losing to Vlora FC during kicks from the mark in the Cup Finals the following week.
FC Minneapolis came back stronger in 2021 becoming the first team in Minnesota to reach the US National Cup Finals in over 100 years. In the league, the City Lions also reached the Division playoffs but lost 3:2 to Minneapolis City SC in the in the semifinals before travelling to Michigan where they would also become the first Minnesotan team to play at that level of the US National Cup Champions of Regions Cup.
in 2022, FC Minneapolis was again unable to go past Minneapolis City in the League’s Division Semi Finals after losing in penalty kicks during the summer but were able to come back stronger this fall when they came from behind to defeat Gargar FC by 3:1 to become the 2022 Champions of the Fall Cup yesterday at the Park Center in Brooklyn Park.
According to the club’s head coach David Oluwalaanu, he attributes this success to the consistency of some of the key players that have maintained their top level for the past 5 seasons like Gafar Ayodele in goal, Demba Jameh in defense, and Sendi Ian the middle field.
“These players have been very consistent according to the statistics which has given us a strong identity and character as a team in different departments hence contributing to our past and present success.” Said Coach Oluwalaanu.
