Enzo Martinez, bearded soccer devil for Birmingham Legion FC, played against David Beckham his first season in Major League Soccer.

Martinez remembers it well. He was a rookie for Real Salt Lake. Beckham was elevating the profile of MLS while playing for L.A. Galaxy.

Beckham surprised Martinez during the game when the international superstar said something to him in Spanish. Surprising no one at a news conference last week, Martinez said that his wife asked to meet Beckham after the game.

“He was the nicest guy,” Martinez said, “and that’s all I have to say about him.”

Birmingham Legion FC plays the biggest match in its five-year history at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at Protective Stadium when the club takes on Beckham-owned Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer. It’s the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and while the atmosphere will be a special one for the city, the players on Legion’s team all say the moment isn’t too big for Birmingham’s club.

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There’s a reason for Legion’s confidence. Take one look at Birmingham’s roster, and it’s easy enough to understand why. Like Martinez, most of the starters for Legion have played in Major League Soccer.

“Pretty much all of our starting lineup has MLS experience,” Martinez said. “It’s massive because you go into this game more relaxed. It’s easy for a lower team to go into this match feeling the tension of about to play an MLS team, but since we all have been in that situation it’s just kind of like another game.

“Obviously it elevates your level and focus and everything, but it helps that you’ve been there and done that and it’s no difference.”

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Birmingham’s team was built for moments like this one, and that’s why it surprises no one in the American soccer community that Legion is one of eight teams remaining in the all-divisions national tournament. The other quarterfinal match-ups: Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL) vs. FC Cincinnati (MLS), Chicago Fire (MLS) vs. Houston Dynamo (MLS) and L.A. Galaxy (MLS) vs. Real Salt Lake (MLS).

If Legion gets past Inter Miami, then it will play the winner of Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati. Pittsburgh dramatically knocked Legion out of the USL playoffs last season. Cincinnati is currently the top team in the MLS East standings.

Last season, USL side Sacramento Republic FC advanced to the finals of the Open Cup before losing to MLS team Orlando City FC. A championship run for Birmingham isn’t unthinkable, in other words. Legion advanced to these Open Cup quarters with a 1-0 victory against MLS club Charlotte FC in the Round of 16. While impressive and fun for the city, that win wasn’t some kind of historic upset.

Winning the Open Cup should be Legion’s goal. That a USL club in Birmingham, Alabama, has the potential to do that proves that competition in the second-division of American soccer is rising just as quickly as soccer’s place in American culture.

Everyone is always asking me if Legion can one day play in Major League Soccer. That’s up to the fans. If enough people support Birmingham’s team, then, yes, Birmingham would deserve a first-division club. But Legion has first-division talent on its roster now. Legion is playing against an MLS club in a cup competition on Wednesday at home.

Birmingham Legion FC is a major club with big-team dreams. Legion’s town finally seems to be understanding that. Nearly 13,000 fans cheered on Legion against Charlotte and the crowd was engaged and played the important role of a 12th Man. The attendance for Inter Miami needs to push 20K. Birmingham, this is your time to shine.

Want to get the attention of MLS investors, though? It’s not about upsetting MLS teams in the Open Cup. It’s about Legion supporters packing Protective Stadium for league games, too.

The U.S. Open Cup was founded in 1914, which makes it the oldest cup competition in American soccer. The all-divisions format allows teams from lower divisions to punch up against the well-heeled teams of Major League Soccer. Legion defender Alex Crognale joked last week that Inter Miami forward Josef Martinez has an annual salary greater than Legion’s entire roster. While that might be true, the players are equals in the Open Cup and Crognale, who played for the Columbus Crew a few years ago, knows all about defending MLS-quality attackers.

Legion’s other center back, team captain Phanuel Kavita, played in MLS, too. Know this. There isn’t a player in Major League Soccer who can knock Kavita off the ball.

The biggest testament to the talent level on Legion’s team? Most of Legion’s attacking players have MLS experience, and that’s great, but the most talented scorer on the team is veteran forward Prosper Kasim, and he does not.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama”, a book about togetherness, hope and rum. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.