8th Home Game Attendance Comparison

 photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

Last night's 1-0 loss to Chicago was KC's sixth straight game where they over sold the stadium capacity of 18,467.  At 19,274, that's the 2nd lowest of the season, only topped by the 15,161 for the second home game of the season against Dallas on a Sunday evening.  Here's a look at the rest of the attendance comparisons for the 8th home game of the season.

1996 - Arrowhead
11,592
Saturday July 6, 1996 vs LA 3-1 win.
Average14,185

1997 - Arrowhead
10,124
Saturday June 21, 1997 vs DC 6-1 win
Average 8,861

1998 - Arrowhead
5,304
Wednesday July 1, 1998 vs New England 1-0 win
Average 7,633

1999 - Arrowhead
6,190
Sunday June 20, 1999 vs New York 6-0 win
Largest win in franchise history.
Average 9,717

2000 - Arrowhead
5,810
Wednesday June 21, 2000 vs Dallas 0-0 draw
Average 9,717

2001 - Arrowhead
8,031
Saturday July 14, 2001 vs Dallas 3-2 win
Average 11,131

2002 - Arrowhead
19,641
Thursday July 4, 2002 vs DC2-1 win
Average 12,312

2003 - Arrowhead
16,349
Saturday July 12, 2003 vs Dallas 5-1 win
Average 15,273

2004 - Arrowhead
26,223
 Saturday July 10, 2004 vs DC 1-0 win
Average 16,654

2005 - Arrowhead
5,519
Wednesday June 29, 2005 vs Columbus 1-1 draw
Average 9,615

2006 - Arrowhead
21,936
Saturday July 1, 2006 vs LA 0-2 loss
Average 12,043

2007 - Arrowhead
11,766
Saturday July 14, 2007 vs Salt Lake 1-0 win
Average 9,512

2008 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Sunday July 27, 2008 vs Chicago 0-0 draw
Average 9,596

2009 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Saturday July 4, 2009 vs Houston 0-1 loss
Kei Kamara scoring in his last appearance vs KC before being traded to KC.
Average 9,789

2010 - Community America Ballpark
10,288
Saturday July 10, 2010 vs Chivas USA 0-2 loss
Average 10,005

2011 - Livestrong Sporting Park
18,467
Wednesday August 3, 2011 vs Salt Lake 2-0 win
Average 17,850

2012 - Livestrong Sporting Park
19,274
Friday June 29. 2012 vs Chicago 0-1 loss
Average 19,353

And here's the years ranked by average attendance.

1. 2012 - 19,353 (-)
2. 2011 - 17,850 (-)
3. 2004 - 16,654 (-)
4. 2003 - 15,273 (-)
5. 1996 - 14,185 (-)
6. 2002 - 12,312 (+1)
7. 2006 - 12,043 (+1)
8. 2001 - 11,131 (-2)
9. 2010 - 10,005 (+2)
10. 2009 - 9,789 (+2)
11. 2000 - 9,717 (-2)
12. 2005 - 9,615 (-2)
13. 2008 - 9,596 (-)
14. 2007 - 9,512 (-)
15. 1997 - 8,861 (+1)
16. 1999 - 8,713 (-1)
17. 1998 - 7,633 (-)

2008 - Community America Ballpark

S.A.S. Saturday After Stats

Last night was Roger Espinoza's 115th appearance in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Sasha Victorine for 19th on that list.

Since KC's 7-0 start, the team is 2-5-2.  That's the same record as Toronto over the last 9 games.

Sporting KC have conceded more goals against the Chicago Fire than any other team.  80 goals in league play.

Bizarro MLS Cup 2000

In MLS Cup 2000, KC made one goal on the counter stand up against an onslaught of offense by the Chicago Fire.  Last night at Livestrong Sporting Park, KC had the reserve done to them by the Fire.  KC had 27 shots, only 5 of which were on target, but it was the Fire that hit back on KC, winning 1-0 on a second half counter goal by Marco Pappa, playing the role of Miklos Molnar.  At the other end, Sean Johnson played the role of Tony Meola.

KC came out from the start looking to immediately pressure Chicago, and as has been their habit, they created a number of chances early on in the game.  The first good chance fell to Kei Kamara as a cross into the box fell to Graham Zusi who had his effort blocked into the path of Kamara.  Kamara got his one time effort on goal, but Johnson got down and made a nice save to knock the ball away and KC wasn't able to get a chance off the rebound.  At the other end of the field Jimmy Nielsen was forced into a good save on Dominic Oduro.  After a cross into the box, Oduro hit it on the volley, that Nielsen got down and saved well and the rebound was cleared.  KC continued to pressure Chicago and in the 24th minute had another good chance off a Zusi corner.  Zusi found Aurelien Collin in the box, but Collin's header was straight at Johnson, and even with all the pace on it, Johnson did a great job of holding onto the shot and not giving up a rebound.  KC while they had the possession in the first half, struggled to create good chances.  CJ Sapong had trouble really get into the game as Jalil Anibaba did a good job matching up with the forward physically.

In the second half, KC continued to press to try to find the opening goal.  Without getting a goal in the first half KC seemed to be throwing more and more numbers forward.  KC though looked more and more vulnerable on the counter as they threw numbers into the attack.  In the 58th minute, a Sapong cross was cleared by Dan Gargan into the path of Oduro who started a 3v2 break with Chris Rolfe and Marco Pappa against Collin, and first half substitute Matt Besler.  Oduro played the ball ahead to Pappa who led the counter.  Pappa fed Rolfe to his left.  Rolfe drove into the box and then when he drew Collin in, laid the ball back to Pappa.  Pappa fired a one time shot past Nielsen.  The ball went right under Nielsen and into the net giving the Fire the 1-0 lead.

KC went back to it, attacking and going forward trying to find an equalizer now.  Kamara had a good chance in the 64th minute when a Zusi free kick found Kamara in the box, but Kamara put the effort over the bar.  Kamara became the key point of KC's attack at this point.  Kamara forced another good save out of Johnson in the 75th minute when a Seth Sinovic cross found Kamara about 13 yards out.  Kamara drove a powerful header towards the post, but Johnson made a great dive and pushed the ball around the post to keep the lead for the Fire.  While KC continued to push, the Fire still looked for their opportunities to counter, and the introduction of their new signing, Alex, almost paid dividends a few times, but the KC defense was able to hold out.

The game hit a boiling point in the 85th minute.  As KC continued to try to find an equalizer, Rolfe went down off the field of play with an injury.  As KC continued to control the play and attack, Rolfe crawled back onto the field where he laid down waiting for the referee to stop play for the injury.  His crawling on the field did not go unnoticed by fans who immediately started to boo the Fire player.  Referee Baldomero Toledo though allowed play to continue as KC put numbers forward.  When the ball went out of bounds Toledo did finally allow treatment for Rolfe.  Nielsen immediately came out of his goal, rushing at Toledo yelling about the fact that Rolfe had come back on the field to try to stop play.  Toledo immediately pulled out the yellow card on Nielsen for dissent.  After discussing with his assistant, Toledo also gave a yellow card to Rolfe for time wasting and illegal reentry after he crawled back onto the field.

The final five minutes of regulation, plus stoppage time turned into frantic attack as KC pushed forward in waves.  Kamara put another header wide of the post in the 88th minute.  As KC entered the final 5 minutes of stoppage time the attack continued.  In the 92nd, Kamara led another attack down the wing and found Bunbury in the middle.  Bunbury's first touch looked bad at first glance, but then Bunbury turned and fired a volley that grazed the post and went out, although it appeared that Johnson would have covered the shot.  KC picked up another corner that was partially cleared, but Peterson Joseph fired in another shot that was blocked.  The rebound fell to Chance Myers at the top of the box. Myers turned and fired an effort just wide of the post.  KC's final chance was another good one for KC.  After a scramble in the box, the ball fell to Kamara around the corner of the box.  Kamara fired the ball right back in on goal, but Johnson got a small touch on it pushing it wide.  Off the ensuing corner, Besler headed the ball wide of the goal.  In the end, Johnson played a fantastic game and KC did a poor job of putting their shots on frame and KC lost for the second straight time.  Since their 7-0 start, the team is 2-5-2.  They haven't scored a goal in the second half in league play since the team's 3-1 win in Vancouver back in April, a stretch of 430 minutes in the second half.

Wizards Man of the Match - Roger Espinoza - Espinoza continues to be having an MVP season for Sporting.  He's continuing to control the midfield and disrupt the work by the opposing team in the midfield.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 5, Myers 6, Collin 5, Olum NR - Sinovic 6, Cesar 5, Espinoza 7, Zusi 6, Kamara 6, Bunbury 5, Sapong 4. Subs Besler 6, Saad 5, Joseph NR.

Sporting Waive Sassano

The MLS July 1st guaranteed contract deadline is right around the corner, and teams are making their moves to clear players off their roster.  KC made their move today, waiving midfielder, Luke Sassano.  Sassano had been picked up by KC after the Re-Entry draft in a trade with the LA Galaxy that sent the rights to Frankie Hejduk to LA. 
Sassano appeared in 10 league games for KC, scoring one goal, in the team's 4-1 win last season over Dallas.  He also appeared in all four of KC's US Open Cup games (qualifiers and proper).  He'd only made one appearance this season for KC, in their home opener vs New England.  He also missed time due to a knee injury that required surgery. 
As a whole this move, while disappointing is not completely without surprise.  With Paulo Nagamura, Peterson Joseph, and Michael Thomas all playing a similar position to Sassano it was a bit of a numbers game.  Factor that in with Sassano's salary of $81,000 per the players union, and it's not surprising that Sporting KC decided to drop the veteran midfielder at this time. 

Gaddis Suspended for Espinoza Tackle

It's never good to dwell on the past, especially when it's the past that involved a 4-0 loss on the road.  But you have to wonder how the game this past weekend in Philadelphia could have ended up if things had been a little different.

That little difference?  A red card to Raymon Gaddis in the 24th minute.  Yesterday, the MLS Disciplinary Committee came out and handed the Philadelphia back a 1 game suspension and a fine for his tackle on Roger Espinoza.  With the game only 1-0 at that time, a red card would have completely changed the momentum of the game.  With KC up a man that would have created more chances, had more possession.  They might not have won the game, but the tone certainly would have been different after that incident. 

That would have also been the second red card in 2 games for a tackle on Espinoza.  The previous Wednesday in Seattle, Alvaro Fernandez picked up a red card for another tackle on Espinoza.  Speaking of Fernandez I'm surprised that there's been no word from the disciplinary committee on that tackle, I thought he would have gotten 1-2 more games for that tackle.  But I guess an announcement could come today.

Here's the play with Gaddis.

Busy Schedule Continues

Sporting KC continue this hectic part of their season tomorrow night when they return to MLS action against the Chicago Fire on NBC Sports.  KC is playing their 5th game in 14 days when the Fire come into Livestrong Sporting Park.  The legs will continue to get heavy for KC as they're still playing twice weekly for a few more weeks for KC.

The Fire come into the game on the back of two straight wins against Eastern Conference opposition, beating the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew the past two weeks.  Chris Rolfe appears to be finally returning to fitness after signing with the club late in the preseason.  Him up top with leading scorer, Dominic Oduro will be a handful for Kansas City's defense.  In good news for KC, Sebastian Grazzini is set to miss the game tomorrow.

Kansas City's injury issues continue to mount for Sporting.  Matt Besler, who just returned from his appendectomy, has already been ruled out as a starter for the game tomorrow night.  Combine that with Aurelien Collin being listed as doubtful on Tuesday's injury report and KC could be looking at starting their 3rd and 4th string center backs against a potential Rolfe/Oduro front line.  KC could see Lawrence Olum paired with either Konrad Warzycha or Julio Cesar (with Michael Thomas or Peterson Joseph sliding into Cesar's midfield slot).  This could be a major problem for KC as that back line seems slow and unable to cope with the potential forward line that the Fire would throw out.  I think that Collin some how finds a way to tough through this one to avoid that back line though.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Olum - Sinovic

Cesar - Espinoza

Zusi

Kamara - Bunbury - Sapong

Number to Remember - 5 - The number of times that KC has played Chicago at home since their last win in KC vs the Fire.  KC is 0-1-4 during that stretch, scoring 3 goals while conceding 5 in that stretch.

Key Match Up - Sporting Center Backs vs Dominic Oduro - Oduro caused KC plenty of trouble in their meeting in Chicago, winning the PK that tied the game and scored the winner.  His speed caused KC plenty of issues and whoever ends up in the middle for KC will have their hands full.

PREDICTION - A win by Sporting KC would see them into first place in the Eastern Conference, at least temporarily.  A loss and Chicago begins to creep even closer to KC in the standings.  KC has the fire power up top to take this game to KC, but the big question could be how much of a role that Rolfe plays in the game.  Luckily for KC, Michael Kennedy isn't refereeing this game so blowing a PK call may at least be off the table.

SKC - 2 (Kamara, Bunbury)
CHI - 1 (Oduro)

Former SKC Wizards Update

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates for you.  Mike Jones was officially introduced by his club in Denmark and their season kicks off in the near future.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Started and played 88 minutes, scoring a goal and recording an assist in Montreal's 4-2 win over Houston.  Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Toronto.
Adam Cristman - LA - Did not dress in LA's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-1 loss to San Jose.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes, recording the shutout in Dallas' 0-0 draw with Chivas.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Out recovering from surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 2-1 win over Seattle.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Seattle's 2-1 loss to Portland.  Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 win over San Jose.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 4-0 win over KC.  Did not dress in Philadelphia's 5-2 win over Harrisburg.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 0-0 draw with Dallas.  STarted and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Did not dress in DC's 3-2 loss to New York.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - Started and played 66 minutes in Dallas' 0-0 draw with Chivas.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Did not dress in Chivas 0-0 draw with Dallas.  Did not dress in Chivas' 2-1 win over Charlotte.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 84 minutes in San Jose's 2-1 win over Salt Lake.  Started and played 54 minutes in San Jose's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Montreal's 4-2 win over Houston.  Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 4-2 win over Houston. Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Toronto.
Josh Wolff - DC - Did not dress in DC's 3-2 loss to New York.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 loss to Puerto Rico.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not play in Minnesota's 2-1 win over Fort Lauderdale.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Came of the bench and played 27 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to Minnesota.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 77 minutes in Carolina's 2-0 win over Edmonton.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to Minnesota.

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Did not dress in Richmond's 3-2 loss to Rochester.
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Dayton's 4-0 win over Wilmington.  Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Dayton's 3-0 loss to KC.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-2 loss to Rochester.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 74 minutes in Charleston's 3-1 win over Harrisburg.

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Did not play in Tucson's 2-1 win over Orange County.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Had an assist in San Diego's 8-0 win over Phoenix.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Season is over.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Season is over.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Season is over.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Season is over.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Season is over.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Season is over.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Season is over.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Season is over.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Season is over.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Season is over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Season is over.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season is over.
Daneil Cyrus - 1st FC Santa Rosa - Trinidad - Season is over.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Season is over.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Season is over.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Vasas - Hungary - Season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not play in Bahia's 1-1 draw with Figueirense.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - Season is over.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Season has not started.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Season is over.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Season is over.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Season is over.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in Fjolnir's 2-0 win over Tindastoll.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Season is over.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Dressed but did not play in Akzhayik's 1-0 win over Atyrau.  Lost to Ordabasy 5-0 in the cup.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Season is over.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

Graham Zusi is now the only player to appear in all 18 of KC's games this year.

Zusi made his 7th USOC appearance, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 14th on that list.

Zusi made his 5th USOC start, tying him with Pore, Burciaga, Tony Moela, Gomez, Oshoniyi, Peter Vermes, and Aurelien Collin.

CJ Sapong's two goals give him 11 at home in all competitions, tying him with Jack Jewsbury and Miklos Molnar for 13th on that list.

Sapong's second goal was his 16th in all competitions for Sporting, tying him with Francisco Gomez for 17th on that list.

His second goal was his 5th in US Open Cup play, tying him with Davy Arnaud and Igor Simutenkov for the most in team history.

Sapong's first goal was the 6th game winner of his career in all competitions, tying him with Eddie Johnson, Jose Burciaga, Francisco Gomez, Mo Johnston, and Teal Bunbury for 11th on that list.

Sapong and Teal Bunbury made their 6th USOC appearance, tying them with Jonathan Leathers, Ryan Pore, Alex Zotinca, Francisco Gomez, Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown, and Shavar Thomas for 16th on that list.

Roger Espinoza's appearance was his 114th in all competitions, tying him with Sasha Victorine for 19th on that list.

Michael Harrington made his 12th appearance in a US open Cup game/qualifier for Sporting, tying him with Davy Arnaud for 3rd on that list.

Harrington's appearance was also his 9th start, tying him with Jimmy Conrad for 3rd on that list.

Matt Besler made his 8th USOC appearance, tying him with Matt McKeon, Eric Kronberg, and Chance Myers for 10th on that list.

Besler and Bunbury made their 6th USOC start, tying them with Leathers, Gutierrez, and Thomas for 13th on that list.

Jimmy Nielsen recorded his second US Open Cup shutout, tying him with Tony Meola for 3rd in team history.

Nielsen's shut out was also his 27th in all competitions, breaking his tie with Oshoniyi for 2nd on that list.

Onto the Semifinals

Against a lower division side, Sporting KC was expected to take care of their business last night in the US Open Cup, and they did just that.  A 3-0 win over USL-Pro side, Dayton Dutch Lions, and Sporting advanced to their first US Open Cup semifinals since 2004 when the team won the trophy.  With the win, KC earned a return trip to Philadelphia on July 11th to face the Union, who defeated Harrisburg 5-2 to advance as well.

KC got off to a dream start thanks to Seth Sinovic, but the goal will be credited to CJ Sapong.  A long throw by Jacob Peterson was partially cleared to Peterson, who took a volley and had that shot deflected back wide.  Sinvoic picked up the ball and he too took a rip from 25 yards out.  Sinovic's shot deflected off of Sapong and went towards the opposite corner of the goal, leaving Dayton goalkeeper, Matt Williams wrong footed as Sporting went up 1-0.  Sporting KC continued to dictate the early play in the game and probably should have gone up 2-0 a few times.  Lawrence Olum had two chances to put on in off of a long through, the first, his downward header was cleared, but only partially.  On the second effort, Olum let the ball run through his legs to try and back heal it, but couldn't make contact with the ball because of the pace. 

The early goal forced the Dutch Lions to have to come out more instead of bunkering in, and to their credit held some decent possession and created some decent half chances.  Their really dangerous chances though ended up being ruled out due to offside calls.  And while Dayton was trying to get back in the game, Sporting continued to create chances themselves.  Graham Zusi almost caught Dayton's keeper off his line late in the half, but Zusi's effort from just on his own side of the midfield line sailed just over the bar.  In first half stoppage time, KC's best chance to go up 2-0 went off the post.  Sapong did some good passing with Zusi and Peterson to free Peterson in behind the Dayton defense, but Peterson put his shot off the post and the ball bounced out of play.

In the second half, KC continued to control play and hold the ball mainly in the Dayton end of the field.  Finally in the 56th minute, KC got their second.  After a good string of passing, Zusi found himself with a few feet of space just outside the box and let fly with a shot that sailed into the corner leaving Williams with no chance as Sporting went up 2-0.  They made it 3-0 only a few minutes later.  With Zusi subbing out for Roger Espinoza, Soony Saad stepped up to take a corner kick and placed it right at the 6 for Sapong to run onto and head in his second goal of the night to make it 3-0. 

With the comfortable lead in place, KC took a much more possession oriented approach over the last 30 minutes of the game.  They created some chances, but after going up 3 they looked content to just see the game out.  At the other end of the field, Dayton wasn't providing a whole lot going forward, as Jimmy Nielsen didn't have to record an official save as Dayton again had a good chance where Nielsen did make a save ruled out due to an offside call.  In the end, Sporting did the job it set out to do, winning 3-0 and advancing to the US Open Cup semifinals.

Wizards Man of the Match - CJ Sapong - Two more goals for the reigning rookie of the year.  The first he probably didn't know a ton about as Sinovic's shot deflected off of him, but the second was a nice header off the Saad corner.  Sapong also almost set up Peterson for a goal but the effort went off the post.

Honorable Mention - Lawrence Olum

Player Ratings - Nielsen 7, Harrington 6, Olum 8, Besler 7, Sinovic 7, Thomas 7, Zusi 7, Joseph 7, Saad 7, Sapong 8, Peterson 8.  Subs Espinoza 7, Warzycha 6, Bunbury 6.

270 Minutes

I feel like we've been in this situation before.  270 minutes away from a championship for Sporting KC and facing a team from a lower division, sound familiar?  It should, last year, KC was 270 minutes away when they met up with the Richmond Kickers at the quarterfinals.  KC controlled the game, but couldn't find the net and after a weather delay, Sporting KC fell 2-0 ending their Open Cup run short.  This year KC is in the same position, playing another USL-Pro side, this time, the Dayton Dutch Lions. 

While Dayton has won their 3 US Open Cup games so far, beating two PDL sides (Chicago Fire PDL and Michigan Bucks) and one MLS side (Columbus), they have struggled in league play.  Dayton is 1-7-5 in league play though, winning their first league game of the season this past weekend.  While Sporting KC was losing 4-0 at Philadelphia, the Dutch Lions were beating the Wilmington Hammerheads 4-0 in league play.  Forward Eli Garner scored 2 of Dayton's goals in the win.  He's also their leading scorer currently in the Open Cup with two as well. 

Sporting KC has decisions to make with their lineup, this is their 4th game in 11 days, and they have a 5th in 14 on Friday when they play Chicago.  Peter Vermes will likely have to make a few changes to the lineup in preparations for the busy league schedule.  Eric Kronberg could be set to make his first start of the season after missing the majority of the season so far with injury.  But Vermes could decide to play Jimmy Nielsen since he'll have to use one of his international slots on the Dane.  Matt Besler also looks set to make his return to the Sporting KC team, at a time when KC's defense could really some support after the 4-0 beating.  The question is if Aurelien Collin or Lawrence Olum will make way for Besler to come back in.  I think that Collin is the one that needs the break as he's seemed to be a little off the last few games.  I expect that Michael Thomas and Peterson Joseph could also make returns to the starting lineup as well.

Kronberg

Myers - Olum - Besler - Harrington

Thomas - Espinoza

Joseph

Peterson - Saad - Sapong

Number to remember - 270 - The reason for this number has already been stated.

Key Match Up - Sporting KC Defense vs Dayton attack - KC's defense allowed 4 goals on the weekend, while the Dayton offense scored 4.  The Sporting KC defense needs to get their act together, and shutting down an attack that is coming in off a high is a tough ask.

PREDICTION - The good news is that KC got the let down result out of the way before this game against Dayton.  The 4-0 loss to the Union on Saturday may be the wake up call for KC that helps them avoid the banana peel that is this game.  Vermes said after the Union game that the team "just weren't ready for the game.  That's my fault and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

I truly believe him when he says that.  And because of that quote, part of me things that KC is going to come out and destroy Dayton tomorrow.  But with the congested schedule and the game against Chicago on Friday, KC may sit back a little bit, but they should still be able to take care of business.

SKC - 2 (Saad, Peterson)
DDL - 0

Transfer Window Set to Reopen

It's almost that time of the summer again, when silly season kicks off again for MLS teams.  The MLS window reopens on Wednesday the 27th of June and stays open for a month.  Rumors and news has already started to come out Andriy Shevchenko has been linked with a move to DC United specifically within MLS, and the Philadelphia Union have made a move to get Bakary Soumare who is returning to MLS after a stint in Germany.

Kansas City could potentially be busy during this current window as well.  In an informal poll that I posted on Twitter today, the majority of people wanted center back depth, while a pure goal scorer and #10 midfielder also got votes.  All are areas where KC could definitely improve on the field. 

And after my informal poll that I put out today, news came of two trialists in camp training with Sporting KC.  The first trialist, Johan Ramirez Neeskens is an 18 year old US born midfielder who appears that he plays on the left side.  He's the son of former Dutch international and Barcelona player, Johan Neeskens.  Twice the elder Neeskens played in World Cup finals for the Dutch.  Neeskens also has a link to KC already, having played with the original KC Comets back in the 80's.  The younger Neeskens appears to have spent time with the Barcelona youth system.  Based on comments it sounds like Neeskens was born in the US, which would technically make him eligible to be American and not take up an international spot should KC be interested.

The other trialist would be a guy to potentially fill one of the needs above, although more likely for the future.  Oriol Rosell is a central defender who has spent the last few years with Barcelona B, the reserve side for Barcelona.  Last year, Rosell played in 6 games for the reserves as they finished 8th in the Spanish second division.  The two trailists may not make the team, but they at least causing some excitement to come out.

Sunday After Stats

Seth Sinovic made his 50th MLS start of his MLS career.

Jimmy Nielsen made his 75th league appearance and start for Sporting KC.

Sporting KC is 6-1-2 right now vs the West, vs the East they are only 3-3.  Their remaining 19 games are vs the East.

Not Very Pretty

A few weeks ago when Sporting KC defeated Colorado and advanced to the US Open Cup quarterfinals to play Dayton, I said that I would be willing to sacrifice the game against the Union to guarantee passage to the USOC semifinals.  When I said that I didn't expect that KC would literally lie down for the Union at PPL Park, I just expected that Sporting would sit back and prepare for Dayton. 

I got the former of those two options, as Sporting KC laid an egg last night, falling to their worst defeat in the Peter Vermes era, 4-0 to Philadelphia.  It's KC's worst loss since the 6-0 loss to Dallas that ended up costing Curt Onalfo his job.  Things started out going horribly wrong for KC as on the very first attack of the game, Philadelphia grabbed the lead.  A long ball over the top to Raymon Gaddis caught Seth Sinovic up field.  Gaddis played a ball across the box that Aurelien Collin let go past him, and Jimmy Nielsen made a half hearted dive at.  The ball made it through to the back post where Lionard Pajoy was.  Pajoy touched the ball back into the middle keeping it in bounds.  Following the play was Jack McInerney, and with the midfield no where to be found, McInerney came in unmarked and buried the rebound to make it 1-0 Philadelphia. 

After the goal for the Union, KC had control of more possession, but really it was the Union that created the better chances, forcing Nielsen to punch away one effort, and seeing another effort flash wide of the post.  KC's best effort fell to Julio Cesar off a Graham Zusi corner.  In an attempt to recreate his goal from last week though, Cesar whiffed on the ball twice before the Philadelphia defense recovered.  Late in the first half, Philadelphia struck again and once again it was McInerney.  The free kick by Freddy Adu hit one Philadelphia player in the box and bounced to Carlos Valdes.  Valdes' shot was saved by Nielsen, but the rebound fell to McInerney who slotted the ball past Nielsen as none of the KC defenders had followed the ball, instead raising their hand for an offside call that never came as McInerney was a little behind Valdes when his shot was taken.

Into the second half, Kansas City really started to push numbers forward looking to get a goal and get back into the game.  Really though KC struggled to create chances, and when they did they couldn't do much with them.  Lawrence Olum played a nice ball into the area for Kei Kamara who headed the ball into the path of Teal Bunbury, but as Bunbury turned and had an opportunity to shoot, he shanked the ball well wide of the Union goal.  As KC continued to push numbers forward, it left KC open on the counter.  Substitute Antoine Hoppenot sat on KC's last defender and was looking for it.  It almost worked for him in the 69th, but as he was in alone on Nielsen he chipped the ball over the goal.  Shortly after that KC had another decent chance to pull level off of a free kick about 20 yards out.  Zusi stepped up and forced Zac MacMath into a very good diving save to keep out Zusi's effort.

Finally in the 80th minute, KC throwing numbers forward caught up to them.  Another long ball over the top to Hoppenot found him 1v1 with Collin.  Hoppenot turned on Collin and got in behind where he was brought down by Collin.  Referee, Terry Vaughn pointed to the spot without hesitation.  Pajoy stepped up and sent Nielsen the wrong way, making it 3-0.  Things got even worse in the 87thwhen Hoppenot was again played in behind the KC defense.  And unlike his previous effort where he chipped it over and it went over the bar, this one landed in the back of the net, making it 4-0 and completing the rout. 

A complete disaster of a performance by KC.  KC just didn't look ready to play.  Collin continued to look uncomfortable with any defender not named Matt Besler partnered next to him in central defense.  From looking at it, it seems like without Besler there, Collin feels like he has to do twice the work covering more space, and that's leaving him out of position at other times.  Either that, or Besler is just better at covering for Collin when he tries to do that.  That said, I don't want to take too much away from the Union who played a very good and organized game.  They scored the early goal, absorbed KC's pressure, got a second, and then struck twice on the counter as KC pushed numbers forward.  A very good game plan.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - Picking the best of the worst is what this amounted to. Kamara had maybe the best of a bad game.  He helped create some chances, but KC never really did much with anything.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 3, Myers 4, Collin 2, Olum 4, Sinovic 3, Cesar 3, Espinoza 4, Zusi 4, Kamara 5, Bunbury 3, Sapong 4. Subs Thomas 4, Saad 5, Peterson NR

Across the Country to Play Again

Sporting KC continue their busy stretch of games with a trip across the country.  The day after playing the Sounders in Seattle, KC traveled across the country to Philadelphia where they'll play the Union at PPL Park in Chester.  The brutal stretch of 4 games in 10 days is half over at this time, but the cross country trip isn't fun.

Against Philadelphia will be the second time in three games that KC will play a team with a new coach.  During the international break, Peter Nowak left the Philadelphia Union and was replaced by assistant coach, John Hackworth.  His first game in charge was last weekend when they took on DC United, losing 1-0.  Under Nowak, Philadelphia had traded away two fan favorites in Sebastien Le Toux and Danny Califf and the team's first ever draft pick, Danny Mwanga.  That has soured the fans on the team a little bit.  They still have Freddy Adu, who while still not living up to the high expectations that were laid upon him at 14, is still a danger offensively.  Their other big offensively weapon is Gabriel Gomez, who leads the team currently in goals scored.

Kansas City rested some of their starters on Wednesday on the trip to Seattle, with the assumption being that they'd be ready for this weekend's game against the Union.  After handing a league debut to Michael Thomas, and first starts to Peterson Joseph and Soony Saad it seems likely that the likes of Julio Cesar, Graham Zusi, and Kei Kamara will return to the starting lineup against the Union.  The return of those 3 along with Seth Sinovic should give KC a bit more control of the game that they seemed to lose at times during the game against Seattle.  Peter Vermes though could also have one eye on the game that is coming up on Tuesday in the US Open Cup against Dayton.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Olum - Sinovic

Cesar - Espinoza
Zusi

Kamara - Bunbury - Sapong

Number to Remember - 0 - This is KC's third trip to Philadelphia to play the Union.  So far, there have been zero wins between the two teams in games in Philadelphia.  Philly's first year in the league the two teams tied 1-1.  Last year the teams played to a 0-0 draw at PPL Park.

Key Match Up - Roger Espinoza vs Freddy Adu - Espinoza didn't have a fantastic game going forward against Seattle on Wednesday.  Compared to Muaro Rosales, Espinoza should be able to control Adu in the Philadelphia midfield.

PREDICTION - KC is going to have some tired legs for this game against the Union.  No matter how much rest that Sporting gave to many starters on Wednesday, 3 games in 7 days will wear out even the most fit people.  The Union are 0-4-1 in their last 5 games, 0-1 under Hackworth.  With the rest that Vermes gave to the starters on Wednesday though, I think 3 points are the aim here, 1 point would be acceptable, and 0 points would be a major disappointment.

SKC - 1 (Sapong)
PHI - 0

Espinoza, the Open Cup, and a Double Header

 photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

Catching up on some news that was announced today regarding Sporting Kansas City.

Espinoza Named to Olympic Team

Honduras named their team for this summer's Olympics in London.  Sporting KC midfielder, Roger Espinoza has been named as one of the team's 3 overage players.  Honduras is grouped with Spain, Morocco, and Japan.  The three group games are July 26th vs Morocco at Hampden Park in Glasgow, July 29th vs Spain at St. James Park in Newcastle, and then on August 1st vs Japan at City of Coventry Stadium in Coventry.  Should Honduras advance all the way to the medal round they'd also have games on August 4th, 7th, and 10th or 11th.

During that same stretch, Kansas City has games on July 28th against Columbus, the August 1st friendly vs Stoke City, August 4th at New England, and August 11th vs DC.  Should KC also make the US Open Cup final, Espinoza could also miss the final on August 7th or 8th.  Depending on when he has to report he could also miss the July 24th game vs Montpellier and the July 21st game vs New England.  In all Espinoza could miss about 4 league games, and the US Open Cup final if Honduras get into the knock out rounds and KC qualifies.

I couldn't be happier for Espinoza to get to represent his country in the Olympics especially after also representing them in the World Cup.  But he's been one of KC's best players this season and will be a tough hole to fill for Sporting.

US Open Cup Semifinal Draw Announced

Today US Soccer announced the draw for the semifinals of the US Open Cup.  Starting in the semifinals, US Soccer went back to the blind bid process that had been present in previous years of the tournament.  Should Sporting KC defeat the Dayton Dutch Lions this coming Tuesday they will play the winner of Philadelphia and Harrisburg.  If Philadelphia wins, then KC is actually going on the road for the semifinals, as the Union out bid Sporting to host the semifinal.  If Harrisburg pulls their third upset of an MLS side, then KC would host the City Islanders at Livestrong Sporting Park.

It's a little surprising that KC was out bid for the semifinals, I would have expected the only team that would have out bid KC was Seattle.  But maybe KC is holding off on a big bid for the semifinals in preparation for a big bid for the finals should KC make it to the finals.

Game in New England Now a Double Header

New England made an announcement today that involves KC's trip to the Northeast on August 4th.  KC vs New England on that date will now have an "under card".  I put that in quotes because the under card is likely to bring out more fans than the game itself.  The under card, that kicks off at 4:30 EST, will see AC Milan take on Brazilian club Cruzeiro on the turf at Gillette Stadium.  There's been no change to the start time of Sporting's game though, there will just potentially be more fans in the stands at Gillette that hang around for the game between KC and New England.

S.A.S. Thursday After Stats

Soony Saad and Peterson Joseph made their first league starts for Kansas City.

Saad's start also made him the 3rd youngest player to ever start a league game at 19 years 308 days.  He knocked Peter Byaruhanga at 20 years 364 days off the list.

Michael Thomas made his first appearance and first start for KC in all competitions.

Roger Espinoza made his 100th league appearance for Sporting KC, he's the 21st player to hit that mark for KC.

The appearance was Espinoza's 112th in all competitions, breaking his tie with Digital Takawira for 20th on that list.

Jacob Peterson's goal was his 10th in MLS play in his career, and his 15th in all competitions.

Kei Kamara made his 50th substitution appearance in all competitions in his MLS career.

The start was Michael Harrington's 136th in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Diego Gutierrez for 12th on that list.

Sporting KC Split Points in Seattle

In what turned into a physical affair from both sides, Seattle and Sporting KC found enough time for each team to score a world class goal and then each settled for a point.  With this game being the second of 4 in 10 days, Peter Vermes made some surprising changes to his starting lineup.  Michael Harrington entered the game for Seth Sinovic, and he handed first MLS starts to Soony Saad and Peterson Joseph, finally he handed an MLS debut to Michael Thomas. 

From the start, even with reserves on the field KC set out with their typical early high pressure.  The early pressure once again paid off for Kansas City in the 8th minute.  A long throw into the box by Jacob Peterson was held in by Aurelien Collin.  Collin then headed the ball back to Peterson who took the shot first time.  The shot took a deflection on it's way in and went past Andrew Weber and into the net giving KC the early 1-0 lead.  The goal seemed to serve as a wake up call though as Seattle started to attack KC in waves.  The only thing that kept Seattle honest early on was Eddie Johnson returning to the offside form he showed with KC while he was here.  In the 15th minute though Seattle did find an equalizer.  Mauro Rosales played a good free kick into the box and Patrick Ianni laid out with a great scissor kick beating Jimmy Nielsen and tying the game at one. Michael Harrington lost Ianni on the play and there was absolutely nothing Nielsen could have done with that.

KC almost had an immediate response to the goal in the 19th when Roger Espinoza threaded a nice ball into the box for Soony Saad.  With almost no angle, Saad tried to get a shot off and he beat Weber but the ball hit off the cross bar and bounced back into play.  Seattle though controlled much of play throughout the rest of the first half with KC mainly trying to hit counters, Alex Caskey had a knuckling effort punched away by Nielsen, and Johnson missed an effort just wide of the post.

Seattle continued to push in the second half and probably should have taken the lead early in the half, when  Montero was played in behind KC's defense in the 58th had another good opportunity after a poor cross from Harrington, but Nielsen came sliding out and knocked the ball off Montero and out.  Caskey had another good chance to find a goal, when he was played in behind KC's defense by Rosales, but Nielsen cut down the angle well enough that the shot got pushed wide of the goal. It seemed to be a lot of one way traffic for Seattle going forward, but KC had some decent spells of possession but were never really able to test Weber that much, even with the insertion of Graham Zusi, Kei Kamara, and CJ Sapong as substitutes.  In the 88th Montero was unlucky not to have the winner.  He turned Collin enough to get a yard of space and fired a shot at Nielsen's near post.  The shot seemed to catch Nielsen a bit by surprise but he got down and got a touch to it.  The touch turned the ball onto Nielsen's far post.  The ball then bounced into the middle of the box where it seemed to hang just begging to be poked in by a Seattle player, but Lawrence Olum was first to react and knock the ball away. 

Immediately after that play the physicality seemed to start to bubble over as Sapong raced Zach Scott for the ball, Sapong got shoulder charged into the boards, earning Scott the 4th yellow card of the game.  Things really bubbled over in stoppage time.  KC and Seattle are used to late drama in their meetings but instead of a goal we got a red card.  Espinoza won the ball off Alvaro Fernandez with a tackle that was a little from behind.  Fernandez took exception to the challenge and as Espinoza played the ball away Fernandez came in with a scissor tackle.  Jair Marrufo did not hesitate going to his back pocket to produce the red card.  The game ended shortly after that as both teams settled for the point.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Nielsen - Nielsen was the most consistent player of the night, some other players had strong performances at times but also fell flat at times, Espinoza for example was fantastic defensively, but his passing was off save for the pass to Saad.  Nielsen came up with the big saves he had to make and there was nothing he really could do on the goal.

Honorable Mention - Jacob Peterson

Player Ratings - Nielsen 8, Myers 5, Collin 6, Olum 6, Harrington 3, Espinoza 6, Thomas 6, Joseph 6, Peterson 7, Bunbury 5, Saad 5. Subs Zusi 6, Kamara 6, Sapong NR.

Former SKC Wizards Update

A few minutes before Sporting KC kicks off tonight, here is your former SKC Wizards update. Real quick, congrats to Boris Pardo on being named to the US Soccer Futsal team.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 4-1 win over Seattle.  Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 2-1 loss to Chivas.
Adam Cristman - LA - Did not dress in LA's games.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 3-0 win over Chivas. Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Salt Lake's 3-2 loss to LA.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-1 loss to Houston.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Out recovering from surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to LA.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 82 minutes, scoring a goal in Seattle's 4-1 loss to Montreal. Started and played 80 minutes in Seattle's 1-1 draw with KC.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 1-0 loss to DC.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 loss to RSL.  Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Montreal.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Did not dress in DC's 1-0 win over Philadelphia.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - Started and played 87 minutes in Dallas' 2-1 loss to Houston.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 loss to RSL.  Did not dress in Chivas' 2-1 win over Montreal.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in San Jose's 2-1 win over Colorado.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Came off the bench and played 57 minutes in Montreal's 4-1 win over Seattle.  Started and played 90 minutes in Montreal's 2-1 loss to Chivas.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 4-1 win over Seattle.  Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-1 loss to Chivas.
Josh Wolff - DC - Did not dress in DC's 1-0 win over Philadelphia.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 2-0 loss to Carolina.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Tampa.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 win over Edmonton.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-0 win over Atlanta.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 win over Edmonton.

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Wilmington.  Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Richmond's 4-1 loss to Charlotte.
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Dayton's 1-0 loss to LA.  Came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Dayton's 1-0 loss to LA.
Yomby William - Richmond - Came off the bench and played 2 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 loss to Wilmington.  Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 4-1 loss to Charlotte.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 77 minutes in Charleston's 3-0 win over Antigua.

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Did not play in any of Tucson's games.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Beat San Diego Boca 3-1.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Season is over.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Season is over.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Season is over.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Season is over.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Season is over.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Season is over.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Season is over.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Season is over.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Season is over.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Season is over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Season is over.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season is over.
Daneil Cyrus - 1st FC Santa Rosa - Trinidad - Season is over.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Season is over.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Season is over.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Vasas - Hungary - Season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Beat Sport Recife 2-1.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - Season is over.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Not in season.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Season is over.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Season is over.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Season is over.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in Fjolnir's 0-0 draw with Leiknir Reykjavik.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Season is over.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Akzhayik's 2-1 win over Tobol.  Lost 2-1 to Ordabasy in the Cup.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Season is over.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

Final Trip West

This Wednesday marks the 14th game of the season for KC, and the final game against the Western Conference.  KC has already played 8 of the 9 teams in the West and will finalize that part of the season with the trip back to the Pacific Northwest.  KC close out the Western Conference playing the Sounders at Century Link Field tomorrow.  The final 20 games of the season for Sporting will be against the East.  So far, KC has only lost once to Western opposition, to the Portland Timbers.  Currently KC is 6-1-1 vs the East, and 2-1 when they've had to travel all the way to the West Coast.

Seattle comes in to the game on the back of a very disappointing 4-1 loss in Montreal against the Impact.  A disappointing result that was compounded by the red card to Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.  The Sounders have suffered from injury issues in their defensive third during their current 0-3-2 run.  They were struggling so badly that against the Impact, the Sounders had to have Roger Levesque and Mike Seamon on the bench as defensive subs.  Against KC though, the Sounders will be getting Patrick Ianni and Leo Gonzalez back from injury so the defensive depth will help a little.  They will also have Osvaldo Alonso, the new US citizen back from his two game suspension handed down by the disciplinary committee.

KC are in the second game of a very congested stretch of the schedule.  After playing Saturday vs Toronto KC traveled to Seattle and from there they'll travel to play Philadelphia on Saturday before heading home for their Open Cup game against Dayton.  Peter Vermes has hinted at some squad rotation, but I'm not sure if that will happen in the game tomorrow or if Vermes could look more towards resting players on Saturday ahead of the Open Cup match up.  Kei Kamara has returned to the team, and I'm sure he'll play a part in the game, but I'm not sure he'll start, jet lag from flying half way around the world I'm sure is a pain.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Olum - Sinovic

Cesar - Espinoza

Zusi

Peterson - Bunbury - Sapong

Number to Remember - 1 - That's the number of wins that KC has against the Sounders in their 3 year history in the league.  The win came in their first match up in Seattle on a long range goal by Davy Arnaud.  Since then, KC has gone 0-5, scoring 4 and conceding 9.  Three of the last four have seen KC lose on very late goals with the winning one coming in the 92nd, 93rd, and 92nd in those three games.  Two of those have come on the road in Seattle.

Key Match Up - Roger Espinoza vs Mauro Rosales - The Seattle captain pulls the strings on Seattle's offense, Espinoza is going to need to help Julio Cesar in shutting down Rosales in their offensive half of the field.

PREDICTION - Seattle has not been a happy place of KC to play the last few years, heart breaking defeats have happened there, late goals have defined this series between the two sides, and while KC has only won one, all of them have been close.  All 6 games in league play, and the 1 US Open Cup game between the two sides since Seattle joined the league have seen the winning team only do so by one goal.  And while Seattle is a little injury hit right now, they're not going to be a push over, their offense is still going to be extremely strong, and KC's going to need to avoid the level of letting the foot of the gas that KC did vs Toronto.  Because if they give as much space and chances that KC gave Toronto, Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson will punish them.

SKC - 1 (Bunbury)
SEA - 1 (Montero)

Dos Santos, Kamara, Kronberg, and Kempin

Some new for you this evening regarding Sporting Kansas City.

First for those that have lived under a rock for the last 24 hours or so, last night on Off the Pitch, Callum Williams interviewed Peter Vermes.  And in the interview, Vermes stated that Kansas City had been trying to get Mexican international, Giovanni Dos Santos to play Sporting.  Unfortunately according to Vermes, a number of issues seemed to come up, including the transfer fee.

Honestly this seems fairly unlikely that it would have actually taken place.  While it's an ambitious attempt to get a designated player for Kansas City, dos Santos would have been a very good player for KC and the league.  Dos Santos' club, Spurs though look intent on getting their initial investment of $7.2 million back for their purchase of the Mexican from Barcelona.  KC's attempts to get him do match up with reports that came out shortly after the January window about MLS being interested in dos Santos.  The other big issue for Vermes in this attempt was the fact that dos Santos isn't interested in coming to MLS per his agent.  So while it's fun to dream about an international in his prime coming to KC it's not going to be dos Santos.

Kamara Returns

Kei Kamara has returned to join Sporting.  Earlier today on Twitter before the rest of the team made it to Seattle, Kamara landed in the Pacific Northwest ahead of Wednesday's game against the Sounders.  It'll be interesting to see how much time that Kamara gets on Wednesday.  He'll certainly be a little jet lagged from the trip half way around the world.  But I'd expect him to at least make a substitute appearance.

Kronberg Returning, Kempin Out

KC is getting one keeper back, but is losing another one.  Word tonight is that Eric Kronberg has traveled to Seattle with the team for the first time this season.  Kronberg has been on IR with a lower back strain for the entire season so far. 

Kronberg traveling for the first time this season means that Jon Kempin, KC's first home grown player did not travel on this road trip.  The reason for that became clear earlier tonight on Twitter when Kempin posted on Twitter, "Looks like I'll be wearing this one for a while" and it was accompanied by a photo of his right leg in a walking boot.  So while Kronberg may be back from his injury issue, it appears that KC will remain with 2 keepers as Kempin looks set to go on IR himself.  It comes at a bad time as I would have expected Kempin or Kronberg to start KC's Open Cup game next Tuesday vs Dayton.

Attendance Comparison Through 7 Home Games

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

Sporting Kansas City set a new attendance high for the 2012 season with the 20,488 that watched KC win 2-0 over Toronto last night.  KC continues to have an over capacity average attendance for this season and is currently on course to break last seasons average attendance record.  Let's take a look at the rest of the attendance for the 7th home game of previous seasons.

1996 - Arrowhead
17,921
Thursday 6/20/1996 vs DC 5-1 win.
This game was on ESPN2, which speaks to why the attendance for a mid-week was so high.
Average - 14,556

1997 - Arrowhead
7,431
Sunday 6/15/1997 vs San Jose 1-3 loss.
Average - 8,681

1998 - Arrowhead
10,067
Saturday 6/6/1998 vs Tampa Bay 1-0 win
Average - 7,966

1999 - Arrowhead
9,336
Saturday 6/12/1999 vs Dallas 1-0 win
Average - 9,074

2000 - Arrowhead
21,035
Saturday 5/20/2000 vs San Jose 2-0 win.
Average - 10,275

2001 - Arrowhead
19,552
Wednesday 7/4/2001 vs Chicago 0-7 loss
Worst loss in franchise history.
Average - 11,574

2002 - Arrowhead
8,288
Saturday 6/22/2002 vs New England 3-2 win
Average - 11,265

2003 - Arrowhead
16,944
Saturday 6/21/2003 vs Chicago 4-2 win
Average - 15,119

2004 - Arrowhead
20,011
Saturday 7/3/2004 vs Dallas 5-1 win
Davy Arnaud's hattrick performance to celebrate the 4th a day early.
Average - 15,287

2005 - Arrowhead
13,458
Saturday 6/25/2005 vs Chivas USA 3-0 win.
Average - 10,200

2006 - Arrowhead
8,710
Wednesday 6/28/2006 vs DC 2-3 loss
Average - 10,629

2007 - Arrowhead
7,872
Wednesday 7/4/2007 vs DC 0-1 loss
This was the second of two mid-day games, this one more surprising because it was on the 4th of July before an evening Royals game so no post game fireworks.
Average - 9,190

2008 - Community America Ballpark
8,773
Thursday 7/10/2008 vs New York 2-1 win
Average - 9,483

2009 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Saturday 6/13/2009 vs New England 3-1 win
Average - 9,703

2010 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Saturday 6/26/2010 vs New York 0-3 loss
First game back after the World Cup break.
Average - 9,964

2011 - Livestrong Sporting Park
17,418
Saturday 7/30/2011 vs New England 1-1 draw
Teal Bunbury bobblehead night, and the late Bunbury equalizer.
Average - 17,762

2012 - Livestrong Sporting Park
20,488
Saturday 6/16/2012 vs Toronto 2-0 win.
Average - 19,364

And here's a look at the averages ranked.

1. 2012 - 19,364 (-)
2. 2011 - 17,762 (-)
3. 2004 - 15,287 (+1)
4. 2003 - 15,119 (-1)
5. 1996 - 14,556 (-)
6. 2001 - 11,574 (+2)
7. 2002 - 11,265 (-1)
8. 2006 - 10,629 (-1)
9. 2000 - 10,275 (+7)
10. 2005 - 10,200 (-1)
11. 2010 - 9,964 (+1)
12. 2009 - 9,703 (-1)
13. 2008 - 9,483 (-3)
14. 2007 - 9,189 (-1)
15. 1999 - 9,074 (-1)
16. 1997 - 8,681 (-1)
17.1998 - 7,966 (-)

Sunday After Stats

Lawrence Olum and Jacob Peterson made their first start in league play for Sporting KC.

Konrad Warzycha made his first appearance in league play for KC.

CJ Sapong's goal was his 9th at home in all competitions, tying him with Claudio Lopez and Matt McKeon for 17th on that list.

Sapong's goal was also the 500th in all competitions at home for Sporting KC.

Sapong's game winner was his 4th in league play, that ties him with Mark Chung and Teal Bunbury for 16th on that list.

It was his 5th game winner in all competitions, tying him with Jack Jewsbury and Jimmy Conrad for 16th on that list.

Julio Cesar's goal was the 50th in all competitions at Livestrong Sporting Park.

At 33 years and 211 days, Julio Cesar is the 5th oldest player to score a goal for Sporting KC.

Graham Zusi's assist was his 16th in league, play, breaking his tie with Claudio Lopez and Chris Henderson for 13th on that list.

It was Zusi's 19th in all competitions, tying him with Sasha Victorine and Matt McKeon for 10th on that list.

Chance Myers made his 50th league start for Kansas City.

Jimmy Nielsen recorded his 26th shutout in all competitions, tying him with Bo Oshoniyi for second on that list.

The shutout was Nielsen's 23rd in league play, breaking his tie with Oshoniyi and Kevin Hartman for 2nd on that list.

Winning on the Return

Photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

Sporting KC did what needed to be done last night against bottom of the table Toronto.  KC rode two first half goals to a victory over TFC in their first game under their new manager, Paul Mariner.  KC got off to their traditional fast start with their high pressure system.  In the first few minutes, KC created a few chances, the best of the early chances fell to Julio Cesar in the 11th minute.  A long throw from Jacob Peterson was flicked on to the back post by CJ Sapong.  Cesar came running on to meet it and pushed the ball back towards the post, but his shot from about 3 yards out went just wide of the goal.  The high pressure paid off in the 18th minute when KC opened the scoring.  Chance Myers picked out Peterson on an overlapping run.  Peterson made it down the wing and sent a low cross into the box.  Sapong lost his marker and met the cross at the penalty spot and one timed it into the top corner past Milos Kocic to give KC the lead.

Toronto held on through the rest of KC's early pressure and slowly started to find their way into the game and creating chances.  Eric Avila in the 30th minute had a fantastic chance to equalizer.  But a team doesn't get to be 1-9 without a little bit of bad luck, and it continued for TFC as Avila beat Jimmy Nielsen, but the ball hit the post, bounced along the line and hit the other post before Aurelien Collin made it back to clear the ball away.  Toronto was made to pay for that miss 4 minutes later.  Graham Zusi played in a corner kick to the back post.  Cesar had made the back post run and struck the ball on the volley.  Kocic had no chance as the ball flew past him and into the net.  A gorgeous striker from the Brazilian midfielder, that should definitely be up for goal of the year.  Danny Koevermans almost pulled one back again for Toronto, but his header off a cross from Ryan Johnson was palmed away by Nielsen.

KC came out to start the second half and immediately put the pressure on again.  A long ball after the kick off was headed on by Sapong into the path of Teal Bunbury who one timed the shot on goal, but Kocic made the save and knocked the rebound away.  Immediately after that Zusi had a great chance as he played a ball out wide to Bunbury.  Bunbury returned the ball to Zusi with a cross, but Zusi couldn't get enough height on his jump to get over the ball to head it down and the header went over the bar.  The game started to open up as both teams started to create some chances with Peterson making a nice turn and shot but it was right at Kocic.  At the other end Koevermans really should have done better when he was played in behind KC's defense, but Nielsen came up with the big kick save to keep the shutout.  While Toronto had the late game possession more, KC held out and got all 3 points and sent Toronto to another loss.

Wizards Man of the Match - Julio Cesar - Not just for his wonderful strike for the goal, but also did a good job of helping to control the midfield for KC.

Honorable Mention - Jimmy Nielsen

Player Ratings - Nielsen 8, Myers 7, Collin 6, Olum 6, Sinovic 6, Cesar 8, Espinoza 7, Zusi 7, Sapong 7, Bunbury 7, Peterson 7.  Subs Saad 5, Joseph NR, Warzycha NR.

Kamara and Sierra Leone Advance

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

In the biggest game of this international break for any KC player, Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone took on Sao Tome and Principe in a must win African Cup of Nations qualifier.  Sierra Leone lost the first leg away 2-1 and fell behind 1-0 very early today in the home leg.  Facing the need to score 2 to at least force extra time, Sierra Leone came alive after the goal.  Kei Kamara scored to tie the game in the 17th.  The goal was Kamara's first for his country.  Teteh Bangura made it 2-1 shortly after, tying the series at 3-3 on aggregate.  In the 30th, Kamara got his brace and put the Leone Stars up 3-1 on the day and 4-3 on aggregate.  Before the half time whistle, Bangura scored his second to make it 4-1.  Sierra Leone cruised into half time.  In the second half though, Sao Tome and Principe came out quickly again and again got an early goal to make it 4-2 and 5-4 on aggregate both in favor of the Leone Stars.  But a third conceded by the Sierra Leone would have seen them go out on away goals.  The Leone Stars held on though, Kamara had a third goal ruled out due to an offside call.

The Leone Stars advance to the next round of qualifying which will be a home-home series against one of the teams that qualified for the 2011 African Cup of Nations.  Should Sierra Leone win that series, then they will advance to the 2013 tournament in South Africa. 

Back to League Play

After a couple weeks off from league play for an international break, Sporting KC is back to league play tomorrow when they take on Toronto FC at Livestrong Sporting Park.  KC has played two games since their last league game, both in the US Open Cup, Toronto on the other hand has been off the entire time without a game. 

The other thing that Toronto did during the stretch is replace their coach.  A week into the two week break, Toronto FC replaced Aron Winter as head coach with Director of Player Development Paul Mariner.  The long time New England assistant got his first head coaching job in MLS.  With the change comes a question of how Toronto is going to come out. Already there are rumors that Mariner has switched from the 4-3-3 that Winter was running to a more traditional 4-4-2.  They'll make some changes to their lineup it would appear, Jamaican international, Ryan Johnson just returned to the team and looks unlikely to start, which could be a good team with the changes to KC's back line they have to make.

Speaking of KC, they're injury crisis is in full swing right now.  For the game tomorrow KC looks to be without 4 players that would be starters or primary options off the bench due to injury.  Matt Besler, Bobby Convey, Paulo Nagamura, and Jacob Peterson all look set to miss the game due to injury.  KC will also be without Kei Kamara who is still with Sierra Leone for their do or die African Cup of Nations qualifier in Freetown.  So that's 3 starters that have to be replaced and bench options that are thrown around a little.  Lawrence Olum looks set to get his first league start, most likely in central defense next to Aurelien Collin, but could possibly be put in D-mid with Julio Cesar dropping back.  Filling in for Kamara would seem to be one of Dom Dwyer or Soony Saad.  Saad seems to be in the better form currently, but Dwyer has spent more time out on the wing and may be more comfortable out there than Saad.  The good news is that KC will have back their MVP so far this season (in my opinion), Roger Espinoza who returned from international duty with Honduras.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Olum - Sinovic

Cesar - Espinoza

Zusi 

Saad - Bunbury - Sapong

Number to Remember - 4 - Thanks to a post from Sporting KC, this is the fourth time that Sporting KC has faced a coaching coaching his first game for a club in league play.  So far, KC is 2-0-1 in those games.  The teams inaugural game and two games against Chivas USA.  KC will look to extend that unbeaten run.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Danny Koevermans - Collin's primary job will be watching Toronto's DP forward.  Koevermans is going to be a handful for Collin, but this should be a fun match up to watch between a physical defender and a big target forward.

PREDICTION - KC is depleted by injury and Toronto is not as bad as their record has indicated.  This game is a big question mark due to the change in coach.  Mariner is very familiar with MLS from his time with New England will have his team ready to come in to Kansas City.  This isn't going to be as easy as some fans had hoped or if Winter was still in charge.  Mariner will have this team ready to play and the easiest way to get started is to shore up the defense.  Mariner will have the defense organized and ready to go tomorrow to shut down KC.

SKC - 2 (Bunbury, Sapong)
TFC - 1 (Koevermans)

Montpellier Friendly Official

After days where the friendly between Sporting KC and French Ligue 1 champions Montpellier appeared on both Ticket Master and the schedule on the Sporting KC website, the team officially announced the friendly.  On July 24th, Sporting KC will play the French champs at Livestrong Sporting Park at 7:30.  Season ticket holders will have a season ticket for this game already, Special Game C.

The Tuesday night game falls between two league games, both of which, are at LSP as well.  KC will play New England the Saturday before and play Columbus the Saturday after.  That game is also 1 day before the MLS All Stars take on Chelsea in Philadelphia.  So KC players (not all in all 4) could be playing quite a bit that week.

Espinoza, Busch, and Other News

Some news to catch up with today. 

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

Yesterday in Toronto, Roger Espinoza and Honduras took on Canada in a World Cup qualifier at BMO Field.  Canada was the stronger side throughout the match, but Honduras held on and picked up a 0-0 draw away from home.  Espinoza continued his good run of form in league as he played the full 90 minutes for Honduras.  He could have had an assist in the first half with a great cross into the box, but poor finishing by teammates kept the game scoreless.  Then late in the game, Espinoza had a chance from long range, but his shot was just over the bar.  Honduras is now 3rd place in the group currently, on 1 point.

Busch Suspended

The MLS Disciplinary Committee made an announcement today regarding the incident in KC's last league game against San Jose.  I've previously discussed the "confrontation" between Jon Busch and one of KC's ball boys.  Busch was given a 1 game suspension and an undisclosed fine, I've been told $500, for "aggressively retrieving a ball."  Gotta say I haven't seen that before, actually it gives me a bit of a chuckle.  Based off of the reason for the suspension I'd guess the video evidence that Sporting apparently provided to the league wasn't enough to show the actual striking that I was told by eye witnesses.  Or didn't show it to be much of a strike.  We'll probably never know.  Busch will miss San Jose's game this weekend vs Colorado.

Coaching Changes

KC was already set to take on one new coach this weekend when they take on Paul Mariner and Toronto FC in his first game in charge of the club.  Now KC will play 2 new coaches in the next 3 games.  Today, Philadelphia announced that Piotr Nowak had been removed as the head coach of the Philadelphia Union.  Nowak will be replaced by John Hackworth on an interim basis.  Philadelphia's first game will be this weekend against DC.  But KC will be Hackworth's second opponent a week from this Saturday in Philadelphia.

Former SKC Wizards Update

A week of very little game wise due to the international breaks going on, but still a few are playing.  Here's this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - No game this week.
Adam Cristman - LA - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - No game this week.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - No game this week.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Out recovering from surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - No game this week.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - No game this week.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - No game this week.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - No game this week.
Kurt Morsink - DC - No game this week.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - No game this week.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - No game this week.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - No game this week.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - No game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - No game this week.
Josh Wolff - DC - No game this week.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 3-0 loss to San Antonio.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not play in Minnesota's 5-1 loss to Carolina.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Edmonton.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 5-1 win over Minnesota.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 loss to Edmonton.

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 54 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Did not play in Dayton's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh.
Yomby William - Richmond - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 2-1 loss to Orlando.

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Did not play in Tucson's 3-0 win over Ogden.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Tied FC Hasental 1-1.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Season is over.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Season is over.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Season is over.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Season is over.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Season is over.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Season is over.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Season is over.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Season is over.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Season is over.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Season is over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Season is over.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season is over.
Daneil Cyrus - 1st FC Santa Rosa - Trinidad - Season is over.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Season is over.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Started and played 80 minutes, scoring a goal in the USA's 3-1 win over Antigua and Barbuda.  Started and played 64 minutes in the USA's 1-1 draw with Guatemala.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Vasas - Hungary - Season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not play in Bahia's 2-1 loss to Vasco.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - Season is over.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Not in season.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Season is over.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Season is over.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Season is over.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in Fjolnir's 2-0 loss in the cup to Wikingur Reykjavik.  Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal Fjolnir's 6-2 league win over Wikingur Reykjavik.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Season is over.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Season is over.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

Montpellier Instead of PSG?

Since Goal.com posted that Paris Saint-Germain would be playing Sporting KC in a friendly on their summer tour, there's been little other word about KC playing PSG.  In fact, the lack of announcement, with the rest of the Herbalife World Football Challenge being announced had me wondering if KC would actually play Paris Saint-Germain. 

Today while discussing the friendly on the Cauldron Facebook page, someone posted a link to the Ticket Master page for Sporting KC tickets.  On the page it didn't list PSG, instead it listed 2011-2012 Ligue 1 champions, Montpellier on Tuesday July 24th at Livestrong Sporting Park..  That came as a bit of a surprise, although they will be in the USA already because of the fact that the Trophee des Champions will be contested this year in the United States at Red Bull Arena.  As the champions of Ligue 1, Montpellier will take on the French Cup champion, Lyon.  The Trophee des Champions occurs four days after the date that KC is supposedly scheduled to take on Montpellier. 

Honestly either one of Montpellier or PSG would be a great friendly.  It's a club that is different than KC would normally get, and as the champion or runner up of the French League, I'd like to see them play over Stoke City.

The Ticket Master site has been updated, but not before I'd gotten a screen shot on my phone.  You can see it below.  See at the very bottom of that list.  Funny enough it lists TBA on the August 1st date which we know is the day KC play Stoke.

Kamara, Reserves, and Open Tryout News

With Roger Espinoza serving a one game suspension in Honduras' qualifier last night against Panama, Kei Kamara was the only Sporting KC player that competed in the latest set of qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  Today in Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone took on the Nzalang Nacional in their second qualifier as they attempted to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.  Sierra Leone fell behind 1-0 early, before two goals in the 23rd and 30th minute put the Leone Stars ahead 2-1.  Another strike before half time leveled the score though.  A 52nd minute red card saw Sierra Leone reduced to 10 men, but they held on for the 2-2 draw.  Kamara went 90 minutes for the Leone Stars in the game.  Currently Sierra Leone sit second in the group on 4 points behind group leader Tunisia.  The top team in their group will advance to the net stage of qualifying.  Sierra Leone's next qualifier for the World Cup isn't until March of next year. 

The bigger match for Sierra Leone though occurs in a week, when the Leone Stars will try to keep their 2013 African Cup of Nations qualification hopes alive against São Tomé and Príncipe.  Sierra Leone trails in the head to head series 2-1 after their away leg back in February.  The Leone Stars need to win by a 1-0 score line of by 2 goals to advance.  A 2-1 win would cause extra time, while any other 1 goal win would see the Falcons and True Parrots advance on away goals. 

Reserves Fall in Colorado

Sporting KC didn't have a league game this weekend, but they did travel to Colorado for a reserve game against the Rapids.  Due to the number of injuries they've had though, there were quite a few Juniors players and trialists that not only dressed, but started for the reserves in the game.  The reserves were behind 1-0 at the half, and were down 3-0 early in the second half before Soony Saad pulled one back for the Rangers.  The game is the last for the reserves until mid August when they play Houston.  With the busy schedule for KC coming up it's a good thing at least that they don't have the reserve games to worry about.

Call Backs for Open Tryouts

I'd completely spaced out that the open tryouts were this weekend, the team made no specific announcement of it stating who the players were that were competing this year.  The team has posted the list of players that  made the second day of the tryouts though.  Here's a quick look at some of the players that I've found. 

Adolfo Armendariz - Looks like he's a soccer player from Oklahoma.

Matthew Baldeh - Is a local player from the KC Blaze.

Michael Bickerdike - Is a player from the Dallas area.

Jacob Braswell - Posted this training video of his training ahead of the open tryouts.

Jose Jesus Cabrera - Appears he may have attended Niagara Community College.

Josh Dopieralla - Is a Sporting KC fan from Little Rock.

Alex Brambour - A goalkeeper from Maple Woods.

 Sam Eid - Played at Creighton.

Danile Menyon - Appears to have played at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines.

Erik Gerhard Mueller - May have played for Cal State San Marcos.

Pablo Pagliani - Played for the University of Arkansas club team.

Chris Perez - May be the same player as from William and Mary.

Cole Walker - A local kid that plays at Harding University.

Tony Weber - Another local that played at Drake.

Jesse Welsh - Appears that he played at Coffeyville Community College.

Christopher Wenske - Another local from the KC area.

Collin Wylie - Attended Ottawa University.

Injury Crisis Grows for KC

Heading into a very busy part of their schedule, KC is starting to find things a little thin on the team.  Yesterday I mentioned Luke Sassano being out for 2 months due to his surgery, and today we learned that Matt Besler is going to miss one to three weeks due to appendicitis.  Besler joins a growing list of players on the defensive side of things that are on the injured list.  He joins defensive minded players Korede Aiyegbusi, Shawn Singh, Kevin Ellis, Cyprian Hedrick, Sassano, and Paulo Nagamura on the out list on the injured report. 

The loss of Besler may be the biggest loss of them all for Kansas City.  Besler has played in everyone of KC's games so far this year and has continued to improve over his performance over last year.  Besler and Aurelien Collin have performed extremely well as a central defensive partnership.  Now KC's depth at center back and at midfield is going to be tested.  The primary candidate to replace Besler in the middle of defense is actually starting midfielder, Julio Cesar.  Cesar moved to central defense at times last year after Collin/Besler had established themselves when Collin was suspended.  But that means losing what Cesar brings to the center of midfield.  That would likely put Nagamura in Cesar's spot, if Nagamura isn't able to go, then it'll likely be Lawrence Olum filling in for him.  If Vermes doesn't want to drop Cesar back, then it could be Olum that goes into the center of defense partnering Collin.  The final potential option right now is Konrad Warzycha, Warzycha, a midfielder coming into this season has moved back to central defense and got his first appearance for KC in that position against Orlando in the US Open Cup.

Neither one of these two options are extremely appealing.  Cesar is much better in the midfield in KC's system then he is in defense.  And on top of that, the last time that Cesar and Collin partnered in central defense, KC lost 4-1 against the LA Galaxy.  Since then, Besler has been a staple of central defense.  As for Olum, he's yet to impress me in reserve games in central defense and hasn't looked overly impressive in the midfield where he's played at when he gets in first team games.  And Warzycha didn't impress at all against Orlando, forcing Collin to put himself into much more dangerous situations.

This whole situation just underscores the point I've stated since the end of last season.  And that's that KC needed to add central defense depth, someone with some MLS experience that could fill in when KC needs it without having to disrupt another position on the field like would happen should Cesar move back there.  Hopefully this is something that KC can improve on in this upcoming window, but I think Vermes is happy with the way things are.