Former Wizards Player Damian Silvera Passes Away

Had this pointed out today, some sad news, former Wizards midfielder Damian Silvera passed away in the middle of June. Silvera was an MLS original, joining the Metrostars in 1996. Before the 1997 season he was traded to Kansas City for Mike Sorber and a first round pick in the 1998 MLS college draft. Silvera was a member of the 1996 US Olympic team, but didn't live up to that potential. He only played in 3 games for the Wizards, a 3 game stretch in late April and early May, starting one game.

Back to League Play

After a week off from league play for the Wizards where they got a confidence boosting win over Manchester United, they return to league play tomorrow when they'll take on Toronto FC. TFC has been busy this past week. They played FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw last Saturday, then played CD Montagua Tuesday night, beating them Tuesday night in Toronto. They'll also be heading down to Honduras on Tuesday to play CD Montagua in the return leg. Toronto played a mainly first team lineup on Tuesday and with a 1-0 lead heading into the second leg, they'll be looking to advance to the group stage. So it'll be interesting to see what lineup the Reds put out tomorrow.

The Wizards should have confidence heading into tomorrow's game, they took 4 out of 6 points on the 2 game road trip they were on, then got an impressive 2-1 win over Manchester United last Sunday. They should be full of confidence after that result especially. The team is playing much better, they're controlling the midfield, create chances, and the defense is improving more. With the way that the team has played the past few games I don't see Peter Vermes deviating from the lineup that he's started the last 3 games.

Nielsen
Harrington - Thomas - Conrad - Espinoza
Arnaud - Auvray - Rocastle
Kamara - Bunbury - Smith

Key Match Up - Stephane Auvray vs Dwayne DeRosario - DeRosario is the key for the TFC midfield, shutting him down either in the midfield or in his withdrawn striker role will be the key for the Wizards and much of that responsibility is likely to fall on Auvray. If Auvray can shut down DeRosario KC will have a decent chance.

PREDICTION - Toronto is in a busy part of their schedule and seem to be interested in qualifying for the group stage of the Champion's League. If they are, we could see a bit of a different lineup on Saturday. If the Wizards have any great ideas of fighting for a playoff spot this year this is a game they have to win. Winning your home games is vital. With the confidence the Wizards have I think they can pull it off.

KC - 2 (Kamara, Bunbury)
TFC - 1 (Barrett)

Chhetri Joining Indian National Team

Sunil Chhetri is leaving the Wizards to go join the Indian national team for their Asian Cup preparations in Portugal. Chhetri leaves the Wizards at least for the rest of this season, as he's been "loaned" out to the national team through next January's Asian Cup. While non official word has been stated on this, I think the assumption is that this "loan" will allow the Wizards to open up a roster spot. With Santiago Hirsig officially gone and Nikos Kounenakis taking that spot the Wizards still have a spot open for another player to come in. Chhetri leaves the Wizards with only 1 competitive appearance. A 45 minute appearance for the Wizards, starting in the US Open Cup qualifier against Colorado.

Hirsig Out of KC

Reports out of Argentina today indicate that Wizards midfielder, Santiago Hirsig is out with the Wizards. According to Quilmes Presente, Hirsig has signed on to play with Quilmes Atletico Club. Quilmes was promoted this past season to the Argentine Primera Division. Hirsig's move gives the Wizards the roster spot they needed to create with the signing of Nikos Kounenakis.

Hirsig made 27 appearances for the Wizards over the course of his time in KC, 25 of them starts for 2,155 minutes. He scored his one goal in KC's 3-2 loss last year to Seattle. He was impressive in his first few appearances showing a calming influence on the ball and a nice passing ability. In all competitions, Hirsig made 4 more starts and finished with 2,510 minutes played. This season, though, Hirsig had only made 1 45 minute appearance starting in KC's 2-1 loss to DC where he was pulled at half time.

Hirsig apparently won't be the only move, as Thad from The Back Post mentioned that confirmation of another move is coming soon as well.

Good luck Santi.

Follow Up on Chhetri and Rebranding

The past two days I've made some posts on the situation involving Sunil Chhetri and the Indian national team and Robb Heineman talking about potentially rebranding the team. Wanted to give a follow up to those posts tonight.

First on Chhetri. The article from the Telegraph that I based my article on talked about Chhetri not being incredibly happy in KC and really wanting to join the Indian team in Portugal for their Asian Cup preparations. The day after that article was posted, Gooch over at the Star got some more accurate information both from the Wizards and from Chhetri's agent (through the Wizards). Chhetri instead of being unhappy, is 'happy and settled' in KC. And while parts of the story about the Indian national team wanting Chhetri to join the camp in Portugal, the Wizards are willing to work with the national team and it's still possible that Chhetri will join the team. Chhetri's agent, Yogesh Joshee even questions where the reports out of India got their information. Kudos to Gooch and the Star for following up on the reports out of India and setting the news straight.

The other bit of news involing the Wizards is the potential rebranding of the Wizards when they open the new stadium. Thank to Jake Gutierrez, the segment from Between the Lines, featuring Heineman is now available for you to listen to on Sports Radio 810's website. First I'll focus on his talk about rebranding the team. Heineman said that the team is looking at next year as a "second chance to make a first impression" and part of that could see the Wizards rebrand. Heineman did say that the team will not be rebranding with a corporate name like Sprints, Garmins, etc. The team wants to work to show that they can be a regional brand and are looking into how they can relaunch in a way that can have regional appeal.

Heineman did confirm that the team will keep Kansas City in the name, ending some speculation that the team would go with just Kansas in the name due to the stadium being on the Kansas side of the state line. The potential name change didn't appear to sit too well with Kevin Kietzman, who thought the team should stick with the Wizards name, for many of the same reasons I did, specifically the titles the team has already won. And with the win over Manchester United, the name is out there even more. Not just that, but in the informal poll on the Star's website, keeping the Wizards name is currently running away with the poll.

Speaking of United, that was what much of the talk was about in the interview. The most interesting part of that in my opinion is that for the game, MUTV sold 18,000 more PPV subscriptions for the KC-United game than for the United-Philly game earlier in their trip. Much of that is owed to the news that Chhetri would be playing in the game. Both OnGoal and Hunt Sport's Group made decent money off the game this past Sunday.

The other big topic of discussion was the Wizards stadium out at the Legends. First, Heineman said that they hope to have the naming rights for the stadium set in the next 30 days or so. A good move for the team to get the naming rights signed on and to bring in that extra money that it will provide. The stadium is still planning to be opened in June of 2011, and Heineman said that after opening the New Arrowhead, OnGoal is currently working on the event that will open the Wizards new stadium. They are right now working on an event that will be a soccer event, but not a Wizards game. OnGoal and the Wizards are working to bring in the US national team to be the first event in the new stadium. This would be a huge first event for the stadium with the Gold Cup next year, Kansas City could get a full A side for the game as next year's Gold Cup is the qualifier for the 2013 Confederations Cup. All in all, a good interview from Heineman with some interesting news passed on.

Former Wizards Update

Another week of former Wizards updates, along with some other information. More leagues are starting up as Bolivia and Colombia are going again. Others are coming to an end as the PDL season is almost over. One other bit of news is that former Wizards player, Khari Stephenson could be on his way back to MLS as he's on trial with San Jose. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Out with injury
Adam Cristman - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over CD Motagua in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 1-1 draw with Chivas.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 win over Isidro Metepan in the CONCACAF Champion's League
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Toronto.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Columbus' 3-0 win over Houston.
Chris Klein - LA - Did not dress in LA's 2-2 draw with San Jose. Did not dress in LA's 4-1 loss to Puerto Rico in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Colorado's 2-1 loss to Seattle.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 1-1 draw with Chivas.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in San Jose's 2-2 draw with LA.
Carey Talley - DC United - Did not have a league game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado. Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 1-0 win over Isidro Metapan in the CONCACAF Champion's League.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Did not dress in Chivas' 1-1 draw with RSL.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver. Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Portland's 3-0 loss to St. Louis.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Baltimore's 1-0 loss to St. Louis.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 3-1 loss to Puerto Rico. Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Rochester's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 84 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Rochester.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 win over Vancouver. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 3-0 loss to St. Louis.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 78 minutes in Miami's 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Lance Watson - Austin - Did not have a game this week.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 68 minutes in Charleston's 3-2 win over Harrisburg. Dressed but did not play in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Maryland.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 2-1 win over Charlotte. Started and played 45 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-0 loss to Richmond.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 3-2 win over Harrisburg. Did not dress in Charleston's 0-0 draw with Maryland.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Ocean City's 2-1 loss to West Virginia.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Came off the bench and played 39 minutes, recording an assist in Michigan's 3-0 win over Indiana.
Sergei Raad - Central Florida - Started and played 70 minutes, scoring a goal in Central Florida's 7-2 loss to Mississippi. Started and played 69 minutes in Central Florida's 1-1 draw with New Orleans.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Did not dress in Long Island's 3-1 win over New Hampshire. Did not dress in Long Island's 5-1 loss to Portland.

International
Vicente Arze - Aurora - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Aurora's 4-2 loss to The Strongest.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Pachuca's 3-0 win over Club America.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Waterford's 2-0 win over Longford Town.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 66 minutes in Randers' 1-1 draw with Gorica in the UEFA Europa League qualifying. Started and played 86 minutes in Randers' 1-1 draw with OB.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not dress in Aalesund's 1-0 win over Vålerenga, Stephenson is on trial with San Jose.
Ivan Trujillo - Deportes Quindío - Colombia - Did not play in Quindio's 2-0 loss to Deportes Tolima. Beat Deportivo Pereira tonight 3-1.

Wizards Looking to Rebrand with New Stadium?

I'd been waiting to write this as I did not hear the information myself and was hoping that Sports Radio 810 would get the segment podcasted for me to listen to, but they have not, so I'm going in a little blind here. So forgive me if I don't get the total context of the quote. Yesterday on Between the Lines, Robb Heineman was interviewed by host Kevin Keitzman about all things Wizards, including the Manchester United game and the team's new stadium. During the course of the discussion, Heineman mentioned that the team was "looking at rebranding".
I think most Wizards fans accepted that there would be at least one change to the team next season, and that would have been a re-done logo. The currently mostly word mark logo has been the team's primary logo since OnGoal's first full season in charge in 2007 and has been on the team's jersey since their new jerseys in 2008. Most people would consider the current logo an upgrade to the previous one that included a portion of a rainbow trailing a soccer ball.

Still a rebranding would seem to imply that the team will be doing more than replacing the logo. It seems like it would point to a name change and potentially a color change as well. Rumors of this change coming when the stadium opens have been running around for a while. One thought people had was that the team will change their colors more to match those of the scarf that was given to season ticket holders at the start of the season.
Other thoughts have thoughts have the name Wizards going out as well as the colors. There's been rumors posted in comments around the net saying that the Wizards will be changing to Sporting KC, or something similar to that. But in regards to that, I'm not finding any trademarks currently registered for Sporting Kansas City.

As for the rebranding, I'm against it. This team is the Wizards, has been since 1997. They've won an MLS Cup, appeared in another final, won a Supporters' Shield, and a US Open Cup all under the Wizards name. There's been a history that has developed with the name and with the supporters of the club. People can come out and say "well it's only 14 years" but all history needs to start somewhere and develop, my question is why throw that away, especially if it's for a Europoserish name like Sporting KC. That name does nothing for me except show a poor attempt to try and bring in fans of European league by giving the team a name that sounds like it's from Europe. These fans that they're trying to bring in were also the ones that complained about the jerseys originally, and the count up clock, and the shootout. Those went away, then they complained about the overtime, then it was the style of play and the time of year. These fans are always going to be coming up with excuses to support their European team over MLS, changing the name isn't going to bring them over.

I hope they don't rebrand the team, but I have a feeling they will be. Either way I'll continue to refer to them as the Wizards.

Conference Changes Coming, Wizards Switching Again?

Today, MLS commissioner, Don Garber, had a live chat with USA Today about MLS as a whole and what's coming in the future. He talked about capitalizing on the big World Cup crowds around the country and increasing attendance, along with the addition of designated players during the summer window. He also talked about the upcoming CONCACAF Champion's League games for LA, Toronto, and Seattle and the plan to bring in the 20th team some time around or after the 2013 season.

The thing he said that I'm going to focus on tonight is his talk about the way the league will look next season when both Portland and Vancouver enter the league. Obviously these two teams are going to be entering the Western Conference, giving them 10 teams while the East will have 8. Garber has said that 2 teams will move to the Eastern Conference next season. Two teams moving East though doesn't make complete sense, because that then puts 10 East and 8 West. So what is likely to happen is 2 to the East, one moving back West. The two teams moving to the East seem likely to be Dallas and Houston as the league will likely want to keep the Texas rivalry going. So who moves West to replace them? Most likely the Wizards one would guess. After Dallas and Houston, KC is the next furthest West and have a history in the Western Conference so it would seem likely that KC would be the ones that would move back to the West.

Again the Wizards would get the short end of the stick having to switch conferences. Garber has focused on creating regional rivalries, and that's one of the reasons why the league keeps conferences. But KC hasn't gotten that chance. They were in the Western Conference until the 2005 season when they were forced to move to the East to accommodate Salt Lake and Chivas. Now KC will likely see themselves moving back to the West losing, at least in part, the rivalries they'd started to create in the Eastern Conference. It's just frustrating to think that the Wizards will once again be switching conferences.

New Byline to Back Post

This week's From the Byline to the Back Post is up now for your listening pleasure on iTunes and Posterous. This week we talk about the Manchester United game and the upcoming Toronto game with side bars into other topics as always. Enjoy.

Nielsen an All Star

MLS today announced the final 7 MLS all stars who per the MLS collective bargaining agreement will receive their all star bonus but will not be dressing for the game against Manchester United tomorrow night down in Houston. While the Wizards have no one playing in the game, they did have someone named as one of the 7 inactive all stars. That was goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen, who led all MLS players in fan voting. Seattle had 3 players named to the inactive team, with Colorado, Columbus, and New York all adding one a piece. Two of those selections I wasn't that impressed with on this list, and that was Freddie Ljungberg and Robbie Rogers who both are having unimpressive seasons. Kei Kamara got snubbed from being named to the roster, and Michael Harrington certainly had a case as well. But congrats to Nielsen on being named to the "inactive" list. For Wizards fans it's the best of both worlds, Nielsen gets recognized, and they don't have to worry about him potentially getting injured in the game.

Chhetri Wants to Join National Team

This January the AFC Asian Cup is to be held in Qatar, and India will be competing in the tournament. The Indian national team is currently involved in a training game in Portugal to prepare for the tournament. Due to Sunil Chhetri playing with the Wizards, he is unable to attend. According to The Telegraph from India though, Chhetri wants to go join his country men in preparations. Siting unnamed sources, The Telegraph says that Chhetri is desperate to get to Portugal to join the rest of the team. He's also apparently upset with his lack of playing time for KC, which has consisted of only 45 minutes of competitive action for the Wizards. The Indian national team is willing to pay his salary while he's with the team, but will not be able to pay any compensation to the Wizards for him getting out of his contract midseason.

With the transfer window open, the Wizards could certainly look to replace Chhetri if they were willing to let him go and join the national team, but I'm not so sure the team is wanting to let him go. I keep hoping that he'll get the chance to get some first team minutes, if for nothing else to at least see a bit more of what he can do. The US Open Cup game was so soon after he arrived he hadn't fully adjusted to his team mates. And with the United game over the weekend, he was thrown into a situation where he wasn't going to impress unless he was brilliant as he was deployed as a lone striker on a team playing with 10 men.

700 New Season Tickets Sold

The Wizards started the first day after beating Manchester United with the phones ringing off the hook. Today was the day the Wizards started selling new season tickets for the 2011 season, the team's first in their new stadium that is set to open in June. By the end of the day today, the Wizards had sold over 700 new season tickets for next season. While that's nothing compared to what some of the expansion teams around the league are selling early in their ticketing process, for a team like the Wizards, who unfortunately alienated many fans over the first 15 years of their existence, this is another step in the right direction. Along with the larger devoted staff, stadium, and other amenities OnGoal has added, the Wizards are making huge moves to finally, fully, get themselves out of the hole the team was in after Lamar Hunt put the team up for sale in 2004. Now to continue the building by getting the team to compete and win more on the field, and get some hardware, because KC always seems to love a winner.

Friendly or Not, that was a Good Result

I'd talked previously about how today's game didn't mean much to either side, if the Wizards won it was because Manchester United wasn't playing with all their stars. If United won, it was because, well, they're Manchester United. That said, KC put on a very good performance today out at Arrowhead Stadium, as they took down the Premier League club 2-1. This despite playing 51 minutes a man down after Jimmy Conrad got sent off in the 39th minute for a foul on Dimitar Berbatov. KC came out as the more aggressive side, which was to be expected in a game like this. KC pushed the tempo early on, with Ryan Smith causing major problems for Rafael down the Wizards left and Teal Bunbury working well in the middle to be a physical forward. The Wizards early pressure paid off in the 11th minute, when Bunbury held the ball up well, played it to Kei Kamara, who picked out Davy Arnaud streaking through the middle of the field. Arnaud beat the offside trap (being held on by Rafael) and dribbled into the box. It appeared that Arnaud may have touched it a bit too far ahead of him, but he beat Ben Amos to the ball and tucked it into the far corner to give KC a surprising 1-0 lead.

KC continued to push the game and should have doubled their lead in the 22nd through Smith. Michael Harrington played a great ball into the box, where Smith had once again lost Rafael (a theme from the game if you can't tell). Smith though scuffed his shot and Amos was able to get down and make the save. There was also a very scary moment for Smith in the first half, as he went down with a non-contact injury to his knee. Watching the replay on the video screen (BTW for those people that attend games at CAB, how nice is it to actually be able to see replays on a video board again?) I thought for sure that Smith had torn his MCL or worse, his ACL. Smith was able to come back in though and continued to play.

In the 30th minute, United had their best chance to equalize up to that point, as Nani got the ball at midfield, was able to beat Shavar Thomas and dribble into the Wizards box. Jimmy Nielsen was quickly off his line though and was able to block Nani's chance. A minute later, Nielsen again made a nice save on Nani, this time off a free kick that Nani headed on towards goal. Nielsen got his finger tips to it and tipped it over the bar. United got their chance for the equalizer in the 41st, after Conrad brought down Berbatov in the box. Conrad didn't get the ball and it was absolutely a penalty, but the red card referee Terry Vaughn handed out seemed harsh, especially in a friendly match. Still, the call stood, and Berbatov, fooled Nielsen and slotted the ball to Nielsen's left as he went right.

Being a man down didn't seem to bother KC too much, as they came right back down the field and found the equalizer through Kamara. Smith played in a corner, and Kamara reached it first, heading it over Amos and onto the cross bar. The ball came down and hit just on the other side of the line. There will be questions of whether the whole ball crossed the line or not, but the goal was given, and KC was probably deservedly on top heading into the half time break.

At half time, KC only made one change, as Eric Kronberg got into the game. Kronberg was tested a lot more than Nielsen was in the first half, as United pressed forward and used the man advantage to their advantage. Kronberg denied Mame Biram Diouf a few times in the half for a few of his 5 saves. KC still got a few chances of their own, as Kamara set up a great opportunity for second half sub, Jack Jewsbury, after a great play down the win. Jewsbury's blast from just inside the box was well saved by Amos. The Wizards sat further and further back though and the chances continued to pile up for United. Wizards forward, Sunil Chhetri came on as a second half sub, but was largely ineffective due to the lone forward role he and the Wizards were playing at the time while a man down. United's chances fell to some of their younger strikers, on as subs. Danny Welbeck had a cross go right off him with an empty net, but over the goal. Then in the 81st, Welbeck played a fantastic ball with the outside of his foot that found Federico Macheda in the box, but his strong header was right at Kronberg and he was able to cover the rebound. KC was able to hold on, to the final whistle and take the friendly 2-1.

Again, this was only a friendly, but the Wizards played a very good game, even a man down. They took the game to United early and controlled the game for long portions in the midfield. And it's not like United's midfield was a totally watered down version, as it contained Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Gibson, and Nani, all 4 have plenty of first team games under their belt. Even Nani was impressed with the way the Wizards played, saying “ It's difficult to compare them directly to Barcelona because they're one of the best teams in the world to play that kind of football, but they play very nice and quick and they passed the ball well like a quality Spanish club. Their style was good.”

Stephane Auvray had a fantastic game shutting down the passing lanes in the middle of the field. The only real faults I can find with the team today was once again the center of defense. Conrad for his red card, even if it was questionable, and Thomas who continues to get beat by pace. I lost track of how many times I saw him go down for a tackle and miss badly. I know a couple times they almost led to goals.

Wizards Man of the Match - Stephane Auvray - Auvray was the midfield engine for KC today, worked his butt off, and helped KC control the midfield against a very strong team. Auvray's good play was also seen by the hole he left when he subbed out for Graham Zusi, who didn't play bad, but him and Auvray just play two different midfield roles.

Honorable Mention - Kei Kamara, Eric Kronberg

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Harrington 6, Thomas 4, Conrad 4, Espinoza 6, Arnaud 7, Auvray 9, Rocastle 6, Kamara 8, Bunbury 7, Smith 8. Subs Besler 6, Kronberg 7, Aiyegbusi 5, Chhetri 5, Jewsbury 6, Zusi 5, Myers NR.

Quick Stat - There will be no Monday after stats tomorrow since there won't be a lot of stats to cover, but here's one. The announced attendance for tonight's game, 52,424, was not only the largest crowd in KC soccer history, but is also the largest attendance in Missouri soccer history, topping the mark set by the 2001 World Cup qualifier at Arrowhead against Costa Rica.

Apparently There's a Big Game Tomorrow

So apparently out at Arrowhead tomorrow there's this pretty big game going on involving the Wizards and some team from England that's apparently really popular, Manchester United. The team arrived in KC today. The game tomorrow in KC is going to be the biggest soccer game here at least since the 2001 World Cup qualifier between the US and Costa Rica, if not ever. I lean more towards the later, because while the qualifier back in 2001 had more importance to it, the game of soccer wasn't at the level it is at now in this country. Bringing Manchester United here is a big accomplishment for the Wizards and Kansas City as a whole. These are the types of teams that usually only play on the coasts and occasionally Chicago, so to get them into KC is a big deal. This is only the 5th club friendly involving a foreign team here in KC since MLS started. The first was back in 1996 when the Wizards played Veracruz at Arrowhead in September of 1997. The second was a game back in 2005 when the Columbus Crew played a friendly against Santos Laguna at Arrowhead Stadium as part of a double header with a Wizards league game. I was one of a couple hundred fans in the stands for that game. Then there was the game against sister club, Atlas in the Wizards first year at CAB. The fourth occurred last year, also at Arrowhead, when the Wizards, OnGoal, and SUM hosted a match up between Chivas Gualajara and Club America. This is easily the biggest one of the 5, and it certainly has the biggest club out of all those as well. Should make for a fun time at Arrowhead tomorrow.

With this being a friendly, I expect to see a lot of substitutions made by the Wizards and by Manchester United. Already we've heard that Sunil Chhetri will get time on the field, and I'm sure other reserves will get a run out as well. I expect close to a starting lineup to at least start the game against Manchester United tomorrow and the subs to start to come in at half time. It'll be a good chance for the Wizards stars to impress in front of one of the best clubs in the world. While for the reserves, it gives them a chance to impress and attempt to work their way into the lineup for league games. This will be the biggest "friendly" reserve game for the reserves that they've ever played in. Getting time for guys like Chhetri, Jamar Beasley, Santiago Hirsig, and others who don't regularly make the bench will get the chance to show what they can do.

With all the changes I'm expecting during the game tomorrow I'm not posting a prediction on the lineup, key match up, or prediction. Overall, I'm just looking to have a good time, enjoy seeing my two favorite clubs in the world play each other. I'll be in the Cauldron cheering for the Wizards in the group that will more than likely be the minority group of supporters in the stadium. But then again most of the United fans at the game tomorrow are likely the "plastic" kind that have never even been to Old Trafford. So I guess I can take solace in that point.

NBC Action News Broadcast

For those that missed tonight's NBC Action News broadcast at 10pm tonight, I was interviewed for what ended up being the lead story for the broadcast tonight, the Wizards-United game on Sunday and it's potential impact on KC and it's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

New Byline to Back Post

This week's From the Byline to the Back Post is now up for your listening pleasure. This week Thad and I discuss the All Star game, the Sal Zizzo lottery, the Nikos Kounenakis signing, the Omar Bravo rumors, and the games against Colorado and Manchester United. Available both via the iTunes store and Posterous. Enjoy.

Former Wizards Update

The seasons continue for former Wizards, while Yura Movsisyan started his league season this past week, while Herculez Gomez started playing with his new club Pachuca. As always, if you have an update on a former Wizards player, please let me know. Here's the rest of your former Wizards update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Out with injury
Adam Cristman - DC United - Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Did not dress in DC's 2-1 loss to LA.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 2-0 loss to Dallas.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 win over DC.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Dallas' 2-0 win over RSL.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Columbus' 2-0 win over New York.
Chris Klein - LA - Did not dress in LA's 2-1 win over DC.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Colorado's 1-1 draw with KC.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 2-0 loss to Dallas.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Dressed but did not play in DC's 2-1 loss to LA. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 win over Harrisburg in the US Open Cup.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Did not have a league game this week.
Carey Talley - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in DC's 2-1 loss to LA. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-0 win over Harrisburg in the US Open Cup.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-0 win over DC.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Did not dress in Chivas' 2-1 loss to Puebla in SuperLiga. Did not dress in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Houston in SuperLiga. Did not dress in Chivas' SuperLiga game against Pachuca.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Baltimore's 2-1 win over Montreal.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-0 loss to Carolina.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Did not have a game this week.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Miami's 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 86 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over St. Louis.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 68 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Maryland.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Pittsburgh's 2-0 win over Richmond. Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 1-1 draw with Harrisburg.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 1-0 win over Maryland.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Started and played 71 minutes, scoring a goal in Ocean City's 2-1 win over Carolina.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Did not play in Michigan's 6-0 win over Toronto. Beat Toronto 3-1.
Sergei Raad - Central Florida - Started and played 90 in Central Florida's 3-0 win over Nashville. Started and played 22 minutes in Central Florida's 2-1 loss to Atlanta.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Long Island's 2-0 win over Albany.

International
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Pachuca's 2-1 loss to Houston in SuperLiga. Started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 3-1 loss to Puebla in SuperLiga. Started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 1-0 loss to Chivas USA in SuperLiga.
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Waterford's 1-1 draw with Finn Harps.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Did not dress for Randers 3-0 win over Gorica in the Europa League. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes, scoring a goal in Randers 3-2 win over Brøndby.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not dress in Aalesund's 1-0 loss to IK Start.

Quick News

Some news from the past few days to touch on.

Sal Zizzo to Chivas USA. KC had the second best chance of landing the former U-20 stand out in today's lottery, but he's headed to the West Coast to play at the Home Depot Center.

Nikos Kounenakis official. Yesterday the team officially announced the signing of Greek defender, Nikos Kounenakis. The team is still waiting on the P1 Visa and ITC, once those are in the Wizards will have to make roster space.

Wizards make $20 tickets available for United game. The Wizards have made more tickets available for Sunday's game against Manchester United at Arrowhead. These tickets are on the second deck, probably in what you'd consider nose bleed seats.

Speaking of the United game, last weekend against Colorado, Robb Heineman said on the broadcast that the Wizards Indian forward, Sunil Chhetri, will get some playing time. That news has been fully confirmed by the team, so our friends in Indian can celebrate that. They can also celebrate because the game will be broadcasted on MUFC Online for a subscription fee.

Nielsen, Save of the Week, Go Vote

Surprise, surprise, Jimmy Nielsen is once again up for Save of the Week, this time with two saves from Wednesday night's game against Columbus. Two of his three big saves in that game. His saves against Emmanuel Ekpo and Adam Moffat are nominated this week. Get out there and vote for the White Puma.

Bravo Not Coming Until August?

While the Wizards have denied that the team has already signed Omar Bravo, they did say that the team is in negotiations with Chivas and Bravo to bring the Mexican striker to KC. Word out of Mexico is that Bravo's contract with Chivas does not expire until the end of this month. Even then, Chivas may not let Bravo go for a few more days. Apparently Chivas is looking to sign him to another short term deal so that he can play in both legs of Chivas' Copa Libertadores semifinal match up against Universidad de Chile. The first leg of that match up is July 27th with the second on August 3rd. Bravo has been Chivas' leading scorer in the tournament with 4 goals, so their attempts to keep him at least for the semifinal is understandable. Still with his contract set to expire at the end of this month, it might be until August before Bravo plays for KC. I have a feeling that we could see something announced at the Manchester United game on Sunday if something will be at all.

No All Stars for KC

Three days after the KC Wizards take on Manchester United, the MLS All Stars will get their shot at United down in Houston. No matter how the result goes on Sunday, no Wizards players will get a second chance against United as today Bruce Arena his 10 reserve players, and Don Garber made his two commissioner picks. Most of the names are not that surprising, but a few are a bit of a head scratcher. Specifically the addition of Jamie Moreno by Garber and Arena picking Sharlie Joseph even though Joseph has missed quite a bit of time this season due to being in rehab. The only way Moreno makes sense is if this is his final season and it's a way to thank him for his contributions to the league over his career. Joseph, while he's been a great player over his career in MLS, hasn't done a whole lot to be considered an all star this year. If MLS really wanted to add a DC player, I would have gone with Andy Najar who's had a very good season for DC. Another snub in my opinion was Alvaro Saborio, Salt Lake's leading scorer. As for Wizards best chance, it was probably Jimmy Nielsen, but he missed out to Nick Rimando, who has 7 shutouts on the year for RSL.

MLS Signs Sal Zizzo, Weighted Lottery Coming

MLS has signed another US youth international, this time it's Sal Zizzo. Zizzo is a 23 year old midfielder who had signed with Hannover 96 in Germany after a very successful U-20 World Cup in 2007. Zizzo made 8 appearances for Hannover and during his time at the club he was also loaned out to Fortuna Dusseldorf. In October of last year though, Zizzo tore his ACL and missed the entire 2009-2010 season. Zizzo will be allocated to a team via a weighted lottery. While the Wizards have already won a weighted lottery when they won the lottery for Luis Gil, according to Jeff Carlisle says that the Wizards will still be eligible for this lottery because Gil was only going to play in Salt Lake or Seattle. Also according to Carlisle the Wizards and DC United have the best chance to win the lottery for Zizzo's services. While it might be a little hard to see where Zizzo would fit in immediately, I think Zizzo would be a solid addition to the Wizards should they win the lottery.

Sunday After Stats

The draw was the Wizards 100th in all competitions for the team in their history.

Davy Arnaud's goal was his 39th careeer league goal for KC, tying him with Chris Klein for 3rd place all time on that list.

Arnaud also made his 183rd league start, moving him into a tie with Klein for 5th place on that list.

In the 53rd minute, Michael Harrington moved past Kevin Hartman and into 19th place for the most league minutes played for KC, Harrington finished the game with 8138 minutes played for KC.

Harrington also made his 100th start in all competitions for KC last night. He is the 21st player to hit that mark for KC, he ties Hartman for 20th place on that list for KC all time.

Harrington also made his 90th league start for KC, moving him into a tie with Hartman for 19th place on that list.

In the 57th minute, Jimmy Conrad moved past Chris Klein and into 4th place for the most minutes played in all competitions for KC, Conrad finished the game with 19,471 minutes played.

Conrad also made his 216th start for KC in all competitions, moving him into a tie with Klein for 4th place all time.

Wizards Sign Greek Defender

Last night during the broadcast of the Wizards-Rapids game, Robb Heineman announced that the Wizards had made another signing. No, not Omar Bravo, who he said that deal is not finalized yet, but Nikos Kounenakis a Greek defender who last played for Aris Limassol, who was relegated last season from the Cypriot First Division. Kounenakis is a 32 year old, South African born Greek, who has found most of his success playing for OFI Crete in the Greek league. I haven't seen him play, but hopefully he brings some help to the center of defense, where KC still struggles, with Shavar Thomas taking his turn last night in Colorado, getting beat twice by Conor Casey. The one worry is that he has mainly played for lower level sides, and I don't think a lot of people give the Cyprus league much of a thought as a competitive league.

Point on the Road

The Wizards finished their busy schedule stretch of 3 games in 8 days, two on the road, with a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids last night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Peter Vermes put out the same lineup that saw the Wizards pull out a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday. KC came out and dictated play early, controlling the game. Stephane Auvray and Craig Rocastle did a good job of shutting down the Rapids midfield. In the 20th minute, the Wizards capitalized on the possession, as Rocastle played a nice ball in behind the Rapids defense. Captain, Davy Arnaud raced through, beating his man, taking a touch and touching the ball just over Rapids' goalkeeper, Matt Pickens and into the net, giving the Wizards the early 1-0 lead again. With KC holding the lead, they continued to control the game and had the better chances as the game continued. The Rapids chances were all from distance and ended up not really troubling Jimmy Nielsen in net for KC. In the 40th minute, KC had a great chance to double the lead through Kei Kamara. As the ball was heading out for a goal kick and being shepherded by Drew Moor. Kamara stepped around Moor, stole the ball and dribbled in on goal. Kamara fired toward the near post but was denied by Pickens' leg. The rebound fell to Arnaud who fired on goal again and Pickens knocked it away. Shortly after, KC almost grabbed a second goal again. Teal Bunbury got in on goal and fired off a shot that beat Pickens, but didn't beat the post. The ball hit off the far post, then off the near post before going back out into play and cleared.

In the second half, Kansas City continued to press the game, and created some chances, but none as dangerous as Kamara and Bunbury's in the first half. Kamara fired one at the near post that was just wide of the near post was one of the team's best chances. At the other end of the field, Colorado started to get more dangerous as the half wore on. KC held on and kept Colorado from getting really good chances though. Finally, in the 74th, when those of us that traveled thought that maybe, just maybe we'd see the Wizards win on the road, Conor Casey received the ball, turned Shavar Thomas inside out, before beating Nielsen through the 5 hole to tie the game up. With the equalizer, it was Colorado that pushed harder for the winner, and should have had it when Casey again got behind Thomas and the Wizards defense. Casey rounded Nielsen and had the open net to shoot into, but fired right into the post and it went out for a goal kick. The Wizards held on after that and came away with the point, their 4th in the past 2 games. In the last two games (both on the road) the Wizards picked up a third of the total points that they picked up the first 14 games of the season.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - One of his best games of the season, and even though he didn't score, Kamara had a good performance and performed well.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Harrington 5, Conrad 4, Thomas 4, Espinoza 5, Auvray 6, Rocastle 6, Arnaud 6, Kamara 6, Bunbury 5, Smith 4. Subs Jewsbury 4, Wolff 4, Zusi NR.

Omar Bravo to KC

Rumors out of Mexico today are that the Wizards are signing Omar Bravo from Mexican club, Chivas Guadalajara. Bravo would likely come in as a designated player, becoming the Wizards second designated player. Bravo's contract is currently held by Deportivo La Coruna, and was loaned out the past two seasons to Chivas and Tigres. Up until 2008 he'd played for Chivas and had a pretty good scoring record. Since than he's only scored 6 goals for his club team. He certainly brings some name appeal to the team as a current/former Mexican international. Hopefully he can recover some of his original form and help the Wizards reverse their scoring woes.

The Wizards will need to create a roster spot for Bravo.

New Byline to Back Post

With two games this week, Thad and I got together for a second podcast last night. Here is this week's From the Byline to the Back Post, as of this posting, it is currently available on Posterous and should be up on iTunes shortly for you to listen to. In this episode Thad and I discussed the Manchester United roster for their US tour, the MLS All Star First XI, and the games against Columbus and Colorado. Enjoy.

Road Trip Continues

The Wizards conclude their busy week with a game tomorrow night in Colorado against the Rapids. The Rapids offense has struggled a little bit, especially since the World Cup break. Their potent strike force last season of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings haven't been having the season they had last year. Their defense though has been one of the better defense in the league, anchored by Matt Pickens in goal, and two very good holding midfielders in front of their back four in Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz. The Wizards offense will have trouble breaking through against this team.

The Wizards do come into the game on a bit of a high after a good win in Columbus on Wednesday night. This will also be the team's last league game for two weeks due to the Manchester United game next weekend. And while I expect starters in that game, they shouldn't be playing the full 90 I don't think. The big question for the game tomorrow night is what does Peter Vermes do? Does he stick with the same lineup that got him 3 points on Wednesday and run the risk of some tired legs early? Or does he switch it up, perhaps re-inserting Josh Wolff and Jack Jewsbury into the lineup since they didn't play on Wednesday? I have a feeling we'll see at least one of them back in the starting lineup to go against the Rapids as I think resting them on Wednesday was a tactical decision by Vermes. My hope is that it's Jewsbury as Teal Bunbury impressed me enough to keep his starting spot over Wolff. Another option is to plug Graham Zusi into the starting lineup again.

Nielsen
Harrington - Thomas - Conrad - Espinoza
Jewsbury - Auvray - Arnaud
Kamara - Bunbury - Smith

Key Match Up - Ryan Smith vs Kosuke Kimura/Marvell Wynne. Smith by far had the better of this match up in the game in CAB earlier this season. He beat Kimura multiple times down the left side. Since than the league has learned the "Hack Smith" game plan and he hasn't been able to be impressive, but going up against Kimura again could be interesting. Depending on lineups though, Wynne could be the one on the right for Colorado, which would be another interesting match up for Smith.

PREDICTION - I'm trying not to let the Columbus game cloud my vision on this team. While it was a very nice result, this team still has struggled lately and they're going up against another good defensive team tomorrow in Colorado. Another win on the road would certainly help this team begin to pull itself out of the hole it put itself in in the beginning of the season, but I have a hard time seeing the Wizards being able to break down the Colorado defense. Alternatively I think the shutout against Columbus has given the defense back some confidence that they lost in the previous few games due to mental errors. Right now in my mind this has all the ear marks of a dreary, drab, 0-0 draw.

KC - 0
CO - 0

Midseason Player Grades

Yesterday was the Wizards 15th game of the season. So far it hasn't gone very well after starting so brightly. After beating DC 4-0 and CO 1-0, the Wizards have only won 2 games in the 13 games since than. There have been a few bright spots for the Wizards overall though, particularly Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, and Roger Espinoza. Here are the midseason player grades.

Korede Aiyegbusi - INC - Aiyegbusi hasn't gotten a whole lot of time, only 130 minutes in all competitions this season, he's shown a tenacity and bite that Lance Watson showed.

Davy Arnaud - C- - The Wizards new captain has struggled this season, he's scored only scored 1 goal and 2 assists so far this season. He's also been red carded 3 times, a team record for a season.

Stephane Auvray - B+ - Part of this grade is for his good play on the field, the other part is from how obvious the hole was in the middle of the field when he was out with injury, he's been the second best signing this offseason.

Jamar Beasley - INC - Hasn't even made the bench yet.

Matt Besler - C- - He's had his turn to be the fall guy in the center of defense, but the entire central defense has been prone to mistakes this season.

Teal Bunbury - C - Has played well coming off the bench lately and has had himself some good games, but like the rest of the forwards, his lack of goal contribution keeps his grade lower.

Sunil Chhetri - INC - Only 45 minutes in a US Open Cup qualifier, that's either good enough for an incomplete, or a failing grade based on the press the signing got in India. I wasn't expecting as much as some people so I'll give him the INC.

Jimmy Conrad - C+ - Had been the Wizards most consistent central defender until 1) his two mistakes against New York, and 2) the trade for Shavar Thomas who hasn't been here long enough to make his standard mistakes.

Birahim Diop - INC - The only thing going for Diop right now is he's going to likely have the least minutes per appearance for the Wizards.

Pablo Escobar - F - He cost the Wizards more goals than any other defender and was waived after a poor start to his MLS career. Not exactly what MLS expected when they signed him to a contract.

Roger Espinoza - B+ - Has had what appears to be a break out season after his move to left back. He earned himself a place on the Honduran national team and appeared in two games in the World Cup.

Michael Harrington - B - Moved to the right side to accommodate Espinoza's move to the left back position and Harrington has settled in very well on the right.

Zoltan Hercegfalvi - INC - Tore his ACL against AC St. Louis and is out until at least September.

Santiago Hirsig - INC - Only has 45 minutes this season in a start at DC.

Aaron Hohlbein - INC - His performance against New York was almost enough to give him a failing grade, but his lack of total minutes gives him an INC instead.

Jack Jewsbury - C- - Jewsbury hasn't had a bad season, but he hasn't exactly impressed in any form either. He's our utility infielder, he doesn't have one position he's great at, but he's a good player.

Kei Kamara - B - The team's leading scorer by far, Kamara's had a strong season. But the Wizards could really use him to step up and start putting the ball in the net again.

Eric Kronberg - INC - Only 90 minutes in the Wizards Open Cup qualifier against Colorado.

Jonathan Leathers - INC - Less than 200 minutes in league play for Leathers right now. Not enough for a fair grade.

Chance Myers - D+ - Myers started the season as a forward, moved back to defense, and has recently been playing in midfield. He's not been able to lock down any of those positions unfortunately.

Jimmy Nielsen - A- - His game against New York was his one poor performance of the season and has kept the Wizards from losing games worse than they have. He's made Wizards fans not worry about the loss of Kevin Hartman.

Craig Rocastle - C- - "Red card" Rocastle had a poor start to his Wizards career, picking up a red card and having 2 other challenges that easily could have been red cards. Lately he's been consistent though in midfield and been a physical presence.

Ryan Smith - B- - Had a fantastic start to his MLS career, but since then, MLS teams have learned to stop Smith you just knock the crap out of him all game. How the tackles have not led to more yellows in surprising. His final grade will be dependent on how he continues to adjust to the play in MLS.

Shavar Thomas - INC - Only 3 games for Thomas for the Wizards, not enough for a full grade, but so far he's help to solidify the back line.

Josh Wolff - D - Wolff has had a poor season after setting a personal best for goals last year. He's been spending more time playing defensively as a forward, but he's only scored one goal this season.

Graham Zusi - B- Zusi's been impressive coming off the bench and appears that he's developing into a player that the Wizards could rely on in the future.

Thursday After Stats

Technically it's Thursday now, so here are your Thursday After Stats for the game against the Crew.

The win was the 200th win in Wizards history in all competitions. (That's counting shootout games as wins or losses, but PK games in the Open Cup and Open Cup qualifiers as draws).

Teal Bunbury's goal was his first career MLS goal.

Bunbury's goal was also the first game winning goal this season not scored by Kei Kamara.

In the 69th minute, Michael Harrington moved past Mark Chung and into 19th place for the most minutes played in all competitions.

In the 85th minute, Harrington then passed Sasha Victorine to move into 18th place on that list. Harrington finished the game wtih 9190 minutes played.

A Win? On the Road? We'll Take It

I don't think many people gave the Wizards a chance going into tonight's game against the Columbus Crew. The Wizards had not won in 8 straight against the Crew and on the road, where they hadn't won since September of last year. So not expecting much from this game was to be expected. But the Wizards showed up tonight and took the game to Columbus and pulled off a deserved 1-0 win over the Crew on the road.

A few changes were made to the lineup, as Teal Bunbury and Craig Rocastle came into the lineup, replacing Josh Wolff and Jack Jewsbury who moved to the bench. And both subs played good roles in the win. Things didn't start out well to start, though, as the Crew were the early dominate team in the game, holding KC in their end for the most part. But in the 14th minute, the Wizards broke out on the counter and made Columbus pay. On a poor corner, Roger Espinoza picked off a pass by Frankie Hejduk as he tried to keep the ball in. Espinoza fed the ball to Ryan Smith in the middle of the field, who played in Bunbury as he ran into Columbus' defensive third. With Davy Arnaud on the far side of the box, Bunbury took the chance himself and ended up 5-holing former Wizard, Will Hesmer, and giving the Wizards a 1-0, only their 4th lead of the season.

The Crew continued to control the game after the goal and had a great chance to equalize as Adam Moffat brought down a long ball and struck the ball from outside the box. Jimmy Nielsen came up with a great save though, getting his right hand up to parry the ball over the bar. Columbus also had a penalty shout as Rocastle went over the back of Jason Garey, and with the way the season has gone for KC you almost expected it to be called. KC continued to play the counter game and almost found the net again twice in the span of a minute or two. First Gino Padula almost put an amazing finish past his own goalkeeper on a cross from Smith, but it was right at Hesmer and the rebound was cleared for the corner. On the ensuing corner, Kei Kamara, beat Hesmer, but Eddie Gaven was on the post and was able to keep the ball out of the net.

In the second half, the Wizards were able to control some of the possession and keeping the ball more. The Wizards showed some of the play that helped them to control the game on Saturday against Chivas. Columbus still got their chances and thanks to Nielsen, the Wizards held onto the shutout. Smith gave the ball away to Hejduk and the ball fell to Guillermo Barros Schelotto who cut inside on Jimmy Conrad and fired a shot to the far post that Nielsen got his foot to, to kick wide. Gaven's rebound went well wide. Gaven had another shot later in the half, but his finish lacked pace and was right at Nielsen. In the 80th minute, the Wizards had their best chance of the second half to put the game away. Smith played in Bunbury behind the Crew defense. He dribbled around Hesmer, but this pushed him wide of the goal. Bunbury then crossed back in to Graham Zusi, but his header was saved by Hesmer on the line. With the rebound, Zusi wasn't able to get another shot before crossing back to Bunbury who was offside.

The Crew continued to throw more numbers forward to find the equalizer and as stoppage time came closer, they had another chance stolen from them by Nielsen. A corner was partially cleared to Emmanuel Ekpo who took a touch and fired in a shot through traffic that Nielsen did well to beat away. In stoppage time on a long ball into the box, Steven Lenhart headed a ball in on goal, but right at Nielsen. On the play Lenhart and Moffat knocked heads, leaving Lenhart with a bloody nose that kept him from coming back on the field. After the original 4 minutes became 7 due the head injuries to Lenhart and Moffat, the Wizards picked up their first road win of the season.

Overall a strong performance from KC on the road against a strong team. This is definitely a game to build some confidence off of going forward, because beating Columbus in Columbus is not easy to do. Nielsen came up with big saves, the Wizards took the chances that they came their way, and finished one well. Peter Vermes came in with a good game plan and the Wizards executed well. He made some changes to try and jump start the team and they paid off for him.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Nielsen - While Bunbury got the goal, the White Puma once again came up big for KC and gave the people that decide on the Save of the Week nominees 3 great options to choose from for this week. Maybe with 2 big saves in Colorado on the weekend Nielsen will sweep the nominations this week. While plenty of people had good games, Nielsen was the leader tonight.

Honorable Mention - Shavar Thomas, Teal Bunbury

Player Ratings - Nielsen 8, Harrington 6, Thomas 7, Conrad 6, Espinoza 6, Rocastle 6, Auvray 7, Arnaud 6, Kamara 5, Bunbury 7, Smith 6. Subs Zusi 5, Aiyegbusi NR, Diop NR.

Former Wizards Update

On a night where there is plenty of midweek action in MLS, Superliga, USSF D-2, and PDL, lot of action to be updated tomorrow, although some is currently updated. More and more European leagues are going to be starting up in the next few weeks, so more former Wizards will be joining the list. Here is this week's update.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Out with injury
Adam Cristman - DC United - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in DC's 0-0 draw with New York.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 1-0 win over Chicago.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 1-1 draw with Seattle.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Columbus' 0-0 draw with Houston. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-0 loss to KC.
Chris Klein - LA - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in LA's 2-0 loss to New England.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to Toronto.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 1-0 win over Chicago.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 0-0 draw with New York.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Carey Talley - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 0-0 draw with New York.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Did not dress in Chivas' 2-0 win over KC.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Started and played 53 minutes in Portland's 2-0 win over Miami.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 2-2 draw with St. Louis.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Started and played 85 minutes in Baltimore's 2-0 loss to Puerto Rico. Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Baltimore's 0-0 draw with Rochester.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout, in Rochester's 0-0 draw with Austin. Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 0-0 draw with Baltimore.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-0 win over Puerto Rico. Started and played 75 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Montreal.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-0 win over Miami.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 45 minutes in Miami's 2-0 loss to Portland. Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Miami's 3-1 loss to Vancouver.
Lance Watson - Austin - Started and played 73 minutes in Austin's 0-0 draw with Rochester.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 66 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Richmond.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 loss to Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Charlotte.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Did not have a game this week.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 loss to Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Charlotte.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over Richmond.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Ocean City's 1-1 draw with Reading. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Ocean City's 3-0 loss to Ironbound.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Did not dress in Michigan's 2-1 win over Chicago.
Sergei Raad - Central Florida - Started and played 90 minutes in Central Florida's 1-0 win over Fort Lauderdale.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Started and played 45 minutes in Long Island's 2-2 draw with Ottawa. Started and played 45 minutes in Long Island's 2-1 win over Brooklyn.

International
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Dressed but did not play in Waterford's 2-1 loss to Monaghan United.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 27 minutes in Randers 2-1 loss to F91 Dudelange.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not dress in Aalesund's 0-0 draw with Molde.

Roof Trusses

If you check out the Wizards webcam right now, you'll see that the first of the stadium's roof trusses are up in the air right now on one of the cranes and will be going into place today. It's another milestone for Wizards fans as they watch their stadium take shape right before their eyes. Not only are the roof trusses going up, but around the rest of the stadium, steel is going into place as well. It's amazing to see how quickly this process has gone and seeing it for my own eyes before every home game is at least one treat for every game day with how the Wizards are playing. If you haven't yet, check out James' photos from last week when he got to tour the stadium site.

On the Road Again

The Wizards go back on the road again for two road games in 4 days as they play Columbus tomorrow night at Columbus Crew Stadium. Unlike Saturday night when the Wizards played a struggling Chivas USA side, the Crew are on top of the Eastern Conference with 28 points, 16 more than the Wizards. Columbus comes in on the backs of a busy schedule as well, they've been playing two games a week for the past few weeks with league and Open Cup games. This will continue through the weekend as they have a top of the conference clash with New York on Saturday. Those two factors could see the Crew rest a few of their starters in preparation for that match. It will be interesting to see if Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Chad Marshall, and Eddie Gaven all get starts with the big game this weekend.

The Wizards themselves are in a similar situation as they're in the middle of busy stretch, with this being their 2nd of 3 games in 8 days as they'll go straight from Columbus to Colorado for a game on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if the team makes some changes to the lineup with the busy stretch. I don't expect any radical difference (aka I don't expect Sunil Chhetri or Jamar Beasley to make their first MLS appearances), but I could see some more of the guys that come off the bench get more time. For example Graham Zusi and Craig Rocastle I could see getting a start either tomorrow or in Colorado on the weekend. This will be a test of the Wizards depth, which I think people are finding out is not as deep as people expected due to the fact that we haven't seen a whole lot of changes even though the team has struggled.

Nielsen
Harrington - Thomas - Conrad - Espinoza
Arnaud - Auvray - Jewsbury
Kamara - Wolff - Smith

Key Match Up - Josh Wolff vs Chad Marshall - It's hard to pick a specific match up because as I mentioned earlier, there could be some lineup changes, at least for the Crew. With the offense struggling, Josh Wolff really needs to step up and show some veteran leadership offensively. He's enjoyed his time at Crew Stadium since returning to MLS, so we'll see if that continues.

PREDICTION - Even with the possibility of the Crew not dressing their full A-squad I'm not confident in this game at all. The Crew, even without a few of their starters are playing better than the Wizards are. Without their bigger names in the lineup, the Crew have been winning their US Open Cup games as well, so those that would come in have been getting playing time. With the way both teams have played lately, this is an easy win for the Crew. Of course these are the type of games that could bee seen as a "banana peel" game for the Crew. They are in the middle of a busy schedule and have a big game on the weekend against New York, so it's possible that they overlook KC. But I just don't see KC getting enough done on the road to steal all 3 points, or even 1 point.

KC - 0
Columbus - 2 (Lenhart, Gaven)

New Byline to Back Post

With two games this week, Thad and I are going to be doing two versions of From The Byline to the Back Post this week. The first one is up now on iTunes and Posterous. This week Thad and I discussed the World Cup finishing up, the return of the Comets, the Wizards games, and of course the streaker incident at the game against Chivas. Enjoy.

Sunday After Stats

A little delayed from the write up today due to the World Cup final being on, but here is this week's Sunday after stats.

Michael Harrington played his 100th league game for the Wizards. He's the 20th player to hit that mark as a Wizards player.

In the 21st minute, Harrington moved past Kevin Hartman and into 20th place on the list of most minutes in all competitions for the Wizards, Harrington finished the game with 9100 minutes played.

It was Harrington's 115th appearance in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Sasha Victorine for 18th place on that list.

Kei Kamara played in his 100th league game in his MLS career.

Jack Jewsbury made his 159th start in all competitions for KC, tying him with Matt McKeon for 7th place on that list.

Josh Wolff made his 125th league start for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 10th place on that list.

Pro Indoor Soccer Returning to KC

It looks like professional indoor soccer will be returning to Kansas City this winter. Rumors have been around for the past few months about professional indoor soccer returning to KC, ever since the announcement of the KC vs St. Louis legends match set to be played at the Independence Event Center. Word now is that we will also see the return of the Comets this winter as well. Instead of being the KC Comets, they will be called the Missouri Comets and will play at the Independence Events Center along with the Missouri Mavericks hockey team. The team's season will have 12 home games, beginning in November. Professional indoor soccer had been absent from the KC area since the second incarnation of the Comets went on hiatus in 2005 and never came back. The Comets will compete in the 3rd incarnation of the MISL, the previous versions of the MISL have also contained versions of the Comets at one time or another as well. They'll play the Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave, Monterrey La Raza, Philadelphia Kixx, and Rockford Rampage.

It's good to see professional indoor soccer return to KC, it was always fun going to old Comets and Attack/Comets games in the past, and it's a lot better location for me than Soccer Dome, where the Kings (while a very good team) play. I am a little surprised that they're announcing that the team will play this season, with the season only 5 months away from starting. I would have expected they would want a little more time to sell tickets and get the team known a bit more, but playing in a smaller venue certainly helps that a bit. The events center should be a fantastic spot for this team. When it was built I thought it'd be the perfect place for indoor soccer to return to KC. I'll certainly be attending a few games, although season tickets are still in question.

Our Season Wrapped into One Game

The Wizards 2-0 loss to Chivas USA yesterday was their entire season wrapped into one game. The Wizards held possession, and controlled the game, but mental lapses by a central defender leads to the opposition getting a goal or two. Meanwhile the offense looks inept in the offensive third and KC gets shutout.

Basically that's how last night's game played out out at Community America Ballpark. In the first half the Wizards had a few chances, testing Zach Thornton, specifically through Kei Kamara off a free kick in the 30th minute. Kamara hit a blast after Davy Arnaud back healed the free kick to him, but Thornton got down well and parried the ball wide. Thornton left the game shortly after that with an ankle injury and was replaced by Dan Kennedy. With the new keeper in net, KC didn't really test him, creating half chances, but nothing that truly tested him.

In the second half, the Wizards had their first big defensive slip up of the game when Jimmy Conrad hit an attempted clearance off the back of a Chivas player. The ball went into the path of Justin Braun who dribbled in on goal and beat Jimmy Nielsen, giving Chivas the 1-0 lead. KC continued to hold possession and had a fantastic opportunity to tie the game in the 68th minute. A nice ball into the box by Ryan Smith was met by Arnaud. Arnaud's header looped over Kennedy but hit the bar and bounced out. In the 74th, the Wizards should have equalized, as Graham Zusi played in a great corner that found Stephane Auvray at the back post unmarked, but Auvray put his header just the wrong side of the post. The Wizards paid for not finding the equalizer in the 87th minute, when Conrad played a hospital ball to defensive partner Shavar Thomas. Braun intercepted the pass and got around Thomas as he tried to foul him. Braun then beat Nielsen again and gave Chivas the 3 points.

Another really disappointing game. And while Vermes can say we dominated the game, domination means absolutely nothing when you can't put the ball in the net. We could control 90 percent of games, but until we stop making silly defensive mistakes and start putting the ball in the net, this team is going to continue to underachieve for the talent level that they have. Some change needs to be made and needs to happen sooner rather than later.

Wizards Man of the Match - Michael Harrington - Shut down Chivas' left wing for much of the game, unfortunately the center of defense didn't do as much shutting down Chivas. But Harrington has been solid for much of the season whether it's been on the left or the right side of defense.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Espinoza 5, Conrad 3, Thomas 4, Harrington 5, Auvray 5, Jewsbury 4, Arnaud 4, Kamara 4, Wolff 4, Smith 4. Subs Zusi 5, Bunbury 3.

Not Good Enough

For the second home game in a row I find myself writing the day of the game, which I don't like to do, but once again the Wizards put on a horrible performance on the field and once again come away losers. This team has too much talent for what's happening on the field and some change needs to be made. At this point it has to be the coach. Vermes has to go, he doesn't have this team playing up to their potential. This team should not be sitting on 12 points right now after 14 games, there is too much talent on this roster for that, and for that I fault the coach. FIRE VERMES. I'd previously said that he should get the rest of the season, but at this point it's probably better to just cut your losses, bring in another coach and another technical director, and build towards the stadium opening next year.

On top of that, fire whoever's brilliant idea it was to bring in The Buried Life cast, or whoever the hell that was on the field streaking at half time. Way to make the team and security look like a bunch of idiots in the hopes that you'll be shown on TV. Considering outside the first streaker all the rest were dressed as security, you make your team look like idiots and that's how you're going to come off to the MTV crowd that will watch this stupid reality TV show. You insult you're fans and you're own staff by allowing this to happen, because from what I heard from other people after the game, they were invited to this game and it was coordinated. Of course you insult your fans enough with the crap product that is ending up on the field right now, so maybe the team is just trying to draw attention away from how poorly this team is playing. Maybe I'm acting older than my age and I should laugh at what happened on the field at halftime, but I found it disrespectful and stupid. I wanted to A) kick a ball right at their skull or B) beat the holy shit out of them. Either way that performance yet again WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

And can someone explain to me why I'm spending money next weekend to go to Colorado to watch this team play?

Addressing the Facundo Imboden Rumors

I've received a few emails from people asking why I haven't addressed the rumor posted on MLS Rumors about Argentine defender Facundo Imboden mulling an offer from the Wizards. For those that don't know, they posted a link to this article from Terra.cl about him being offered a contract by the Wizards. The rumor was then picked up by Soccer 365 for The Soccer365 Grapevine. Unfortunately, neither one took a great deal of time to actually read the article because if they had, they would have noticed in the very beginning of the article it says: Santiago, diciembre 25.

Most of you can probably guess at least what that says, but for those that don't know Spanish, diciembre is the Spanish word for December. Meaning this article that both are linking to is from December of last year, right around the time the original rumor was posted on this blog, and also posted over on MLS Rumors with a link back to this blog. I've been looking around for more news on Imboden and I've found rumors linking him with other clubs, but no recent links to KC other than the two stated above.

Is this a Must Win Yet?

It's surprising that with the Wizards current play that they aren't the worst team in MLS right now, but tomorrow the Wizards will take on a team that actually has less points than them right now, in Chivas USA. Chivas currently sits on 11 points at the foot of the Western Conference. They have gone 8 games in league play without a win, and had been on a 7 game losing streak in league play until they drew with Philadelphia last week. But if you take their play outside MLS play, the team is currently on a 3 game undefeated streak. Sandwiched around the 1-1 draw with Philly were two US Open Cup wins over Austin and Houston. For some more good news, this will be Chivas' 5th game in 15 days since MLS restarted after the World Cup break.

Unfortunately over the past few years when the Wizards have played games like this against team's that are banged up, on long road trips, or at the end of a heavy stretch of schedule, they haven't exactly played very well. After the poor performance in the first half, I think staying away from the 4-4-2 for the time being is probably a good thing, the return of Davy Arnaud should at least help offensively. Defensively, Stephane Auvray getting more time to get some match fitness back should help the Wizards out as well. Hopefully Auvray can take advantage of the smaller field and shut down Chivas in the middle of the field.

Nielsen
Harrington - Conrad - Thomas - Espinoza
Arnaud - Auvray - Rocastle
Kamara - Wolff - Smith

Key Match Up - Michael Harrington vs Jonathan Bornstein - Bornstein is going to get up the left wing regularly, and Harrington is going to have to keep an eye on Chivas' left back. It will be interesting to see how Harrington stacks up against the World Cup vet.

PREDICTION - This is virtually a must win. Lose here and the team falls deeper into the hole in it's attempts to make the playoffs. It's shocking that while KC only has 13 points, they're still in 5th place currently in the East. Getting all 3 points here, while not a huge statement, would at least help KC to climb closer to the competition in the Eastern conference.

KC - 1 (Kamara)
Chivas - 0

United Roster Announced

A day after Manchester United named a few players on their US tour roster, they named the full 22 man roster that will travel to the United States. One name from the pre-release is no longer on the roster, as Gary Neville has picked up an injury and will miss the tour. As for the full roster, there are going to be no World Cup stars in KC for the game against the Wizards. The closest people will get is Nani, who was named to Portugal's roster but had to pull out due to injury. There are plenty of regular first team players on the team, but no Wayne Rooney, no Nemanja Vidic, no Patrice Evra, no other players that traveled to the World Cup. Mexican international, Javier Hernandez is on the roster, but will not join the team until after the team has played in KC. United will arrive in the US on Monday, just under 2 weeks before they play KC at Arrowhead Stadium.

Man U Announces Portion of North America Tour Roster

Manchester United have announced a portion of their roster that will be coming to the North America to play the Wizards along with 4 other games in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Included on the roster are Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, and Edwin Van der Sar. All 6 started plenty of games last year for the Red Devils. None of these names are that surprising that they're coming on the tour though. While these are big names for United (and while Giggs is probably my favorite all time player) and will bring in a few fans themselves. The big names that people will wonder about are still unclear, guys like Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, and others who competed in the World Cup will be there or not. Javier Hernandez will be on a portion of the tour at least after being with Mexico at the World Cup, as that was part of the deal in his transfer to Manchester United.

Former Wizards Update

MLS is back in full swing after their World Cup break and the US minor leagues are moving along as well. European leagues that play the fall to spring schedule are starting to get started too, with Yura Movsisyan and Randers FC kicking off their Europa League qualifying. More clubs around the world will be starting play in July as well, including Mexico and Colombia.

MLS
Preston Burpo - New England - Out with injury
Adam Cristman - DC United - Started and played 45 minutes in DC's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Nick Garcia - Toronto - Started and played 80 minutes in Toronto's 1-1 draw with Houston.
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake - Did not dress in RSL's 5-0 win over New England.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 3-1 loss to LA. Suspended for Seattle's US Open Cup game against LA due to his red card against Portland.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Dallas' 1-0 win over KC.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 win over chicago. Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 3-0 win over Charleston in the US Open Cup.
Chris Klein - LA - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in LA's 3-1 win over Seattle. Started and played 69 minutes in LA's 2-0 loss to Seattle in the US Open Cup.
Claudio Lopez - Colorado - Dressed but did not play in Colorado's 1-1 draw with New York.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Real Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 5-0 win over New England.
Kurt Morsink - DC United - Dressed but did not play in DC's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 1-1 draw with DC.
Carey Talley - DC United - Did not dress in DC's 1-1 draw with San Jose.
Tyson Wahl - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 3-1 loss to LA. Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 2-0 win against LA in the US Open Cup.
Alex Zotinca - Chivas USA - Did not dress in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Philadelphia. Did not play in Chivas' 3-1 win over Houston in the US Open Cup.

USSF Division 2
Doug DeMartin - Portland - Started and played 63 minutes in Portland's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 1-0 loss to Baltimore.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Baltimore's 1-0 win over Minnesota.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 2-1 win over Montreal.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-0 win over St. Louis.
Ryan Pore - Portland - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Portland's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.
Abe Thompson - Miami - Started and played 64 minutes in Miami's 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay.
Lance Watson - Austin - Dressed but did not play in Austin's 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico.

USL-2
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Started and played 45 minutes in Charleston's 2-0 loss to Richmond. Started and played 72 minutes in Charleston's 3-0 loss to Columbus in the US Open Cup.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 82 minutes, scoring a goal in Richmond's 2-0 win over Charleston.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Started and played 90 minutes in Pittsburgh's 2-1 loss to Charlotte.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Charleston.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 2-0 loss to Richmond. Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 3-0 loss to Columbus in the US Open Cup.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Started annd played 80 minutes, recording 2 assists in Ocean City's 3-2 win over New Jersey.
Mauro Fuzetti - Michigan - Did not dress in Michigan's 0-0 draw with Forest City. Did not dress in Michigan's 2-1 loss to Dayton. Did not dress in Michigan's 3-0 win over Cincinnati.
Sergei Raad - Central Florida - Did not dress in Central Florida's 2-1 loss to Atlanta.
Michael Todd - Long Island - Did not dress in Long Island's 2-1 win over Vermont. Dressed but did not play in Long Island's 3-1 loss to Ottawa.

International
Chris Konopka - Waterford United - Ireland - Did not play in Waterford's 0-0 draw with Limerick.
Yura Movsisyan - Randers FC - Denmark - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Randers 6-1 win over F91 Dudelange in a Europa League qualifier.
Khari Stephenson - Aalesund - Norway - Did not dress in Aalesund's 1-0 win over Tromsø.