Team's oddly beset by failure to secure cup (9)
I believe the answer is:
demitasse
'cup' is the definition.
(I know that demitasse is a type of coffee cup)
'team's oddly beset by failure' is the wordplay.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
'beset by' indicates putting letters inside ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'failure' becomes 'demise' (I've seen this in other clues).
The alternating letters of 'teams' are 'tas'.
'tas' going within 'demise' is 'DEMITASSE'.
'to secure' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for demitasse that I've seen before include "Coffee-cup" , "Small cup for black coffee" , "little cup" .)