Need to Start Hitting Form

Sporting Kansas City return home to Sporting Park after three straight games on the road in two competitions. From the MLS side of things, that road trip hasn't gone well at all. Kansas City lost both MLS games in the stretch, falling 1-0 in San Jose and Chicago. While they pulled out a win on the road in Honduras, the team really needs to start turning around their form. Kansas City has lost four of their last five league games, with just eight games left in the season, now is about the time that a team can get hot and ride the run all the way through MLS Cup.

Kansas City's opponent tomorrow, Colorado, is on the opposite end of the form chart right now. The Rapids are on a nine game unbeaten run. During that stretch the Rapids have played just three games on the road, a 4-3 win at Montreal that started the streak and draws in Seattle and LA against Chivas. The other six games of the unbeaten run have taken place at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Not only has Colorado spent much of the streak at home unlike KC recently, they'll also be well rested. Colorado's last game will be 14 days ago tomorrow when they beat Vancouver 2-0. Colorado will have had more time to get new designated player, Gabriel Torres more integrated with the team with the extended break.

Sporting will play their third game in a little over a week tomorrow in their third different city. Kansas City desperately needs to get a win tomorrow night, most of the Eastern Conference teams around them in the standings have games in hand on Sporting. Losses and KC could find themselves slipping further down the table. Don't expect a lot of squad rotation, but Peter Vermes will be forced to make a decision in one position. Peterson Joseph is suspended for the game due to yellow card suspension. But with Paulo Nagamura returning on Tuesday in KC's win in Honduras, the Brazilian could step right into the starting lineup again in league play. The big question lineup wise for KC is whether Kei Kamara will be able to make a return to KC's lineup. Kamara's presence has been missed desperately on the field for Sporting KC in league play the last two games. Getting him back and his ability to create match up issues for Colorado's back line would be a big bonus for KC tomorrow. Another question that could be asked for tomorrow is whether Dom Dwyer has earned a start over designated player Claudio Bieler. Dwyer has been impressing off the bench lately and in the CCL, while Bieler has not scored since KC's 3-0 win against Toronto. Not sure it happens tomorrow, but much more struggles from Bieler and Dwyer will find himself starting.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Rosell - Nagamura

Zusi

Kamara - Bieler - Saad

Number to Remember - 3 - After tomorrow, Sporting KC will have just three league home games left in league play. KC has a number of winable games left this year, especially their home games. They can't afford the slip ups that they've had at home a number of times this year that have led to dropped points.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Gabriel Torres - Sporting KC's French defender is one game away from another yellow card suspension, but will likely draw the duty of marking Colorado's designated player. Collin has to avoid a yellow tomorrow night, if he gets one, KC will be down both Collin and Matt Besler for next week's game against Columbus due to Besler's national team call up.

PREDICTION - This is basically a must win for KC tomorrow. They can't afford to drop any more points at home this season. KC needs to get maximum points from all four remaining league games at home. The Rapids are rested heading into the game and in a very good run of form. But KC has to get all three points. A return of Kamara would certainly help in that regard if KC can get the Sierra Leone striker back.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Zusi)
COL - 1 (Torres)

Catching Up on FC Kansas City

Apologies for the lack of posts regarding FC Kansas City not just in the last week, but the season as a whole. Life has been catching up with me a bit and I had to cut down a little bit in some of my coverage, unfortunately it was the Blues that had to get chopped a bit.

Year End Awards

While FC Kansas City's season ended last weekend against Portland in the NWSL semifinals, FCKC did clean up when it came to the end of season awards.  FCKC swept all the individual awards and put seven players on the first and second team Best XI.

In goalkeeper of the year, Nicole Barnhart won the award, finishing the season with 10 shutouts, the most in the league and finished 3rd in goals against average with .95.

Erika Tymrak won the league's rookie of the year award. After starting the season as a substitute off the bench, Tymrak established herself as key to the Blues attack as the season went on. She finished the season with six goals and four assists.

Another award FC Kansas City won was defender of the year, which was award to Becky Sauerbrunn. Sauerbrunn helped to anchor the defense in front of goalkeeper for the year, Barnhart.

Coach of the year in the NWSL went to the Blues coach, Vlatko Andonovski. In his first season coaching at this level, Andonovski led FC Kansas City to an 11-6-5 record, tied for the most points in the league, and second in the table.

In the award that probably surprised people the least, Lauren Holiday was named the NWSL MVP. Holiday also won the league's Golden Boot, scoring 12 goals while also adding 8 assists. Basically Holiday contributed in 59% of the Blues goals this year, and also missed four games with US call ups and getting married.

Barnhart, Sauerbrunn, and Holiday were all named to the Best XI first team, along with defender Leigh Ann Robinson. On the second team Tymrak was joined by Lauren Sesselmann, and Desiree Scott.

National Team Call Ups

Also recently announced was the call ups for the US women's team game against Mexico on September 3rd. FC Kansas City led the way in players on the roster with six.  KC's three allocated players, Barnhart, Holiday, and Sauerbrunn were all named to the roster, along with Kristie Mewis, who has become a regular on the national team.

Two new Blues players will get the chance to earn their first caps against Mexico.  Robinson and Tymrak were called up for the first time.  Both had stellar seasons for Kansas City, Robinson established herself as one of the better outside backs in the league, while Tymrak won rookie of the year.

Offseason Loans

Speaking of Tymrak, rumors started to make the rounds yesterday on Twitter of Tymrak going out on loan to German club Bayern Munich during the NWSL offseason. Thad was able to confirm this rumor.  He also mentioned that Blues' back up goalkeeper, Bianca Henninger will be joining Tymrak at the German club. There's also mention of more loans coming up.

Comets Name New Head Coach

The Missouri Comets today announced that they have a new head coach. Vlatko Andonovski, the team's assistant coach the last few years has been named the team's new head coach.  Andonovski replaces Kim Rontved, who had coached the team since their rebirth in 2010. Andonovski will now pull double duty as head coach of both the Comets and FC Kansas City.

The team also announced today the addition of a new assistant coach, Goran Karadzov. Karadzov is a former Macedonian national team player who coached with Andonovski on FC Kansas City and also coached at Blue River Community College.

In their announcement today, the Comets make no mention of the reason that Rontved is not back as coach. There's been no mention of Rontved being fired, retiring, or his contract not being renewed.

Eddie Johnson Called Up for the US - Former SKC Wizards Update

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates. Current SKC players, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi will be joined by former Wizard, Eddie Johnson who has also been called up to the national team. Also this week a number of former SKC Wizards have scored this past week, including Will John and Yura Movsisyan. See the rest of the update below.

Active without a club or unknown
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Edson Elcock
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowery
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ryan Smith
Diego Walsh

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Montreal's 5-0 win over Houston.
Bobby Convey - Toronto -Started and played 88 minutes, scoring a goal in Toronto's 1-1 draw with DC.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Salt Lake's 4-0 win over Columbus.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Kevin Hartman - New York - Did not dress in New York's 3-2 loss to Chivas.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 86 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Seattle's 1-0 win over Portland.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Did not dress in Philadelphia's 5-1 loss to New England.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 4-0 win over Columbus.
Michael Thomas - Toronto - Did not dress in Toronto's 1-1 draw with DC.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 4-0 loss to Salt Lake.
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Columbus' 4-0 loss to Salt Lake.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 win over Atlanta.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Shavar Thomas - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 1-0 win over Atlanta.

USL
Christian Duke - Orlando (Loan) - Came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Orlando's 5-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Kevin Ellis - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in Orlando's 5-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Brian Fekete - Orlando - Did not dress in Orlando's 5-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Offseason.
Jon Kempin - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in Orlando's 5-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Neal Kitson - Phoenix - Offseason.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Started and played 74 minutes in LA's 2-1 loss to Charleston.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Dayton.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 88 minutes in Charleston's 2-1 win over LA.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Offseason

Other
Birahim Diop - New England Force

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse - Offseason
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason
Craig Rocastle - Missouri - Offseason
Paul Wright - San Diego - Offseason

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Started and played 90 minutes in Haka's 1-1 draw with KooTeePee
Vicente Arze - Sporting Charleroi - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 5-2 loss to Anderlecht.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - Did not dress in DPMM's 6-2 loss to Tampines Robers.
Omar Bravo - Atlas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Atlas' 1-1 draw with Pumas. Did not dress in Atlas' 1-1 Copa Mexico draw with Celaya.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Season begins in October.
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Did not play in UAI's 1-0 loss to Nueva Chicago.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason
Pablo Escobar - Patriotas Boyaca - Colombia - No game this week.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Wigan's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Offseason
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Out Injured
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - AC Goianiense - Brazil - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Atletico's 1-1 draw with America Mineiro.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in AZAL's 1-0 win over Sumqaynt.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 1-0 cup loss to Gomel.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in San Martin's 1-0 loss to Real Garcilaso.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Servette's 2-0 win over Chiasso.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 57 minutes, scoring a goal in Spartak's 1-1 draw with St. Gallen. Started and played 59 minutes, recording an assist in Spartak's 2-1 loss to Amkar Perm.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - Did not dress in either of Zilina's games.
Pablo Punyed - Fylkir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes in Fylkir's 1-0 loss to IBV.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 5-2 win over Barnsley.
Milos Stojcev - Atyrau - Kazakhstan - Started and played 45 minutes in Atyrau's 3-1 loss to Tobol.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 63 minutes in Munster's 3-0 loss to Holstein Kiel.
Ivan Trujillo - Llaneros - Colombia - Did not dress in Llaneros' 2-0 win over Bogota.

More Call Ups for Sporting KC

Today more call ups were announced for the upcoming FIFA international dates coming up next week.  Kansas City learned yesterday that Peterson Joseph and Mechack Jerome had been called up for Haiti's friendly against Korea. Now today we learned two more players had been called up.  The US national team named their roster for the upcoming qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico next week. Unsurprisingly Matt Besler and Graham Zusi were both called up.  Both of those players are expected to play a big role in the two games. Four points in those two games will assure the USA's qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The pair will miss Sporting's game next week against Columbus.

Sporting KC also looks likely to be without another player as well, although there's been no announcement that I can find. The Philadelphia Union posted an article about Michael Lahoud accepting a call up to Sierra Leone for their World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea. In the article it mentions that Lahoud will be relying on Kei Kamara to know what to expect as he'd been called up for the game as well. So Kamara looks set to miss the game as well which will leave KC down five players for the game against Columbus.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

Some land mark stats from last night's Champions League game.

Paulo Nagamura made his 200th start in all competitions of his MLS career.

CJ Sapong made his 100th appearance in all competitions for KC, he's the 30th player to hit that mark for KC.

Aurelien Collin picked up his 11th yellow of the season in all competitions, tying him for the most in a single season in team history with Diego Gutierrez in 2004 and Collin himself in his 2011 season.

Jerome and Joseph Called Up for Haiti

We're coming up upon another international break with another round of World Cup qualifiers coming up. Sporting looks set for a few players for qualifiers, but the first two announced players are for a friendly. Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph have been called up for Haiti for their friendly against Korea on September 6th. The two will miss Sporting's game on September 7th against Columbus at Sporting Park. 

That means that Joseph will miss the next two league games for Sporting KC. He's already missing KC's game this weekend against Colorado due to yellow card suspension. So his next potential match for the club will be KC's next Champions' League game against Real Esteli on the 17th of September.

These though are the first of a few call ups for Sporting KC in the September FIFA date. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi both seem likely to be called up for the US team for games against Costa Rica and Mexico. Meanwhile Sierra Leone has a World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea that could seem Kei Kamara called up, but the Leone Stars are eliminated from World Cup qualifying so maybe he stays with KC. The other potential call up is Soony Saad who could be called up for a pair of friendlies for Lebanon against Syria and Qatar. The game against Columbus could certainly contain a number of reserves if all are called up and accept the calls.

Sporting Take Control of Their CCL Group in Win

Sporting Kansas City took complete control of Group 2 in the CONCACAF Champions League tonight in Honduras. In their second road trip of the competition, Sporting picked up a 2-0 win to give them sole possession of first place in the group.  Sporting now return home for their final two group games, and have no excuses for not advancing out of the group stage.

The first half was sloppy and didn't have a ton in it for either side.  But Sporting KC were the ones that were controlling the play. They didn't really create much in the way of chances early on though. The best was off a short corner as Ike Opara headed wide of the goal. In the 27th minute though KC grabbed the lead. After some nice passing through the middle, Graham Zusi chipped a ball into the box for an on rushing Soony Saad. Saad fired a left footed shot through goalkeeper Noel Valladares' legs to give KC a 1-0 lead. KC continued to have the possession after the goal but really failed to create much in the way of chances.

The second half saw Olimpia come out with a renewed push and put Kansas City back on their heals to start the half. Kansas City though did a good job of limiting Olimpia's chances though throughout the half. Their best chance came after a nice break where the ball made it out wide on KC's left. The shot though went just wide of the post, with Eric Kronberg appearing to have it covered if it had been on goal. The pressure that Olimpia was putting on KC left them susseptable to the counter and that's just what happened in the 67th. Off an Olimpia corner, KC cleared and got the ball up top to substitute, Dom Dwyer. Dwyer raced at the lone defender back for Olimpia and ended up getting pushed wide of the goal. Dwyer though did a great job of changing direction and cutting between two defenders to try to get a shot off. An Olimpia defender stuck a leg out to get the ball, getting Dwyer instead and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. Saad stepped up and while Valladares got a hand to it, KC went up 2-0. Now down two goals, Olimpia tried to find a way back into the game, but still struggled to get shots off. A flubbing of a cross by Kronberg almost gave Olimpia a chance but Opara was there to clean up the situation. KC's defense did such a good job of limiting Olimpia's chances, that their lone shot on goal came late on in the second half and was easily handled by Kronberg in net. KC now has no excuses for not advancing out of the group with the next two games at home.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - A brace for the young forward, he was also a threat the rest of the night for KC.

Honorable Mention - Ike Opara, Oriol Rosell

Player Ratings - Kronberg 5, Jerome 6, Collin 6, Opara 7, Sinovic 5, Rosell 7, Nagamura 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Bieler 5, Saad 8. Subs Dwyer 7, Joseph 6, Sapong 5.

Stepping Away From League Play

While Sporting KC is on their third straight road trip, and on the road for the fourth time in the month of August, they have to feel better about tomorrow night's game not being in league play. In MLS play Kansas City has now lost four of their last five league games after their 1-0 loss in Chicago on Friday. Tomorrow they'll step back into continental play when they'll take on Olimpia tomorrow night in Honduras. The two teams are tied a top Group 2 having both won on the road at Real Esteli. KC sits on top by virtue of their two goal win.

Olimpia picked up a 1-0 win last week on the road in Nicaragua, but didn't look extremely good doing it and at times looked lucky to get out of there with a draw. Even with that performance KC can not overlook the Honduran side. They have five players on their team that were just named to the Honduras roster for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, including starting goalkeeper Noel Valladares. They did recently lose two contributors. Before the CCL even started this year Olimpia lost Alexander Lopez to the Houston Dynamo. More recently, forward Roger Rojas has left the club to go join EPL side, West Ham United on loan. Olimpia has started their season fairly well, going 3-1-1 in all competitions (2-1-1 in league). But all five of those games have been since the 11th of August. So basically Olimpia is playing about once every three days so far this season.

Sporting really needs to begin to find some form again. The league form hasn't been there lately, but they'll be hoping the success against Esteli will continue tomorrow night. Against Chicago on Friday a few of KC's regular forwards got a rest, presumably ahead of Tuesday's game in Honduras. Soony Saad didn't start instead coming off the bench, and Claudio Bieler didn't make an appearance at all. That would lead people to believe that Bieler is going to get minutes tomorrow night. In photos the team posted today, it also looks like Paulo Nagamura will once again be eligible as well. While Nagamura has plenty of people who aren't fans of his, he is one of the most experienced players on KC's roster when it comes to playing south of the United States, having played seven times previously in the CONCACAF Champion's League for MLS teams and has played in Liga Mexico as well.

Kronberg

Jerome - Opara - Collin - Sinovic

Olum - Nagamura

Feilhaber

Saad - Bieler - Sapong

Number to Remember - 1 - The first time that Kansas City has played a Honduran side in any international competition. The team also travels to Central America for the third time. Their last trip saw them pick up their first win in Central America.

Key Match Up - Sporting forwards vs Olimpia defense - KC can't afford to really have the offensive issues that they've had the last two league games in the Champions' League. If KC continues the struggles scoring goals they're not going to get out of the group.

PREDICTION - Unless KC gets blown out tomorrow night, there's not a result that really kills KC's chances of advancing. A win or a draw will leave KC in the driver's seat as they head home for their two games in the group stage. I wouldn't expect the same Olimpia that came out against Esteli last week though. I'd expect KC to have a tough time of it. Olimpia as a whole is a much better squad than the Nicaraguans. While a win would be fantastic, I'd take getting a draw and getting the road games out of the way with 4 of 6.

SKC - 1 (Bieler)
OLI - 1 (Lozano)

FC Kansas City Fall in the Playoffs

The Inaugural Season for FC Kansas City comes to a close in front of over 4,000 fans at Verizon Wireless Field, despite an early score from Rookie of the Year, Erika Tymrak, and the first goal of the season from Melissa Henderson.  Portland Thorns FC were able to knock in two goals of their own in regulation before Allie Long scored in the first overtime period, giving the visitors a 3-2 win and a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League Championship game next weekend.

This week saw FC Kansas City take home four post-season awards, Golden Boot (Lauren Holiday), Rookie of the Year (Erika Tymrak), Goalkeeper of the Year (Nicole Barnhart), and Defender of the Year (Becky Sauerbrunn).  The individual awards were nice, but this team has never been about individual achievements. In the blazing heat of the day, they hoped to take the next step towards their ultimate goal, the NWSL Championship. 

A strong start from both teams created an exciting match from the very beginning.  Erika Tymrak tallied the first score when she jumped on a pass from her newly-named U.S. Women’s National Teammate, Leigh Ann Robinson.  Ripping a shot from the right side, the ball found side netting in the 12^th minute.  Only thirteen minutes later, Melissa Henderson scored her first goal of the season when she used her head to redirect Merritt Mathias’ pass across the goal mouth and past the outstretched hands Portland goalkeeper, Karina LeBlanc. Midway through the opening period FC Kansas City had a 2-0 lead.

In the 33^rd minute, Portland’s Tobin Heath found the net.  Teammate Tiffany Weimer scored again for the Thorns in the 65^th minute, evening up the score at two goals apiece.  Neither side was able to score again as the second half came to a close.  After playing the first game in league history and the first playoff game in league history, FC Kansas City and Portland Thorns FC would play the first overtime game in NWSL history.

As temperatures continued to climb well over the 90 degree mark, both teams continued to battle for two 15 minute overtime periods.  Allie Long would ultimately decide the game for the Portland Thorns when she was able to knock it past Barnhart in the 103^rd minute of the match.  Although the ‘Blues’ would fight hard and have a few opportunities, they could not equalize and fall to the Thorns, 3-2

S.A.S. Saturday After Stats

Not much this week, but here are this week's stats.

Graham Zusi made his 131st appearance in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Jose Burciaga, Uche Okafor, and Roger Espinzoa for 17th place on that list.

Jimmy Nielsen made his 120th league appearance, breaking his tie with Okafor and Diego Gutierrez for 15th place on that list.

Same Old Sporting

It seems to be a regular occurrence for Sporting. Out shoot your opponent, don't put enough shots on goal, and end up losing by the odd goal. It happened again last night in Chicago where Kansas City allowed an early goal by Hunter Jumper, and even though they had close to 60% possession throughout the game, KC couldn't find the net.

KC almost grabbed an early lead inside the first few minutes in a similar fashion to how they scored their first goal in Chicago earlier this year. Off a Matt Besler long throw, the ball landed inside the 6, Teal Bunbury just missed the ball and then was knocked clear before Graham Zusi could make contact with it. After KC had the better of play for the first 10 minutes, the Fire started to come into the game. And in the 13th minute grabbed the lead.  But the sequence started a few minutes later off a Chicago corner that KC couldn't clear their end and Chicago kept them pinned deep. After switching side, Jalil Anibaba turned Seth Sinovic in a circle before Besler cleared for a throw in. Off the throw in the ball got cleared back to Anibaba who fired a cross towards the back post. Mike Magee kept the ball in play knocking it into the middle where Jumper beat Aurelien Collin to the ball with a low header that beat Jimmy Nielsen and made it 1-0 Fire. In the 16th the Fire probably should have doubled their lead on the counter. After some nice passing through the midfield, the ball made it to Jeff Larentowicz who went towards goal but got caught by Peterson Joseph. Larentowicz cut back and played the ball over to Alex who controlled and fired on goal, but Nielsen made the save. The Fire continued to push for a second and again Nielsen was called into action in the 26th. After a Chicago corner was cleared and played back into the box. Magee collected and fired a shot towards Nielsen's near post, but the Dane knocked it away for another corner. Sporting KC had opportunities of their own to tie it. In the 34th minute a ball into the box found Bunbury, but Bunbury couldn't get over the dipping ball enough and fired it over the goal. Only two minutes later Bunbury had another opportunity. Another ball into the box got flicked into the middle of the box towards Bunbury. He couldn't get enough on the effort though as he was falling down fighting for the ball and dribbled a shot that was easy for Sean Johnson.

The second half saw Kansas City control possession but finding very little to do with it. And it was Chicago countering that looked more dangerous. In the 54th minute they had two chances. First a long ball over the top found Magee behind the KC defense, he was pushed wide though and couldn't get a shot off while Collin ended up knocking him over with no call. Then KC turned it over off the goal kick and the ball ended up at the feet of Larentowicz who had his shot saved by the foot of Nielsen. The Fire again should have doubled their lead in the 64th on the counter attack. Off an over commitment by Collin the ball bounced over his head to Chris Rolfe who raced half the length of the field 1v1 with Nielsen. But in the end, Rolfe put his shot wide of Nielsen's post, a shocking effort for the Fire forward in that situation. Chicago continued to get the better of the chances while KC controlled possession. In the 72nd again Chicago could have grabbed a second. After a cross into the box was headed up into the air by Larentowicz. The first to react to it was Juan Luis Anangono who after the ball bounced hit it on the volley. Nielsen just got a finger tip on it, enough to push it onto the cross bar and the ball bounced back into play. KC looked dangerous as the game got later. In the 83rd, Chance Myers played a nice cross towards the back post for Dom Dwyer. Dwyer headed the ball back towards the near post, but the looping header hit the cross bar and Soony Saad's follow up over head kick went high and wide. A few minutes later Joseph picked out Sinovic who had made a good run down the line. Sinovic went towards the goal but his effort ended up being well saved by Johnson. The rebound was put over the bar. KC's last effort came after a foul out wide on the edge of the box. Zusi stepped up to it but instead of playing a ball into the box laid it back to an on rushing Saad. Saad's effort though was over the goal. KC couldn't make enough of their possession and the Fire closed the gap between first in the east and 7th to just 6 points.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Nielsen - Without some big saves (and some big misses) Sporting would have lost this game by more. I've been critical of Nielsen at times this season but he came up big last night, the other end of the field didn't step up last night.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Myers 3, Collin 3, Besler 4, Sinovic 4, Rosell 4, Joseph 3, Feilhaber 4, Zusi 4, Bunbury 4, Sapong 4. Subs Saad 5, Dwyer 4, Olum NR.

Friday Night Lights

Sporting KC will be playing under the lights in Chicago tomorrow night when they'll take on the Fire at Toyota Park. Neither team is coming off a very good performance in their last game. Sporting KC fell to San Jose 1-0 in a game where neither side really deserved anything out of the game. Meanwhile, the Fire lost 2-0 on the road to New England. Sporting comes in as the team in more trouble based on current form. Sporting has gotten just 3 points from the previous 12 available to them. Meanwhile, Chicago is just 8 points behind KC and has two games in hand on Sporting. So a loss would see the Fire able to pass KC if they win their 2 games in hand.

Chicago will have both of their designated players that they've signed during the summer window available. Forward Juan Luis Anangono has made 2 appearances since signing in late July, while Edidio Arvealo made his debut last week against New England. The Fire could be relying on them a bit more tomorrow as three of Chicago's main attacking threats are questionable for this game. Mike Magee, Patrick Nyarko, and Chris Rolfe are all questionable for the game. If all three can't go that would certainly be a bit of a boost for Sporting. One player Chicago definitely will be without though is Bakary Soumare. Soumare picked up a red card after the game against the Revolution ended for a confrontation with the Revolution trainer. Also missing will be Frank Klopas on the Chicago side line. He too was dismissed during the game against the Revolution.

While Sporting doesn't have the suspension issues, they do have injury issues of their own. Peter Vermes has already stated that Kei Kamara is set to miss his second game in a row with an ankle injury he picked up on a tackle by Andy Dorman late in KC's win over New England. Graham Zusi is also still questionable for the game and could miss his fourth straight league game after getting a quad strain in the All Star game. The absence of those two was very apparent in KC's loss to San Jose. Without those two a lot of pressure was placed on Soony Saad who has really come on lately for KC. But Saad had no one to play crosses to when he got space out wide.

Number to Remember - 8 - That's the number of points between KC in first place in the East and Chicago who is currently in seventh, outside the playoff race. The Fire also have two games in hand on KC. The Eastern Conference is extremely tight.

Key Match Up - Claudio Bieler vs Chicago central defense - Bieler hasn't scored for Sporting since a tap in against Toronto back on July 13th. That stretch for Bieler has now reached five games without a goal. Sporting needs Bieler to start to find his scoring touch again for KC down the stretch. Bieler will go up against a Chicago defense that will be missing Soumare due to his red card. But the issue is that Sporting needs to find Bieler, he's not been getting much service lately either.

PREDICTION - Kansas City is back on the road and has another long road trip after this as they head down to Honduras. So while KC will have a third straight road trip and a big CCL game, they can't be too complacent in league play. Especially with how close Chicago is to Kansas City with their games in hand. The offense in this game for both sides could suffer with all the injuries. After the performance in San Jose I'm not sure that KC's offense is going to be able to step up and get a win tomorrow.

SKC - 1 (Saad)
CHI - 1 (Rios)

Robb Heineman AMA

Robb Heineman was on Reddit today to have an AMA (Ask Me Anything). During the interview he gave some pretty candid answers to some questions and obviously had a bit of fun as well (including giving a date for the installation of the Sporting Blue turf).

Here are some of the highlights and some commentary.

Expansion of Sporting Park.

Heineman said that there is currently no time table for expansion of Sporting Park, and that demand for tickets in 2015 will help dictate when they'll look into expanding the stadium. When asked further questions regarding expansion of the stadium, Heineman responded that expansion would see about 8,000.  Most of them would be in the East Stand but a couple thousand he said would be above the Cauldron.

In regards to Sporting Park he was also was asked about when the team would look to move the team into downtown KC instead of out at the Legends. Heineman's response was 21 more years out at Sporting Park.

US Soccer Training Facility

Heineman was asked about this development and where they were in the process. Heineman responded by saying that the site selection should be done in the next 90 days and that construction to begin in the spring. In conjunction with that question, Heineman was asked about the Hall of Fame. He responded that they are interested in it but have not been approached.

US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League

Heineman was asked a couple questions regarding some competitions outside of league play, the Open Cup and the CCL. He was asked what would be the best way to elevate the US Open Cup. Heineman's response was more prize money for the players (currently it's about $100,000 split between the players.

He was also asked about the CCL and it's priority. Heineman responded that it was a huge priority and then gave an example saying that Peter Vermes' incentive bonus for the CCL is the same as it is for winning MLS Cup. So either Sporting is placing a lot of priority on the CCL, or Vermes doesn't get a big bonus for winning MLS Cup.

USL Pro

Heineman was asked about the USLPro and Sporting KC's affiliate, Orlando City. Questions about his feeling on the partnership and how some Orlando fans aren't happy with a lot of the flipping of players. Heineman avoided that part of the question, stating how much he liked the partnership and how each guy that has gone has gotten better.

He was also asked whether KC would look to set up their own USLPro team.  Heineman responded that they were likely too if/when Orlando enters MLS and that the team would likely be within 200 miles of KC. When asked further his response was that Omaha, Des Moines, and the KC metro were the favorites. Omaha doesn't currently have minor league soccer but has a very nice stadium at Creighton, Morrison Stadium. Des Moines has one of the most successful PDL franchises, especially at the gate, but they don't have a stadium, currently playing on a high school football field. The KC metro would be an interesting idea, maybe putting a team up north, or out east to try to drive interest on that side of town without forcing fans across town to Sporting Park.

Player Acquisitions

Heineman was asked a number of questions about player acquisition related questions, many related to designated players and the types Sporting would look at.  Heineman said if they'd add a DP this season it'd be a number 10. He also stated their lack of interest in Ronaldinho and how they were looking more on the 27 or younger scale.  When asked about Jermaine Jones and his interest in MLS, Heineman said they weren't interested.

The part I found more interesting and not surprising based on his tweets was his response to the question about what the hardest part was about signing foreign players. The toughest part according to Heineman is dealing with agents and various "card" owners of players. It certainly seems to fit with many of the things we've heard over the last few years in regards to player signings, especially summer signings.

Overall plenty of good information in the AMA.

Our Hero has a First Name - Former SKC Wizards Update

This is really all you need this week:



Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Edson Elcock
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowery
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ryan Smith
Diego Walsh

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-1 win over DC.
Bobby Convey - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-0 loss to Columbus.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 73 minutes in Salt Lake's 4-2 loss to LA. Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in RSL's 3-3 draw with Portland.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 2-1 win over Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 3-3 draw with RSL.
Kevin Hartman - New York - Did not dress in New York's 0-0 draw with Philadelphia.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 win over Dallas. Did not dress in Portland's 3-3 draw with RSL
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Did not dress in Seattle's 3-1 loss to Houston.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Did not dress in Philadelphia's 0-0 draw with New York.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 win over Dallas. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 3-3 draw with RSL.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 4-2 loss to LA. Started and played 62 minutes in RSL's 3-3 draw with Portland.
Michael Thomas - Toronto - Did not dress in Toronto's 2-0 loss to Columbus.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 2-0 win over Toronto.
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Columbus' 2-0 win over Toronto.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 win over San Antonio.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 1-1 draw with Tampa.
Shavar Thomas - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 win over San Antonio.

USL
Christian Duke - Orlando (Loan) - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Kevin Ellis - Orlando (Loan) - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Brian Fekete - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Started and played 90 minutes in Phoenix's 4-3 loss to Rochester.
Jon Kempin - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in Orlando's 1-0 win over Charlotte.
Neal Kitson - Phoenix - Came off the bench and played 80 minutes in Phoenix's 4-3 loss to Rochester.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in LA's 2-1 win over Rochester.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes, recording an assist on Rochester's 4-3 win over Phoenix. Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 2-1 loss to LA.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Pittsburgh.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 62 minutes in Charleston's 3-0 win over Antigua.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Offseason

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse - Offseason
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason
Craig Rocastle - Missouri - Offseason
Paul Wright - San Diego - Offseason

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Started and played 90 minutes in Haka's 3-1 win over OPS.
Vicente Arze - Sporting Charleroi - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 2-1 loss to Kortrijk.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - Did not dress in DPMM's 1-1 draw with Balestier Khalsa.
Omar Bravo - Atlas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlas' 2-0 loss to Morelia.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Season begins in October.
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Urquiza's 2-2 draw with Barracas Central.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason
Pablo Escobar - Patriotas Boyaca - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Boyaca's 2-1 win over Atletico Huila. Started and played 90 minutes in Boyaca's 2-1 loss to Santa Fe.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Dressed but did not play in either of Wigan's games.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Offseason
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Out Injured
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in Bahia's 0-0 draw with Santos.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - Started and played 90 minutes in Azal's 2-1 win over Inter Baki.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 1-1 draw with Dinamo Brest.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in San Martin's 1-1 draw with Melgar.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Beat La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss Cup.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Started and played 73 minutes in Spartak's 0-0 draw with Rubin Kazan.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - Did not dress in Zilina's 1-0 loss to Spartak Trnava.
Pablo Punyed - Fylkir - Iceland - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Fylkir's 2-2 draw with Thor.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in Blackburn's 2-0 loss to Doncaster.
Milos Stojcev - Atyrau - Kazakhstan - Dressed but did not play in Atyrau's 2-2 draw with Akzhayik.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes and scored a goal in Munster's 1-1 draw with Wehen Wiesbaden.
Ivan Trujillo - Llaneros - Colombia - Did not dress in Llaneros' 2-0 win over Bogota.

S.A.S. Monday After Stats

Not many stats, but here are some from yesterday's game.

Jimmy Nielsen made his 119th league appearance for KC, tying him with Diego Gutierrez and Uche Okafor for 15th on that list.

Aurelien Collin earned his 10th yellow card of the season, tying his record for most in a single season that he set in 2011.

Sporting KC Continue Winless Run in San Jose

Sporting Kansas City will have to wait another couple years before they get the chance to end their long winless record in San Jose. Last night, Sporting KC fell to the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium, extending their winless run to 0-11-5 in league and playoff games in San Jose since their last win in 2000.

The first half as a whole was lacking from both teams.  KC offered extremely little going forward in the half.  San Jose didn't provide much more, but they did test Jimmy Nielsen. Clarence Goodson put an effort just wide of the post early in the first half. He then forced Nielsen into a big save in the 33rd minute. Off a long free kick, Goodson won a header and put it on goal, but Nielsen made a fantastic diving save to knock the ball away keeping the game scoreless. Nielsen again was called into action a little later in the half off a Victor Bernardez free kick, but this one was right at Nielsen.

In the second half Sporting came out and showed better initiative than they did throughout the first half. They kept possession a little bit and were getting deeper into San Jose's end more. But in the 55th it was San Jose that grabbed the lead. Steven Beitashour got a bit of space out wide on Seth Sinovic and fired a cross into the middle that was headed by Chris Wondolowski past Nielsen and into the net. While there were some very big claims for Wondolowski being offside, especially upon viewing the replay, that over shadows, KC's play at the time. Wondolowski was unmarked, only a late attempt by Chance Myers made it at least look like it wasn't completely uncontested. Questions can also be asked a bit of Nielsen, who made the save in the first half on Goodson, and that one had more pace on it.

Sporting almost responded immediately as Soony Saad did a good job working the ball down the left before playing a low cross into the box for substitute, Teal Bunbury. A challenge by Goodson though threw off Bunbury on his shot and the ball went over the goal. Sporting continued to pressure looking for an equalizer, but really were not creating much in the way of chances as San Jose sat a little deeper, cutting off passing angles for KC to play through. In the 65th minute KC had a penalty shout turned down by referee Juan Guzman. A long throw in by Matt Besler was flicked on to the back post towards Saad.  As Saad looked to get to the ball before it went out, he appeared to be fouled by Beitashour.  Guzman though made no call. As the minutes went by though KC didn't really create much in the way of chances and really didn't deserve a goal. Jon Busch in the San Jose net was never really troubled by KC's offense that desperately missed both Graham Zusi and Kei Kamara.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - Saad was the focal point of KC's attack throughout the night. But even he missed Kamara. A few times he'd have the ball wide ready to play a cross to the back post, but Jacob Peterson would either be too tightly marked or not there.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Myers 4, Collin 4, Besler 4, Sinovic 5, Rosell 4, Olum 3, Feilhaber 4, Saad 6, Bieler 5, Peterson 4. Subs Bunbury 4, Sapong 4, Joseph 4.

Late Goal Costs FCKC Home Field Advantage

FC Kansas City had a great opportunity to wrap up home field advantage throughout the NWSL playoffs today as they faced the Chicago Red Stars at Verizon Wireless Field. Unfortunately a late goal by Jen Hoy though spoiled that opportunity and FCKC had to settle for the second seed.

Needing a win or a draw to clinch home field advantage, the Blues attacked from the start. FCKC grabbed the lead in the 20th through Courtney Jones whose shot was not handled by Chicago goalkeeper, Erin McLeod. KC couldn't find another goal in the first half, and as the game closed in on half time, Chicago equalized Inka Grings and Hoy attacked in a 2v4 situation. Hoy curled the shot into the corner to tie the game at 1-1. KC thought they'd responded almost immediately as Desiree Scott received a ball out wide and crossed to the back post where Melissa Henderson tapped the ball home, but Henderson was ruled offside.

In the second, FCKC controlled play and had the better chances but couldn't finish an opportunity. Lauren Holiday fired a free kick that McLeod had to tip over the bar, and then stopped Henderson in a 1v1 situation. KC looked like they'd end up getting the draw, but in stoppage time Chicago attacked and a cross by Julianne Sitch was settled by Hoy and finished at the near post giving Chicago the lead.

The loss dropped Kansas City into second place in the league on goal difference, giving Western New York the regular season title. Kansas City will still host a playoff game in the first round but do not have home field advantage. They'll now get to take on the Portland Thorns at Verizon Wireless Field next weekend.

Sporting Set to Take on San Jose

Sporting Kansas City go on their final long road trip of the MLS regular season when they take on the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium tomorrow night. The rest of the way, KC is either in their own time zone or the East Coast for games (they do still have a trip to Honduras in the CCL).

San Jose comes into the game with a fairly impressive home record. They have played 11 games without a loss at home this season. They haven't lost since their season opener against Real Salt Lake. While they've been good at home, it's their road form that's hurt them this season as they currently outside the playoffs looking in right now. They're already replaced last year's coach of the year in Frank Yallop. While they haven't produced the same numbers this year, the offense is still one to be wary of, with Chris Wondolowski, Alan Gordon, and Steven Lenhart.

While San Jose has had their issues lately, Sporting KC has some concerns of their own. Two of their key offensive players look like they could miss this game tomorrow. Kei Kamara, who got hurt near the end of last week's game against New England has been tweeting from home last night and today while the team has been in San Jose, which would rule him out. The other player is midfielder Graham Zusi, who has not played since the all star game. The loss of those two will be hard for KC to over come, especially Kamara, who has picked up a lot of the scoring slack since Claudio Bieler has hit a bit of a slump.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin  -Besler - Sinovice

Joseph - Rosell

Feilhaber

Saad - Bieler - Sapong

Number to Remember - 4750 - That's the number of days since KC last won a game on the road. That's right, 13 years, 2 days since KC last won a game in the Silicon Valley area. In all competitions, KC is 0-10-5 in San Jose since they won 3-0 in August of the 2000 season. Just think for a second how much the league has changed since then. We've contracted two teams, and added nine. We've gone from about four owners owning all the teams to only having two teams that are at least partially owned by one group.

Key Match Up - Aurelien Collin vs Steven Lenhart - Back in 2011 when KC and San Jose faced off, these two went 12 rounds against each other. Collin and Lenhart knocked each other around all game. It was fun to watch. Since then though, we've not gotten to see these two go up against each other.  Tomorrow we should get to see the rematch.

PREDICTION - KC is one of the better teams on the road in the league, while San Jose has the previously mentioned unbeaten run. The smaller field at Buck Shaw will reduce some of KC's work they've been able to do on the road in other stadiums. Without Kamara and Zusi, creative duties will fall to Soony Saad and Benny Feilhaber again. They've done well recently, but they'll need to continue that form if KC want to remain at the top of the East, which continues to be extremely tight. Gonna be hard to end the winless streak at San Jose though.

SKC - 1 (Saad)
SJ - 1 (Wondolowski)

UPDATED - USL Investigating Abuse Claims Towards Ellis

Last night the Richmond Kickers clinched the USL-Pro regular season title at home with a 2-0 win over Sporting KC affiliate, Orlando City. Two Sporting KC players, Christian Duke and Kevin Ellis participated in the match.

After the game though, Ellis took to Twitter with some frustrations regarding comments by fans in Richmond that were directed at him.  From a since deleted Tweet, Ellis said: "Richmond your fans are trash sayin racial comments and talking about my mom who died 2 years ago is as low as you can get #congrats @USLPRO."

From the comments of a friend who was at the game, he didn't hear anything that specifically came from the Richmond supporters' group, but this is a very serious claim by Ellis about what is hopefully a very small minority of Richmond fans.

Today, the USL Pro released a statement regarding Ellis' claims. The release doesn't specifically mention what types of comments were directed towards Ellis, just that they are investigating an "alleged incident."

If punishment does come down on those that made the comments, I hope it is harsh. There's no place in the game for comments like that, especially racial ones. Cheer your team, cheer against the opposition, but leave that sort of shit out of the game.

UPDATE - According to first hand accounts from other fans in with the Richmond supporters, there were chants about Ellis' mother along with the mothers of all the players warming up. According to one person in the stands, Ellis turned around and said "I will kill you if you say something again."

While the mom chants may be inconsiderate to Ellis, who lost his mother two years ago, I think Ellis' comments, if true are a step over the line as well. As a professional athlete, you have to accept some chants at you from opposing teams.

The bigger issue for me in all of this was the claims of racism by Ellis. Those that were there said that they didn't hear any comments regarding racism at least in the organized fashion.

Johnson Scores in Bosnia - Former SKC Wizards Update

The US fell behind early to Bosnia today in an international friendly. After being down 2-0 at half time, the US came from behind and ended up coming all the way back to win 4-3. The come back was started on a goal by former Wizard Eddie Johnson. The play started on a nice ball over the top by Michael Bradley to Jozy Altidore. Altidore touched the ball across to a wide open Johnson who finished into the empty net. Three goals later by Altidore and the US was up 4-2. A late consolation by Bosnia made it 4-3, but the US held on for the win. Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Edson Elcock
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowery
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ryan Smith
Diego Walsh

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Started and played 55 minutes in Montreal's 2-1 loss to Chicago.
Bobby Convey - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 loss to Seattle.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Salt Lake's 1-0 win over Houston.
Michael Harrington - Portland - No game this week.
Kevin Hartman - New York - Did not dress in New York's 2-0 loss to Columbus.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - No game this week.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Seattle's 2-1 win over Toronto. Started and played 63 minutres, scoring a goal in the USA's 4-3 win over Bosnia.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 2-0 win over DC.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - No game this week.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - Did not dress in Salt Lake's 1-0 win over Houston.
Michael Thomas - Toronto - Did not dress in Toronto's 2-1 loss to Seattle.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 2-0 win over New York.
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 2-0 win over New York.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 3-1 loss to Minnesota.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 3-1 win over Fort Lauderdale.
Shavar Thomas - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 3-1 loss to Minnesota.

USL
Christian Duke - Orlando (Loan) - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Orlando's 2-0 win over Seattle. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Richmond.
Kevin Ellis - Orlando (Loan) - Not available for Orlando's 2-0 win over Seattle. Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Richmond.
Brian Fekete - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 win over Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Richmond.
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - Started and played 90 minutes in Phoenix's 1-0 loss to Charleston.
Jon Kempin - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in Orlando's 2-0 win over Seattle. Did not dress in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Richmond.
Neal Kitson - Phoenix - Started and played 45 minutes in Phoenix's 1-0 loss to Charleston.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Did not dress in LA's 2-1 win over Charleston.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Rochester's 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 5-2 win over Dayton. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Orlando.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 2-1 loss to LA. Did not dress in Charleston's 1-0 win over Phoenix.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Offseason

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse - Offseason
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason
Craig Rocastle - Missouri - Offseason
Paul Wright - San Diego - Offseason

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Started and played 90 minutes in Haka's 2-1 win over Kajanni.
Vicente Arze - Sporting Charleroi - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 2-1 win over Mons.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - No game this week.
Omar Bravo - Atlas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlas' 1-1 draw with Pachuca.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Started and played 70 minutes in India's 3-0 loss ot Tajikistan.
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Did not dress in Urquiza's 0-0 draw with Platense.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason
Pablo Escobar - Patriotas Boyaca - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Boyaca's 3-2 win over Cucuta Deportivo.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Wigan's 2-0 loss to Manchester United in the Community Shield.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Offseason
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Out Injured
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Bahia's games.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - Started and played 90 minutes in AZAL's 1-0 win over Baki.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia - Belarus - Started and played 90 minutes in Slavia's 3-2 win over Dinamo Minsk.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Started and played 45 minutes in San Martin's 2-1 loss to UTC Cajamarca.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 36 minutes in Servette's 3-0 loss to FC Schaffhausen.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game this week.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - Did not dress in Zilina's 4-4 draw with Nitra.
Pablo Punyed - Fylkir - Iceland - Did not dress in Fylkir's 3-0 win over Feflavik.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Dressed but did not play in Blackburn's 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
Milos Stojcev - Atyrau - Kazakhstan - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Munster's 3-3 draw with Rot-Weiss Erfurt.
Ivan Trujillo - Llaneros - Colombia - Did not dress in Llaneros' 2-1 loss to Deportivo Rionegro.

Sunday After Stats

Kei Kamara's 2 goals gave him 27 league goals at home for KC, tying him with Davy Arnaud for the second most in team history.

Kamara's first goal, the game winner, was his 11th in league play for KC, tying him with Josh Wolff for 3rd all time on that list.

It was his 12th game winner in all competitions for KC, tying him with Wolff for 4th on that list.

Kamara made his 97th league start for KC, breaking his tie with Sasha Victorine for 19th place on that list.

Matt Besler made his 120th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Diego Gutierrez and Uche Okafor for 14th on that list.

Jimmy Nielsen recorded his 47th shutout in all competitions for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for the most in team history.

Sporting Climb Back on Top of the East

Against the top of the East the last two weeks, Sporting Kansas City had struggled and ended up not getting results. This week though KC were able to take care of business against the New England Revolution and got back to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Kansas City had the better of play in the early going and could have taken the least in the 19th minute. Chance Myers and Kei Kamara combined well down the wing. The ball ended up with Myers who crossed into the box for Claudio Bieler who'd stopped his run at the top of  the box. Bieler's volley though was well over the bar. KC deservedly grabbed the lead though in the 27th. Soony Saad received the wing, and cut in towards goal trying to create space. Saad floated a cross into the box where Kamara out jumped Kevin Alston and headed the ball past a late reacting Bobby Shuttleworth to give KC the 1-0 lead. New England started to come into the game more and were almost level in the 40th. After a string of possession, Lee Nguyen floated a ball over the back line for Dimitry Imbongo. Imbongo had gotten behind the defense (replays while not in line, look like he could have been offside). Imbongo though fired his shot right at Jimmy Nielsen, who did a good job of making himself big to cut down Imbongo's angle. Myers was fouled on the rebound and KC escaped.

Early in the second half KC doubled their lead, and it was again Saad and Kamara who connected. After a period of just over a minute straight of possession for KC, where they completed 22 passes and all 10 field players touched the ball, Saad played a cross right into the middle of the box. Again Kamara beat Alston to the ball and headed the ball past Shuttleworth and made it 2-0. Things got even worse for the Revolution in the 64th minute. as a ball bounced to Imbongo in KC's half of the field, the forward let the ball roll past him and he turned to shield off Oriol Rosell. While holding off Rosell he ended up elbowing Rosell in the face.  It didn't look intentional but he did have the elbow raised high. Baldomero Toledo called the foul and gave Imbongo his second yellow of the match, giving him an early exit. A man down, the Revolution continued to look for a goal to get them back in the game. Andy Dorman had a good effort, but fired his shot right at Nielsen and it was easily collected. Shortly after that effort, in the 80th minute, the Revolution again almost got a goal back. Chad Barrett did a good job of splitting KC's central defense and fired a shot on goal, but Nielsen made a nice diving save to knock the ball away. On the rebound, Diego Fagundez couldn't get the cross past Matt Besler. Things took another turn for the Revs in the 86th minute. After a give away by the Revolution, Kamara was starting a counter attack the other way. He was chased down by Andy Dorman who slid in on Kamara. Dorman missed the ball and just took out Kamara. Despite the protests by the Revolution's broadcast team, Toledo made no hesitation reaching for the back pocket and putting the Revolution down to 9 men for the final 4 minutes plus stoppage time. KC continued to push now up 2 men, and found a 3rd goal in stoppage time. With the extra space Benny Feilhaber raced towards the Revolution goal and ended up being brought down just outside the box. Feilhaber stepped up and took the free kick himself, curling it over the wall and into the net to make it 3-0.

Wizards Man of the Match - Kei Kamara - A pair of goals for the Sierra Leone international, both very good headers. He was a handful for Alston all night.

Honorable mention - Soony Saad

Player Ratings - Nielsen 7, Myers 5, Collin 6, Besler 6, Sinovic 6, Rosell 7, Joseph 5, Feilhaber 7, Saad 8, Bieler 6, Kamara 8. Subs Olum 6, Sapong 5, Dwyer NR

FC Kansas City Fall on the Road

From FC Kansas City

FC Kansas City last suffered defeat on June 16th.  Since then they have run a ten game streak that saw them go undefeated and vault past other National Women’s Soccer League teams to first place in the standings.  Against Boston today, who were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday, they were held scoreless for only the third time all season and had their streak snapped as they fall 0-1 to the Breakers.  The team still has the opportunity to secure home-field advantage with a win next weekend at home against the Chicago Red Stars.

FC Kansas City owned the season series to this point, last defeating the Breakers at home July 24th by the score of 3-0.  Since then, the Breakers dismissed their head coach and are being led by player-coach Cat Whitehill for the remainder of the season.  Whitehill has given her team the confidence needed to finish the season strong.  For FC Kansas City, they started the match without Melissa Henderson in her normal forward position due to a lingering knee injury. 

Although possession was fairly even throughout the first half, FC Kansas City’s did not take advantage of any of its chances as many of their shots were high or wide of target.  Boston had several chances off the mark as well, but had much better luck in the second half.  The ‘Blues’ were outshot for only the second time all season as Boston found five on goal to Kansas City’s two.  Sydney Leroux found the only goal of the game in the 65th minute when she managed to knock one far post, just out of goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart’s reach.  The 1-0 score would stand through the final as FC Kansas City was held scoreless for only the second time all season.  

FC Kansas City returns home Sunday August 18th at 3:10p.m. CT to face the Chicago Red Stars in the final regular season home game.  The ‘Blues’ can still clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win against Chicago.

Needing Some Home Form

After a 2-0 win on the road to open their CONCACAF Champions' League campaign, Sporting KC home to league play where they'll take on the New England Revolution. Home hasn't been a fortress for Kansas City as the team is just 5-4-3 in league play at Sporting Park this year. With the stretch run coming, Sporting is really going to need to start to turn around their home form.  To try to give the home form a kick, Sporting welcome the New England Revolution to town.

The Revolution come into the game tomorrow after having a disappointing result last week, lose 1-0 at home to Toronto FC. Even with the disappointing loss, the Revolution are still only three points out of a playoff spot, and only six points behind KC who currently sit in second. The Revs have had a good season out of home grown player, Diego Fagundez, who leads the team in scoring this season with six goals. They've also been getting good performances lately from Saer Sene who returned from a torn ACL earlier this year.

Sporting KC has a difficult balancing act ahead of them for the game tomorrow. Five players who started against New York last Saturday also started in KC's 2-0 win in Nicaragua on Wednesday. Three of those five, Aurelien Collin, Oriol Rosell, and Seth Sinovic all went 90 minutes in both games. For Collin, that's 3 full 90 minute games in 8 days if you include the All Star game last week. Getting a break for these guys at some point will be necessary. Ike Opara has shown to be quite capable on the back line when filling in, so maybe Peter Vermes gives Collin a bit of a breather tomorrow night. The other question is whether we'll see the return of Graham Zusi to the starting eleven. He's still listed as questionable for tomorrow night's game with his quad injury.

Nielsen

Myers - Opara - Besler - Sinovic

Rosell - Joseph

Feilhaber

Kamara - Bieler - Saad

Number to Remember - 0 - That's the number of goals scored by New England in their last 4 meetings against Kansas City. It was also the score for each team when the teams met in New England earlier this year in what was a dreadful game to watch.

Key Match Up - Claudio Bieler vs Jose Goncalves - Goncalves has been putting in a defender of the year performance so far for New England so he'll be up to the task of marking KC's DP. On Bieler's side, he hasn't scored a goal since KC beat Toronto 3-0 almost a month ago. He needs to turn around his recent finishing.

PREDICTION - I don't want to call this game a must win, but a loss for KC puts them just three points clear of missing the playoffs, with a busy part of the schedule coming up. KC needs to get all three points out of this game. The defense needs to shore up their recent play lately and piggyback on the good defensive performance against Real Esteli. New England's a better team than Esteli though and KC will need to take advantage of their chance better than they did against New York last week.

SKC - 2 (Bieler, Opara)
NE - 1 (Sene)

Updated Salaries

Today the MLS Players Union released updated players salaries. When it comes to Sporting KC, there were only two changes to the salaries from the ones that were released earlier in the year. The first was the addition of Erik Palmer-Brown to the list.  Sporting KC's new home grown player is making $35,125 as a base salary and $35,625 in guaranteed compensation.

The big one though is Graham Zusi and his new contract. Zusi's new contract sees him get a big jump in pay. .His base salary goes from $140,000 in the release earlier this year to $350,000 now. Guaranteed compensation goes from $173,812.50 to $383,250. Zusi is now the teams highest paid player according to the players union release. Although it lists Sporting designated player, Claudio Bieler's salary as only $200,000.

Sporting Sign Two

With MLS' secondary transfer window coming to a close, Sporting Kansas City did make two moves that coincided with the close of the window. We heard yesterday from Robb Heineman that the Jorge Claros deal at fallen through for this window, but Sporting didn't go out without picking up a couple players. The two players, Jimmy Medranda and Brendan Ruiz, though, don't look like they'll be making immediate impacts for Sporting this year. The two are 19 and 20 years old respectively.

Medranda comes to Kansas City on a loan deal from Colombian side, Deportivo Pereira, who is actually coached by Octavio Zambrano, former assistant coach to Peter Vermes in 2010 and 2011. One has to assume that the relationship between the two has to do with the loan deal that brings Medranda to KC. Medranda is a midfielder who came up through Pereira's youth system. He's made 16 appearances for the club over the last two seasons, scoring two goals. Judging by the information in the release, he looks on the small side, he's only 5-5 weighting in at 150 pounds. Just reading that information immediately makes me wonder if he is a bit Joao Plata like in his play.

Sporting's second signing, Ruiz, is an American who had spent the last two years playing with the U20 team of Brazilian first division club, Figuerense. Ruiz is a converted defender who used to play in the midfield.

I wouldn't expect much from either player this year.  This looks like what's become a regular summer signing for Peter Vermes.  As I mentioned yesterday, his summer signings the past couple years have been guys who aren't really going to offer a whole lot this season, but are guys that could be used in the future to help the team out.

Songo'o Signs for Blackburn - Former SKC Wizards Update

Another former Sporting Kansas City player has a new team. Earlier this week, Yann Songo'o signed a contract with English Championship side Blackburn Rovers. Songo'o and Sporting had mutually terminated Songo'o's contract earlier this summer allowing him to return to Europe where he's now got a new club. In other news this week, there were a number of goals from former Wizards this week as Matt Taylor, Yura Movsisyan, Will John, Christian Duke, Milos Stojcev, and Eddie Johnson all scored. Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jose Burciaga
Julio Cesar
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Edson Elcock
Mauro Fuzetti
Willy Guadarrama
Aaron Hohlbein
Mike Jones
Jonathan Leathers
Scott Lorenz
Amir Lowery
Akeem Priestly
Scott Sealy
Ryan Smith
Diego Walsh

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Started and played 90 minutres, recording an assist in Montreal's 3-1 loss to DC. Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 1-0 win over San Jose.
Bobby Convey - Toronto - Started and played 89 minutes in Toronto's 1-0 win over New England.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 85 minutes, recording an assist in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with Colorado. Started and played 88 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-1 win over Portland in the US Open Cup.
Michael Harrington - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-1 draw with Vancouver. Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 2-1 loss to Salt Lake in the US Open Cup.
Kevin Hartman - New York - Did not dress in New York's 3-2 win over KC.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 84 minutes in Portland's 1-1 draw with Vancouver. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 loss to Salt Lake in the US Open Cup.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Seattle's 3-0 win over Dallas.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Dressed but did not play in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to Chicago.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-1 draw with Vancouver. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-1 loss to Salt Lake in the US Open Cup.
Khari Stephenson - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 65 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-2 draw with Colorado. Started and played 80 minutes in Salt Lake's 2-1 win over Portland in the US Open Cup.
Michael Thomas - Toronto - Dressed but did not play in Toronto's 1-0 win over New England.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 3-1 loss to Houston.
Konrad Warzycha - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 3-1 loss to Houston.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Fort Lauderdale - Dressed but did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to New York.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Did not dress in Minnesota's 1-0 loss to Atlanta.
Shavar Thomas - Fort Lauderdale - Did not dress in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to New York.

USL
Christian Duke - Orlando (Loan) - Started and played 45 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 51 minutes, scoring a goal in Orlando's 3-0 win over Tampa. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-2 win over Tampa.
Kevin Ellis - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in any of Orlando's games.
Brian Fekete - Orlando - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-0 win over Tampa. Started and played 78 minutes in Orlando's 3-2 win over Tampa.
Cyprian Hedrick - Phoenix - No game this week.
Jon Kempin - Orlando (Loan) - Did not dress in any of Orlando's games.
Neal Kitson - Phoenix - No game this week.
Nelson Pizarro - Los Angeles - Did not dress in LA's 2-2 draw with Harrisburg.
Mike Reidy - Rochester - Dressed but did not play in Rochester's 3-1 loss to Dayton.
CJ Sapong - Orlando (Loan) - Came off the bench and played 38 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 89 minutes, recording an assist in Orlando's 3-0 win over Tampa. Not available for Orlando's 3-2 win against Tampa.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Charlotte. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 5-2 loss to Charleston.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not dress in Charleston's 2-1 loss to Wilmington. Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 5-2 win over Richmond.

PDL
Scott Angevine - Des Moines - Offseason

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Syracuse - Offseason
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason
Craig Rocastle - Missouri - Offseason
Paul Wright - San Diego - Offseason

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - FC Haka - Finland - Started and played 90 minutes in Haka's 3-0 win over Viikingit. Started and played 90 minutes in Haka's 4-0 win over Oulu.
Vicente Arze - Sporting Charleroi - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 1-1 draw with Waasland-Beveren.
Stephane Auvray - DPMM FC - Brunei (Singapore League) - No game this week.
Omar Bravo - Atlas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlas' 3-0 loss to Club America. Did not dress in Atlas' 3-2 win over Tecos in the Copa Mexico.
Sunil Chhetri - Churchill Brothers - India - Season starts in October
Eloy Colombano - UAI Urquiza - Argentina - Did not dress in UAI's 1-1 draw with Acassuso.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason
Pablo Escobar - Patriotas Boyaca - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Boyaca's 1-1 draw with Deportivo Pasto.
Roger Espinoza - Wigan - England - Dressed but did not play in Wigan's 4-0 win over Barnsley.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Offseason
Herculez Gomez - Tijuana - Mexico - Out Injured
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in Bahia's 1-0 loss to Atletico PR.
Will John - AZAL - Azerbaijan - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in AZAL's 4-1 loss to Neftci.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia - Belarus - Started and played 82 minutes in Slavia's 1-0 win over Torpedo Zhodino.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Started and played 90 minutes in San Martin's 2-0 win over Inti Gas.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 1-1 draw with Biel-Bienne.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench and played 19 minutes, scoring a goal in Spartak's 2-2 draw with Kuban Krasnodar.
Michal Mravec - Zilina - Slovakia - Did not dress in Zilina's 3-3 draw with Dukla.
Pablo Punyed - Fylkir - Iceland - Did not dress in Fylkir's 2-1 win over Stjarnan.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Had not signed for Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Derby. Started and played 120 minutes in Blackburn's 3-3 (4-3) shootout loss to Carlisle in the League Cup.
Milos Stojcev - Atyrau - Kazakhstan - Came off the bench playing 24 minutes, scoring a goal in Atyrau's 3-1 win over Taraz.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Munster's 1-0 win over St. Pauli.
Ivan Trujillo - Llaneros - Colombia - Did not dress in Llaneros' 1-1 draw with Union Magdalena.

S.A.S. Thursday After Stats

The win was Kansas City's first on the road in international competition since a 1-0 win against W Connection in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2002.

It was Kansas City's first ever win over a Central American team in a competitive match.

Ike Opara's goal was Kansas City's first in an international competition since Claudio Lopez against Santos Laguna in 2009. It was the first in the CONCACAF Champions' League/Cup since Jose Burciaga in 2005.

Eric Kronberg becomes only the second goalkeeper in KC history to win an international game.

Transfer Window Closes Today

Today MLS' secondary transfer window closes, which means that teams won't be able to bring in talent from foreign leagues again until the new window opens in January (trade deadline and roster freeze is still to come in September so player additions can still be made). Sporting KC has been quiet when it comes to additions this window. They've brought in no players so far this window, although there have been a couple rumors.

The biggest has been Jorge Claros, the Honduran defensive midfielder who represented his country in the Gold Cup. Many reports out of Honduras have said that the former Hibernian player is down to two choices for his team. He'll either stay with his current club, Motagua in Honduras, or he'll sign with Sporting Kansas City. One other report has also linked the midfielder with Real Salt Lake, but I haven't seen a lot of that mentioned. Reports out of Scotland today though are stating that Claros is still wanting Hibs to purchase his contract. From reading the articles, Claros really wants to get out of Honduras. Should Claros come to MLS the question would be who between KC and RSL (the two teams linked with him) have first dibs through the discovery process. Either way, Claros looks very keen to leave the Honduran league and play abroad.

The other rumor that has quickly died on the vine, was Luis Bolaños, an Ecuadorian winger from LDU Quito. He was linked with a move to KC, where he'd join up again with Claudio Bieler, but Bolaños now looks set to remain at Quito.

KC though hasn't been a big player as a whole in the league's secondary window the last few years since Peter Vermes took over as head coach. Much of that has to do with the fact that KC hasn't needed to look to fill any big holes and have been able to bring in guys who at the time were role players. Vermes has used the summer window to bring in guys who were more likely to contribute in the future than provide immediate impact. Over the last few years those summer window additions have included Oriol Rosell, who only made a handful of appearances in 2012 before becoming a starter this year, Lawrence Olum, who made just one appearance in 2011 before becoming KC's primary back up at center back in 2012, Peterson Joseph, like Olum made just one appearance in 2011 before becoming a key contributor over the past two seasons.  On the other side, since Vermes took over there are really been only three guys who were brought in for immediate impact.  Kei Kamara and Zoltan Hercegfalvi are two of those guys, but to be fair, both of them were brought in during the 2009 season when KC was struggling and Vermes hadn't fully established his style. But both of them were brought in to be immediate impacts. The other player that was brought in to be an immediate impact was Jeferson, the team's third designated player was brought in during the 2011 season to help creatively in the midfield. He didn't have a great impact though and only lasted the half a season.

So the history hasn't spoken to Vermes being very busy this window when it comes to bringing in guys who will contribute immediately. In fact, Vermes has even said it's hard on players signed during this window to get integrated in the team and in KC's style of play enough that they can really contribute in the season they're acquired.

Sporting Cruise in Champions League Opener

Sporting Kansas City got their CONCACAF Champions League campaign started on the right foot in Nicaragua last night as they defeated Real Esteli 2-0. Kansas City controlled the majority of the game against the Nicaraguan side causing the Esteli back line to give the ball away multiple times. Early pressure from Dom Dwyer and Soony Saad led to a free kick just outside the box early on.  Benny Feilhaber got the free kick over the wall but didn't get enough power on it to beat Justo Lorente in the Esteli net. KC continued to pressure the Esteli midfield and back line causing a number of turnovers in the middle of the field. After the early control by KC though, Esteli looked to come alive for a little bit, causing KC some trouble defensively, but Eric Kronberg made a nice save and did well to cut out crosses both on the ground and in the air to keep the game scoreless. In the 31st minute, Kansas City deservedly took the lead.  After a foul in Esteli's end of the field, Feilhaber floated in a lofted set piece towards the back post. Ike Opara got up well over his defender and tried to direct a header back towards the near post for Aurelien Collin. The header though looped over Lorente's head and into the net giving KC a 1-0 lead.

The second half saw Kansas City continue to control the game as they looked for a second goal. The Esteli back line looked completely over matched against KC's front three of Saad, Dwyer, and Jacob Peterson as the three were able to pass around the back line and create a number of chances. Esteli created very little of their own at the other end though.  Their best chance probably came from a corner after their leading scorer, Rudel Calero, entered the game. The corner though was put wide of KC's net keeping the game 1-0 KC. The way the game was going, Kansas City was going to find a second, Feilhaber put a shot just over the bar after a short free kick, and Saad stung the hands of the keeper with an effort from the top of the box. Finally in the 76th minute, KC doubled their lead. A long ball over the top by Aurelien Collin found Dwyer.  Dwyer started to dribble at the lone defender in front of him.  The defender surprisingly backed off more as Dwyer dribbled at him and eventually fell over as Dwyer started to make his move past him.  This allowed Dwyer to get into the box and place a nice shot into the far corner past Lorente to give KC the 2-0 lead and seal the game. KC always looked the more impressive side and the final result was a good representation of the game.

Wizards Man of the Match - Oriol Rosell - Really there are a number of people that the man of the match award could go to. Rosell though put a lock down on the middle of the field last night.  With Lawrence Olum sitting behind him, Rosell was allowed more freedom around the field and he took it, breaking up plays and winning the ball all night.

Honorable mention: Benny Feilhaber, Soony Saad, Dom Dwyer

Player Ratings - Kronberg 6, Sinovic 6, Collin 7, Opara 7, Jerome 6, Rosell 8, Olum 7, Feilhaber 8, Saad 8, Dwyer 8, Peterson 7. Subs Joseph 6, Bunbury NR, Sapong NR

Sporting KC Kick off Champions League

Sporting Kansas City will make their first trip into the premier CONCACAF competition since 2005 when they faced Deportivo Saprissa under the old CONCACAF Champions' Cup format. Tomorrow they'll take on Real Esteli of Nicaragua in their first game of Group 2 of this year's CONCACAF Champions' League. Overall this is KC's 4th trip into international competitions after the 2001 Copa Mercanorte where KC finished 1-1-4 finishing 3rd in their group. Then in 2002 KC played in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, advancing to the semifinals where they lost to Morelia. In that run KC became the first MLS team to win a home-home series with a Mexican side. KC's trip to the Champions' Cup in 2005 saw them fall in the first round to Saprissa. KC's final international experience was the 2009 Superliga, where KC finished bottom of their group with a 0-2-1 record.

It's hard to know what exactly to expect from Esteli. The Nicaraguan side has technically qualified for each edition of the Champions' League since the new format was set up. Unfortunately for most of that time, Nicaragua didn't have a FIFA approved stadium and therefore couldn't host games and did not participate. They've actually only played in three years of the competitions, being eliminated in the preliminary rounds in 2008 and 2011 versions, and were eliminated in the group stage in the 2012 version. Esteli just kicked off their new season, winning their season opener 2-1. They have also brought in a few new players, including Yader Balladares, a Nicaraguan/Costa Rican who has previously played Saprissa.

With injuries and Orlando City loans, Sporting KC will have a thinner roster to choose from ahead of the game. Many times a game like this would be considered a good chance to get a number of bench players time. But more starters than expected could see time tomorrow. That will be a little rough heading into this weekend when Sporting KC will take on New England in a league game at Sporting Park. So while the lineup may not be totally the same from Saturday's game against New York, I'd expect to see a few of the starters get time in the game.

Kronberg

Jerome - Opara - Collin - Sinovic

Olum - Joseph

Feilhaber

Bunbury - Dwyer - Saad

Number to remember - 0 - That's the number of wins that Real Esteli have in the Champions League. They are 0-6-2 in the tournament since the format changed.

PREDICTION - I know very little about Esteli other than what I've read and the few highlights I've seen of their games from the last two years in the CCL.  That really doesn't tell me a whole lot. But even with KC's struggles the last two games, a loss to a team that has yet to win in this competition would be disappointing. Even if it is the first international game for many of these players, or their first game in a Central American environment, with the oh so consistent CONCACAF officiating. This is a game that KC should be able to win, and really if they want to advance from the group, a game they must win. Olimpia on the road is going to be especially tough, so getting points against the "easier" of their two opponents is needed.

SKC - 3 (Dwyer, Saad, Joseph)
RE - 1

FC Kansas City Clinch Playoff Birth

FC Kansas City continues to write the National Women’s Soccer League record books.  In front of the largest crowd of the season at Portland’s JELD-WEN Field at 17,619, Kansas City extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games, their winning streak to four games and they have become the first team in league history to clinch a spot in the NWSL postseason.  Lauren Holiday scored goals from Leigh Ann Robinson and Erika Tymrak while Kristie Mewis scored her first professional goal on the way to a 3-2 FC Kansas City victory.  FC Kansas City (11-4-5) remains in first place with 38 points, four points ahead of Portland Thorns and Sky Blue FC.

In what was billed as a matchup of league heavyweights, FC Kansas City and Portland Thorns entered tonight’s matchup looking to settle their season-long series and put their first step towards the playoffs.  A win for either team would secure their spot in the post-season and a draw would see both teams qualify.  This matchup has seen some of the most exciting games of the season so far.  Tonight’s game, broadcast nationally on Fox Soccer Channel, might have topped them all. 

The two teams at the top of the NWSL table played a fairly even game, with each team seeing spurts of possession dominance throughout the first half.  FC Kansas City got on the board first when Leigh Ann Robinson sent a cross that squirted out to a wide open Lauren Holiday.  At that range, Holiday does not disappoint and found the back of the net before Portland goalkeeper, Karina LeBlanc, had a chance to react.

The second half was another battle.  Portland was determined to get themselves into the game while KC saw their playoff berth within reach.  Portland equalized the game when Kansas City was unable to properly clear a set play in the 51^st minute.  Portland’s Rachel Buehler collected the missed clearance and her shot careened off the side of her foot to her teammate, Danielle Foxhoven.  The Thorns forward was left open and was able to put her side on the board.

The tie was only temporary though as FC Kansas City answered four minutes later.  The most dangerous midfield combination in the NWSL put their team back in the lead when Tymrak’s one touch pass with her back to the goal found Holiday driving into the Thorns’ penalty box.  Her shot went under the outstretched arms of LeBlanc and trickled into the goal. 

Kristie Mewis, whose versatility has been integral in making FC Kansas City the best defensive team in the NWSL, stepped up offensively in the 74^th minute.  “We did an awesome switch of the field to catch the other team on their heels.  I hadn’t taken anyone on all game so I just went for it,” the rookie explains, “…I put it on my favorite foot and shot…it was really just a great build up.”  Mewis scored her first professional goal on the biggest stage of the season to date.  It ended up as the game-winner too.  Alex Morgan, one of the finalists for FIFA’s award given to the best female soccer player in the world, was given just a bit too much open space in the 89^th minute and used her left foot to sneak a shot to the far post just outside of the reach of Nicole Barnhart.  The FC Kansas City defense stood tall throughout the remainder of the match, which included five minutes of additional time, to secure the 3-2 victory.

Although Portland scored two goals, goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart was one of the best players on the field all night.  She faced sixteen shots in the game, seven of them on goal, and made five saves.  Her spectacular play frustrated the Portland forwards all night long.  She saved three point-blank shots and directed her defense to the league’s longest undefeated streak (10 games) and the team’s longest winning streak (four games).  By contrast, her counterpart for the Thorns faced four shots on goal, making only one save.

FC Kansas City retains the first spot in the NWSL table with the win.  They also clinched a spot in the playoffs that begin on August 24^th.  They next travel to Boston to face the Breakers on August 10^th at 5:00p.m. CT before returning home for the final regular season game on August 18^th against the Chicago Red Stars at 3:10p.m.