Match Day USOC Round of 16: Route to the Final is at Home, it Starts Here

Sporting KC return to US Open Cup action tomorrow at home against FC Dallas. With the draw a couple weeks ago, the path to the US Open Cup final goes through KC, at least for the Western half of the bracket. So things are in KC's hands at this point, and it's something that they really need to take advantage of. With KC's home form this season at Sporting Park it's gotta be something that KC feel they can take advantage of.

FC Dallas comes into the game after beating the Oklahoma City Energy 4-1 in their last Open Cup match up and beating Houston 2-0 last Friday in league play. Dallas won't be an easy team, while they haven't always taken the Open Cup seriously, call ups for the Gold Cup leave them a little limited in numbers and may require them to play a number of starters during the midweek. They also have a league match this coming weekend at home against New England that they may be looking towards as well to help them move up the league table.

KC on the other hand is off this next weekend from league play and should be able to put out a primarily first team line up with the club having 11 days before their game on the 12th against Vancouver. The team is now without Graham Zusi and Marcel de Jong who have both departed for Gold Cup duty. The rest of the team should be available for tomorrow's game, although with Chance Myers playing close to 90 minutes on the weekend and still recovering from injury may need a break, but KC has Jalil Anibaba who can immediately come in and start. Meanwhile, with Jon Kempin out, I'd expect Tim Melia to get another start in goal ahead of loaned goalkeeper Alex Riggs.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustivar

Feilhaber - Espinoza

Peterson - Dwyer - Nemeth

Key Match Up - Soni Mustivar vs Mauro Diaz - Not sure if Diaz will play tomorrow with Dallas' schedule, but if he's on the field it's going to be a difficult match up. In the last match up between the two teams, Mustivar did a very good job of keeping Diaz under wraps, and KC will have a good chance of winning the game.

Number to Remember - 6 - That's the number of shutouts that KC has at home in their last seven home games. In those seven games, KC has allowed just two goals in their 4-2 win over the New England Revolution.

PREDICTION - This game is set up for KC to win, with Dallas having this game sandwiched between two league games and playing without three players that have been providing minutes for Dallas this year due to the Gold Cup. The way that KC has been playing lately and with their home form this is a game that KC should be able to win and advance in the Open Cup.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
FCD - 0

Kempin Out, Sporting Bring in Riggs on Loan

Sporting KC's issues with goalkeepers over the last two years or so has come up again for KC. Tomorrow, Sporting KC's first home grown signing, Jon Kempin will not be in the 18 man roster for the game. Kempin is being held out of tomorrow's US Open Cup game against FC Dallas as a precautionary measure because of minor arm infection. He could apparently go if need be, but the team wants to keep him on.

In his place, KC has picked up goalkeeper Alex Riggs from St. Louis FC on loan. Riggs, a 27 year old Missouri State graduate is from the St. Louis area, but has yet to play in a game for St. Louis this year as Chicago Fire loanee, Alec Kann and Mark Pais have split time in net this year for the expansion side. He does have some MLS experience, being on the Columbus Crew roster in 2011, but not appearing in any league games. I'd expect he'll just be on the bench and Tim Melia will get another start in the US Open Cup.

Sunday After Stats

In the 82nd minute, Benny Feilhaber hit the 10,000 minute mark for league play in his MLS career.

Feilhaber's assist was his 19th in league play with KC, tying him with Sasha Victorine and Digital Takawira for 11th on that list.

It was his 26th for KC in all competitions, tying him with Mark Chung for 7th on that list.

Chance Myers' recorded his 14th league assist for KC, tying him with Francisco Gomez and Diego Gutierrez for 18th on that list.

It was his 15th in all competitions for KC, tying him with Gutierrez, Chris Henderson, and Michael Harrington for 18th on that list.

Myers' made his 147th appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Gutierrez and Seth Sinovic for 16th on that list.

Myers' made his 124th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Chris Brown for 17th on that list.

In the 8th minute, Graham Zusi moved past Harrington and into 10th place for league minutes played for KC, Zusi finished the game with 11,716 minutes played.

In the 60th minute, Zusi moved past Mo Johnston and into 11th place for minutes played in all competitions. In the 83rd minute, he moved past Tony Meola and into 10th place for minutes played in all competitions, he finished the game with 14,213 minutes played.

Zusi started his 127th league game for KC, breaking his tie with Matt McKeon for 13th place on that list.

Roger Espinoza made his 126th appearance in league play for KC, breaking his tie with Meola for 15th on that list.

Marko Marin a Sporting Target

Last night during the pregame show for the Sporting KC game, Robb Heineman was on the broadcast and gave some insight into the plans for the team during this summer transfer window that is getting ready to open. Beside one target being in town for last night's game and another target in town for Wednesday's US Open Cup game, Heineman also dropped the name of one target, Chelsea midfielder/winger, Marko Marin. The 26 year old German has spent much of the last couple years on loan in Spain, Italy, and Belgium. He's struggled for time since signing with Chelsea in 2012 after having a lot of success in Germany and earning a trip to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He's had no appearance for his country since then. Bringing him in would give KC a very dangerous attacking team on paper with the likes of Dom Dwyer, Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi as well.

We'll see if anything actually comes from that name, or if it turns out like a few other players named by Heineman over the years that actually don't come to play here.

Also during the interview he gave a bunch of other information like contract news, Benny Feilhaber is the club's only key piece close to being out of contract and he has a year left on his deal.
Also the team is below their expected budget at this point. See the whole interview below.

Sporting Take Care of Business

Sporting KC took care of business on Saturday night at Sporting Park against the Colorado Rapids 2-0. The win was an expected result for Kansas City against a Rapids team that currently sits at the bottom of the Western Conference and has won just twice in their last 31 league games.

Early on, KC was able to take the game to the Rapids and could have taken the lead in the fifth minute off a Benny Feilhaber corner, but Chance Myers wasn't able to direct the ball on goal, instead putting it over the net. The Rapids had some dangerous opportunities of their own, in the 14th Tim Melia came well off his line to punch a ball away, the rebound was struck on goal from about 35 yards out, Melia had to race back into his net to keep the ball out and then jump on the rebound before anyone else on Colorado reacted to the loose ball. They had another opportunity in the 21st as Luis Solignac got the ball down the wing before playing it back into the middle for Lucas Pittinari. Pittinari's shot deflected off of Kevin Ellis, but unlike last week, this deflected shot went just around the far post keeping the game scoreless. KC was able to break the deadlock in the 32nd minute thanks to Krisztian Nemeth. Benny Feilhaber got the ball played wide to Chance Myers who had made a good run down the line. Myers continued into the Rapids' defensive third before firing a cross to the top of the box where Nemeth hit it first time sending it into the corner to put KC up 1-0. KC had some more half chances, but couldn't find the net for a second.

In the second half, KC continued to control the game, but still struggled to create chances. In the 53rd they did test Clint Irwin from distance with Dom Dwyer striking a free kick on goal, but the Colorado keeper knocked the ball away. Almost immediately at the other end Solignac had a chance to level things after a nice through ball, but he put his shot just wide of Melia's post. In the 64th minute though KC was able to double their lead. Off a short corner played between Feilhaber, Nemeth, and Graham Zusi, the ball eventually found its way back to Feilhaber who beat his man and fired a cross into the box towards Kevin Ellis. Rapids midfielder, Sam Cronin beat Ellis to the ball, but was unable to control the ball as it deflected off of him and into the net to make it 2-0. With the 2-0 lead, Colorado started putting more numbers into their attack, but while they created some half chances they never overly threatened KC's goal. The numbers forward also left Colorado suseptable to the counter. In the 79th Dwyer almost capitalized as he got played in behind the Colorado defense, but as he dribbled into the box to get a shot the defense recovered and his shot was deflected wide. KC was able to cruise to the win and continue their unbeaten home form.

Wizards Man of the Match - Chance Myers - In his return to MLS play last night, Myers looked like he'd not missed any time at all. Had some good crosses, including the assist on the opener. Also was strong defensively in shutting down the Rapids attack.

Player Ratings - Melia 8, Myers 8, Ellis 7, Besler 7, de Jong 7, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 6, Dwyer 6, Nemeth 8. Subs Peterson 5, Abdul-Salaam 5, Dia NR.

Match Day 16 - Maybe We'll Play Colorado this Time

Sporting KC welcome the Colorado Rapids for the second time this season, and hopefully for the first time this season, the two teams will actually play the game. The last time these two teams were scheduled to meet, the game was canceled and scheduled to be made up at the end of the season. The forecast for this weekend's match up looks better and the two teams should actually take the field this time.

Colorado comes into the game after a midweek game in Orlando on Wednesday that was delayed due to weather. The game is the second of three straight road games for Colorado as they'll travel to Houston for a US Open Cup game on Wednesday of next week as well. While the Rapids haven't been getting a lot of wins this year, they have only two, they also haven't been losing a lot, they're tied for the second fewest losses in the league, with five. They do lead the league in ties though with nine, two more than the LA Galaxy who have played three more games than Colorado has this season. The Rapids are also the lowest scoring team in the league with just 12 goals on the season, and four of those came in one game. They've welcomed new designated player Kevin Doyle into the team but he was subbed out before the hour in Orlando on Wednesday night.

KC is the only team in the league with fewer losses than Colorado, having lost just three times on the year. None of those three losses have come at home, where the club is still undefeated on the season, they'll try to continue that unbeaten run tomorrow night. While the Rapids are the lowest scoring team in the league, KC is the second highest scoring team, behind LA who have scored three more, but have played five more at this time. For probably the last time until after the Gold Cup, KC will have as close to their full first team as they can get. They'll see the departure of Graham Zusi and Marcel de Jong after tomorrow's game. The other worry is that Zusi and Benny Feilhaber are both questionable at this time, although both players participated in practice today, I'd think both will play tomorrow.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustivar

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Zusi - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 2 - Outside Colorado's win 4-0 in Dallas, Colorado has scored just two goals in their seven other road games this year. The Rapids are 0-2-5 in those other seven games and have scored just twice. On the positive side for the Rapids, they've allowed just five goals in their eight road games this year.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Clint Irwin - Dwyer's scored in two straight league games for Kansas City and seems like he may be rounding into some form. Irwin is allowing less than a goal a game for the Rapids, even though they're averaging less than a point a game.

 PREDICTION - The way the two teams are playing right now, this should be a win for KC. But Colorado is stubborn team on the road and will be extremely organized defensively and difficult to break down. It's going to be a tough task for KC to get all three points even with Colorado's busy schedule right now, but with the way that Sporting can knock in goals, they should be able to top the Rapids at Sporting Park, but a draw tomorrow night wouldn't surprise me at all.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Nemeth)
CO - 0

#TBT The Gold Cup

With the Gold Cup rosters being announced this week, I thought it'd be a good Throw Back Thursday to take a look at some past Gold Cup highlights that involve people currently with Sporting Kansas City.

First, we'll go back to the very first Gold Cup, after it had previously been the CONCACAF Championship, in 1991, the federations championship was officially played as the Gold Cup. Sporting KC's head coach, Peter Vermes was on the team that won the competition on penalty kicks over Honduras. The highlights below though are from the semifinals against Mexico, which the US won 2-0 thanks to second half goals by John Doyle and Vermes.



 We're going to now jump ahead 16 years to a point where current players were involved in the tournament. The 2007 tournament saw the US advance to the finals against Mexico in a bit of controversial fashion in the semifinals against Canada. But in the final, with the game tied 1-1, a 22 year old Benny Feilhaber hit one of the sweetest goals you'll ever see. The goal, 8 years ago yesterday stood up as the winner and the US qualified for the 2009 Confederations Cup (which also saw a historic win that occurred this week in history.



The 2011 Gold Cup really became the coming out party for Roger Espinoza at central midfield. Before that in his career with KC and Honduras he had mainly played as an outside midfielder or outside back. But during that Gold Cup, he performed so well, included in the semifinal against Mexico that when he returned, Vermes really had no other choice than to move him to central midfield for KC as well.



The 2013 US Open Cup saw the United States again grab the championship. Sporting KC's Matt Besler had been called in as a knockout stage replacement for the team. Besler started all three of the USA's knock out games, including the final, which the US won 1-0 over Panama to claim the Gold Cup and at least clinch them a playoff against the winner of this year's Gold Cup for a chance to qualify for the 2015 Confederations Cup.

Five Former KC Players on Gold Cup Rosters - Former SKC Wizards Update

Yesterday the Gold Cup rosters were announced, and along with two KC players being named to rosters, five former KC players were named to rosters. Three of the five will be in same group as the United States with Mechack Jerome and James Marcelin are on the 23 man roster for Haiti while Jorge Claros has been called up for Honduras. In Group B, Pablo Punyed, a former Sporting draft pick has been called up for El Salvador while in Group C, Daneil Cyrus has been called up for Trinidad and Tobago.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. Started and played 88 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over New England.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Did not dress in New England's 1-0 loss to Charlotte. Started and played 78 minutes in New England's 2-1 loss to DC.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Did not dress in Orlando's 4-4 (8-7) PK shootout win over Charleston. Started and played 49 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 loss to Montreal.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in RSL's 2-1 win over KC.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Did not dress in Colorado's 1-1 draw with Dallas.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 2-0 win over Houston.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Did not dress in Columbus' 3-1 win over Richmond.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-0 loss to NYC.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-0 win over Orlando.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 5-1 loss to LA.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Dressed but did not play in San Jose's 2-0 win over Seattle.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 3-1 win over Richmond.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 45 minutes in New York's 2-1 loss to Vancouver.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - No game this week.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - No game this week.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - No game this week.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - No game this week.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Started and played 73 minutes in OKC's 2-1 loss to Sacramento.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Did not dress in Austin's 2-0 loss to Houston. Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Tulsa.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Did not play in Sacramento's 2-1 win over OKC.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 2-1 loss to Sacramento.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over New England. Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 2-1 win over Charleston.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 80 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over New England. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Charlote's 2-1 win over Charleston.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Started and played 74 minutes in Arizona's 2-1 win over Seattle.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Started and played 90 minutes in Austin's 2-0 loss to Houston. Started and played 77 minutes in Austin's 1-1 draw with Tulsa.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 loss to Sacramento.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-1 loss to Columbus. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 0-0 draw with Harrisburg.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - No game until 7/12.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 3-1 win over Beijing BIT.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Tied Talleres Remedios 1-1. Lost 2-0 to San Telmo.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - Defeated Quang Ninh 5-2.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game until 7/11.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Started and played 90 minutes in ABC's 2-0 los to Vitoria.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Won 1-0 over Bulat-AMT.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Offsason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - Tied UiTM 2-2. Defeated UITM 3-1.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 90 mintues in Stjarnan's 1-0 loss to KR.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Offseason.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Started and played 90 minutes in Ceres' 6-1 win over Loyola. Started and played 90 minutes in Ceres' 5-0 win over Pachanga.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Offseason.

Zusi and de Jong Called Up, Mustivar Turns Down Call

The 23 man rosters for next month's Gold Cup were released today with two Sporting KC players named to the roster. Marcel de Jong was named to Canada's roster while Graham Zusi was named to the USA's roster. Zusi will join the US team after this weekend's game against Colorado ahead of a friendly against Guatemala next week. De Jong's departure date has not been stated, so he could play in next week's US Open Cup game against Dallas before leaving. Meanwhile a third player has been named to his country's 23, but has apparently turned down the call up. According to the completed rosters, Sporting's Soni Mustivar was named to Haiti's roster but apparently turned down the call up and talks with the Haiti federation are currently on going. Of the three, Mustivar may be the biggest loss with the way that KC has played since he came into the starting lineup if he does in fact get called up for the tournament. Along with the Open Cup game, the players would also miss a trip to Vancouver on July 12th.

For those teams that advance past the group stage, games against Montreal on the 18th, Salt Lake on the 24th, and potentially a US Open Cup quarterfinal on July 21st or 22nd. KC's remaining players not called up, Matt Besler and Roger Espinoza could also be called in for the knock out round as all teams are allowed six replacements. Espinoza, like Mustivar turned down a call up for the Gold Cup, instead wanting to stay with KC and work on his fitness. Besler's absence may be the most surprising of all, and one has to wonder if he asked to not be called in for the group stage as well due to KC's lack of depth right now at the center back position. The KC captain though would be a prime candidate to be one of the six replacement players named after the group stage.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

Jacob Peterson made his 250th appearance in all competitions in his MLS career.

Dom Dwyer's goal was his 29th in league play for KC, breaking his tie with Digital Takawira and Scott Sealy for 7th on that list.

Dwyer's goal was also his 33rd in all competitions, breaking his tie with Mo Johnston for 6th all time on that list.

Dwyer scored his 13th goal away from home in league play, tying him with Takawira for 5th on that list.

His goal was his 15th away from home in all competitions, also tying him with Takawira for 5th on that list.

Dwyer started his 50th league game for KC, he's the 46th player to hit that mark for KC.

In the 49th minute, Graham Zusi moved past Matt McKeon and into 11th place for league minutes played, he finished the game with 11,626 minutes played.

Zusi made his 126th league start for KC, breaking his tie with Tony Meola and moving him into a tie with McKeon for 13th place on that list.

Benny Feilhaber's assist was his 18th in league play for KC, breaking his tie with McKeon and Jose Burciaga for 13th on that list.

It was Feilhaber's 25th in all competitions for KC, tying him with Kerry Zavagnin for 8th on that list.

Roger Espinoza made his 143rd appearance in all competitions, breaking his tie with Jimmy Nielsen and CJ Sapong for 19th on that list.

It was Espinoza's 125th league appearance for KC, tying him with Meola for 15th all time on that list.

It was Espinoza's 105th league start for KC, breaking his tie with Sean Bowers for 20th on that list.

Espinoza, Feilhaber, and Jalil Anibaba, all made their 125th league appearance in their MLS careers.

Sporting Waive Rogers

Sporting KC announced today that they had waived forward James Ansu Rogers. Rogers, KC's third round draft pick in the 2015 draft hadn't made any appearances for the club this year, but had been on the bench four times during KC's injury issues. He's the lone player on the roster not to make an appearance either for KC or out on loan (Jon Kempin and Mikey Lopez). While not mentioned, the move has to be in relation to the semi-guaranteed contract date of July 1. If KC had waived him after July 1, Rogers salary budget (while likely the league minimum) would have continued to count against the team's salary budget. As it is, KC just freed up that salary space.

It does put KC in a bit of a tight situation for the next two weeks until the transfer window opens back up as the team is now down to 25 players on their active roster after this move and the release of Luis Marin. Add in Ike Opara's injury putting him on injured reserve and Lopez in Oklahoma city on loan, and KC only has 23 in KC at the moment, and some of those guys; Seth Sinovic, Paulo Nagamura, and Bernardo Anor are also still struggling with injuries.

Between now and the opening of the transfer window KC has two games, against Colorado this weekend on the 27th and against Dallas a week from Wednesday on July 1st. On top of the injuries and everything else, KC could lose another four players for the Gold Cup in the next few days with Matt Besler, Marcel de Jong, Soni Mustivar, and Graham Zusi all on their countries' preliminary rosters for the Gold Cup. KC could be to the point of dressing less than 18 players and it could have nothing to do with injuries.

Sporting Fall Late in Salt Lake

Sporting KC's seven game unbeaten run in MLS play came to a crushing end last night in Sandy, Utah as Real Salt Lake scored a late winner to take all three points. It's the second straight game in Salt Lake between the two teams that has been decided in stoppage time, the last being Ike Opara's 97th minute header back in 2013.

Similar to KC lately, RSL has been facing some injury and international absence issues and was forced to start 18 year old Justen Glad at center back. Glad's play almost led to the opener in the fifth minute as a poor pass went right to Roger Espinoza in the middle of the field. Espinoza took a touch and fired a shot on goal that Nick Rimando had to tip over the bar. RSL though started to control the play in the first half and Glad had a great chance of his own in the ninth minute. Off a Javier Morales corner, Glad won the header and put it on goal only for Tim Melia to come up with a very good save to knock the ball out for another corner. RSL's early pressure allowed them to get the opener in the 15th minute. After an attempted pass by Melia was played wrong, Matt Besler was forced to commit a foul on Morales setting up a free kick. Morales curled the ball to the back post where Sebastian Jaime had lost his mark and headed it into the net to make it 1-0 RSL. The pressure continued for RSL as they kept winning corners and getting chances. In the 26th they hit the post as Joao Plata got around his defender and chipped a nice cross into the middle for Devon Sandoval who beat Melia with his header but put it right into the post and it bounced back into play. The miss would come back to bite RSL as KC equalized in the 30th minute through Dom Dwyer. After keeping RSL pinned in their own end and winning the ball it was played into the middle for Benny Feilhaber who played a nice through ball for Dwyer to run onto and beat Rimando to tie the game at 1-1. KC should better late in the half but wasn't able to capitalize on the better play as the two teams went into half time tied.

In the second half KC came out as the much more aggressive side and pinned RSL in their own end for a good portion of the first part of the half. Unfortunately it didn't amount to a whole lot in terms of chances on goal as the game remained tied. KC's best chance of the second half came in the 64th minute when Jalil Anibaba played a great deep cross towards the back post for Dwyer. Dwyer made good contact with his head, but couldn't beat Rimando as the RSL goalkeeper made a nice save to keep it at 1-1. Krisztian Nemeth had a good opportunity himself after some good work down the left he was able to get into the box but instead of trying to chip the ball over Rimando as he did against LA, Nemeth tried to slide it across the middle for Dwyer but the pass was cut out. In the 76th Sandoval had another good chance as he had the ball played into him in the box. He held off Anibaba and Kevin Ellis, but Melia got a touch at the very end to tip the ball over the bar. Melia again was called into action late in the game off another RSL corner. Sandoval got his head on the ball and put it toward goal, but Melia made the initial save. While he couldn't hold it, Melia was able to respond quickly and get back up and knock the ball away before an RSL player could reach it. KC's good fortune didn't last forever though, RSL just had too much pressure throughout the game with 16 corners and pinning KC deep and it led to the winner in stoppage time. After keeping KC in their own end, Morales got the ball wide to Olmes Garcia who cut inside Anibaba and fired a low shot on the ground that looked like it'd be an easy save for Melia until it hit Ellis' foot, the deflection caused the ball to loop over Melia's head and into the net giving RSL the 2-1 win.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Kept KC in the game with some very good saves during the game. The saves on Glad and Sandoval were absolute class.

Player Ratings - Melia 7, Dia 4, Besler 5, Ellis 6, Anibaba 6, Mustivar 5, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 5, Zusi 6, Dwyer 6, Nemeth 5. Peterson 4, Abdul-Salaam NR.

National Team Duty Takes Center Stage - Former SKC Wizards Update

The club seasons in Europe have wound down and much of MLS was on an international break this week, so the national teams were in center stage. Three former KC players, Sunil Chhetri, Martin Steuble, and Pablo Punyed all played for their national teams. Chhetri and India struggled, losing both games 2-1 to Oman and Guam while Chhetri scored both of India's goals. Steuble and the Philippines were more successful getting two wins. Punyed and El Salvador got a draw and a win to advance over St. Kitts.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 win over Orlando.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 69 minutes, recording an assist in New England's 2-0 win over Chicago.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 1-0 win over DC.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 2-1 win over Seattle 2.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Did not dress in Colorado's 4-1 win over Colorado Springs.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 120 minutes in Portland's 3-1 win over Seattle.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-1 draw with LA.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - No game this week.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-1 loss to New York.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 120 minutes in Philly's 0-0(3-1) PK shootout win over Rochester.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 120 minutes in San Jose's 2-2(6-5) PK shootout win over Sacramento.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 1-1 draw with LA.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 73 minutes in Tampa's 3-0 win over Atlanta.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 3-2 win over Minnesota.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 3-0 loss to Tampa. Started and played 39 minutes in Atlanta's 3-0 loss to New York.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 3-0 loss to Tampa. Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 3-0 loss to New York.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Tulsa. Did not dress in OKC's 4-1 loss to Dallas.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 3-1 loss to Portland.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Did not play in Sacramento's 2-1 win over Arizona. Came off the bench and played 29 minutes in 2-2(6-5) loss to San Jose.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Tulsa. Dressed but did not play in OKC's 4-1 loss to Dallas.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Did not play in Arizona's 2-1 loss to Sacramento.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 36 minutes, recording an assist in Austin's 3-1 loss to Portland.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes in OK's 4-1 loss to Dallas.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 0-0 draw with Montreal.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 76 minutes in Quilmes' 2-0 win over Argentinos Juniors.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in India's 2-1 loss to Oman. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in India's 2-1 loss to Guam.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 2-1 win over Shenzhen FC.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Canuelas 1-0.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Offseason.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in ABC's 2-0 loss to Paysandu.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - No game this week.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Offsason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Dressed but did not play in El Salvador's 2-2 draw with St. Kitts. Started and played 84 minutes in El Salvador's 4-1 win over St. Kitts.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Offseason.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Started and played 90 minutes in the Philippines 2-1 win over Bahrain. Started and played 90 minutes in Philippines' 2-0 win over Yemen.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Offseason.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

In the 77th minute, Roger Espinoza moved past Jose Burciaga and into 20th place for minutes played in all competitions, he finished the game with 10,637 minutes played.


Espinoza made his 142nd appearance for KC in all competitions, tying him with Sapong and Jimmy Nielsen for 19th place on that list.

Graham Zusi's goal was his 3rd in the US Open Cup proper, tying him with Kei Kamara and Ryan Pore for fourth all time on that list.

Including qualifying it is his 3rd as well tying him with Kamara, Pore, and Teal Bunbury for 5th all time on that list.

Zusi's goal was his 16th at home in all competitions, tying him with Digital Takawira for 10th all time on that list.

The game winner was Zusi's 9th in all competitions, tying him with Miklos Molnar and CJ Sapong for 6th all time.

Espinoza Left Off Honduras' Group Stage Roster

Last week we heard that five Sporting KC players had been named to their club's Gold Cup provisional squad ahead of this summer's competition. Today Honduras cut their 35 man roster to 23 for the start of the tournament on July 7th. One name absent from the roster that will make Sporting KC fans happy is Roger Espinoza, he and many other Honduran internationals were left off Honduras' roster, at least for the group stages. This means he'll be available for the fifth round of the US Open Cup on June 30th or July 1st as well as when Sporting KC travel to Vancouver on July 12th.

Espinoza though could be recalled after the group stage is done as CONCACAF allows teams to make six changes to their rosters after the group stage, before the knock out round. So it's possible that Espinoza could still miss the team's games against Montreal on the 18th and in Salt Lake on the 24th, plus a potential US Open Cup quarterfinal in between.

Sporting Win I-70 Derby, Advance in US Open Cup

In front of a record US Open Cup crowd for the club, Sporting KC won their first match up against a team from across the state of Missouri, defeating St. Louis FC of the USL 1-0 thanks to a 70th minute goal by Graham Zusi. The match up sees KC advance to the fifth round of the Open Cup in late June/early July. They'll find their opponent out tomorrow when US Soccer holds the draw for the fifth round and the quarterfinals.

KC came out with as strong a lineup as the possibly good for the game, putting out the full first team, including the return to the lineup for Chance Myers in his first game back in over a year. KC came out and controlled the game as St. Louis came out in the formation that has been quite successful for lower division teams in KC. St. Louis packed the middle of the field, allowed KC a lot of possession around the box and in St. Louis' half of the field, but as KC would get closer to the box the pressure would pick up and more defenders would converge on the ball. It's a style that the likes of Richmond in 2011, Orlando City in 2013, and Houston a number of times have played to perfection against KC to walk out of Sporting Park with a win. Going the other direction, St. Louis looked to capitalize on a KC mistake or by KC pushing forward and strike on the counter. They almost were successful in that in the first half as poor touch near midfield allowed Jermie Lynch to race down field towards a loose ball. Goalkeeper Tim Melia was quick off his line though and was able to tackle the ball away well outside his box. KC had the better of the chances with all the possession. In the 17th minute, Dom Dwyer was denied by the cross bar as he met a Zusi free kick and beat St. Louis goalkeeper Mark Pais, but his header smacked into the bar and back into play. That ended up being the only shot KC would have for the vast majority of the half as St. Louis' defense shut down KC's attempts as they looked to play through them and didn't take many shots from outside the box. In first half stoppage time KC had another good chance and Roger Espinoza played a nice ball to the back post towards Amadou Dia. As Pais came out, Dia chipped the ball back into the box for Zusi who put his header on net, but it was saved on the line by St. Louis forward Mike Ambersley as the two teams went into the half scoreless.

For the second half KC came out again with possession, but this time seemed more willing to shoot from further outside the box. KC started to test Pais a little more as in the 56th he had to make a good save after a shot from distance was deflected and Pais pushed it away. KC had a penalty shout early in the second half as well, after getting played the ball in the box, Zusi cut around a couple St. Louis defenders towards the middle of the box but was brought down. No foul was given though and play continued. At the other end, St. Louis had an excellent opportunity to take the lead as Lynch found himself unmarked in the box as a cross came in, but he did poor with the header sending it up into the stands from about seven yards out. The miss came back to haunt St. Louis minutes later when Benny Feilhaber played a nice short cross into the box that Zusi ran onto and headed past Pais and into the net to make it 1-0 KC. From there the game opened up a little bit more as St. Louis had to push forward more, but they still kept more of a defensive shell that allowed KC to continue to hold possession, but they were unable to extend the lead. St. Louis had one really good chance late as they countered, but Ambersley fired a shot from a tight angle wide of the near post as KC was able to hold on for the 1-0 win.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soni Mustivar - Was all over the place in the midfield for KC, was breaking up everything that came into his area. Even when he made a mistake late in the game with a poor pass, he was the one that made the recovery himself to atone for the mistake. He continues to be probably the biggest reason for KC's turnaround.

Player Ratings - Melia 6, Myers 6, Ellis 7, Besler 7, Dia 6, Mustivar 8, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 6, Hallisey 5, Dwyer 5, Zusi 7. Subs Abdul-Salaam 6, Peterson 6, de Jong NR.

Match Day USOC: Finally a Meaningful KC vs St. Louis Game

For the first time since the very early 1970s, Kansas City and St. Louis will face off in a competitive outdoor game on Tuesday night at Sporting Park in the fourth round of the US Open Cup. While the two cities have faced off numerous times in baseball, football, and even indoor soccer with the likes of the Comets, Attack, Ambush, and Steamers, outdoor soccer has always lacked in terms of play between the two teams. The last time teams from KC and St. Louis met was in a friendly between the KC Wizards and AC St. Louis in 2010. With KC not qualifying for the Open Cup and St. Louis folding after the one season there's really been no chance for two cities to face off.

St. Louis heads into the game having picked up 14 points in their 11 league games, a 3-3-5 record. They've drawn their last five games in all competitions, four league games and their US Open Cup shootout win over Minnesota United to set up the match up with Kansas City. Their last win came on May 20th against the Des Moines Menace in their second round US Open Cup game. It's a busy stretch for St. Louis as well, as this is their second of three games in six days, with another game for them at home on Friday. Not only will St. Louis potentially need to conserve legs a little bit, they'll also be playing without Bryan Gaul, the former LA Galaxy player who scored their goal in the last round against Minnesota is suspended for this game after being red carded late in the game against Minnesota. STLFC still can cause KC some problems with the pace of Jeremie Lynch up top and Charles Renken, the former US youth international, who has primarily been used as a sub, but has often been a spark for them off the bench.

While St. Louis is busy, KC will come in having not played in 10 days, since their 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders. Sporting will need to keep one eye on the weekend game against Salt Lake on Sunday though. With the time in between though, KC should be able to put out a fairly first team lineup without much worry. Part of that reason also has to do with a simple lack of bodies still with the team recovering from injury, or in the case of Erik Palmer-Brown and Krisztian Nemeth, returning from international duty. This could be a good opportunity for someone like Chance Myers to return from injury and get time. It could also be a chance for James Ansu Rogers, who along with Myers is the only player on the roster currently who has not played a minute this year. I'm sure Peter Vermes will make a few other changes to the lineup, but with the rest, the still lingering injuries, and the priority that KC has put on the Open Cup in the past I'd expect KC to be up for this game.

Kempin

SAS - Ellis - Besler - de Jong

Carrasco

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Zusi - Dwyer - Hallisey

Number to Remember - 2003 - That's the last time that KC qualified for the US Open Cup proper and failed to win a single game in the tournament (This does not count years where KC didn't qualify for the US Open Cup proper, 2007 and 2010).

Key Match Up - Marcel de Jong vs Charles Renken - Renken may not start for St. Louis, but with pace and skill that previously saw him with the US youth teams and signed in Germany, he'll be a handful for KC whenever he enters into the game. Operating a lot on St. Louis' right, it'll be the responsibility of de Jong, Amadou Dia, or whoever Vermes puts out at left back to contain the winger.

PREDICTION - Even with some reserves in the lineup, KC has the talent to take care of business tomorrow against St. Louis. The expansion USL side hasn't looked out of place against USL teams, but they haven't looked above that talent level either. Minnesota took St. Louis lightly in their match up with them, and didn't capitalize on the opportunities they got (plus some good goalkeeping by Mark Pais). As long as KC doesn't come in expecting St. Louis to just "roll over" against an MLS team, this is a game that KC should be able to win going away, especially with the way that the offense has been firing over the last few games. The big thing though will be not having a slow start, allowing St. Louis to have too much of the game, or even steal a goal and sit back similar to Orlando City back in 2013. It has to be about denying them confidence, come out, grab an early goal, get them on their back foot and don't let up.

SKC - 2 (Zusi, Dwyer)
STL - 0

Ledesma Rumors Still Around?

Sporting KC is about three weeks away from the transfer window reopening again for the club to sign players during the summer transfer window. One name that continues to come up is Lazio midfielder, Cristian Ledesma. The 32 year old Argentine-Italian international is out of contract at the Rome club and would be available on a free transfer this summer.

News outlets in Italy continue to report that Ledesma is closing in on a deal with KC and would be a designated player.

Most of the news reports though seem to continue to go back to the same original report about the move though. In fact, the latest report that came out yesterday also links back to an older article.

None of the reports though seem to make any mention of the news that came from The Blue Testament shortly after the stories originally came out. That article quoted sources that said that Ledesma had been a Sporting target at one time, but that there had been nothing going on with that and that there hadn't been for a while.

So at this point, while the Ledesma rumors continue to make the rounds in Europe, their veracity locally seems to be lacking at least in the last report we've heard about.

MLS Fines Heath and Orlando for Comments on Dwyer

When Adrian Heath made comments on his radio show about Dom Dwyer and Orlando's interest in bringing him back to Orlando, the question was always whether the coach would get fined for his comments, which included "there is no secret that Dom wants to be here." The league's tampering rules are fairly vague compared to other American leagues, but most people expected there would be some comment coming form MLS.

Today the league announced that they'd deemed his comments regarding the Sporting KC forward as tampering and fined him and the club itself separately an undisclosed amount for violating the league's tampering policy for "publicly expressing interest in a player on another MLS team."

Sporting's Peter Vermes had called Heath's comments unprofessional, while Heath apologized for his comments being "misconstrued" today before the announcement by the league.

 

#TBT The Renderings on the Way to Sporting Park

On Tuesday of this past week was the anniversary of the first game played at Sporting Park between Sporting KC and the Chicago Fire. In honor of that for this week's Throw Back Thursday I'm going to share some renderings of KC's stadium history that I either have gotten over the years, or that can be found online.

We'll start way back in 2006 and the attempts to get a stadium built down near 69 Highway and 159th Street in Overland Park. The stadium didn't get built because of the failure of Question 1 that November. The sunken stadium bowl had one roof that curved and wrapped around half the stadium.

From there came the Bannister site and the 3 Trails development that went on for a couple years getting as far as tearing down the old Bannister Mall and plenty of renderings of the stadium. The first kept a form of the curved roof, but on both sides of the stadium in this sky view of the stadium.

From there, the Bannister site changed as plans changed, and the new updated look of the stadium got rid of the curved roof and instead went with a more square look with what would best be described as an English stand .

 Along with the square look, we eventually got some more close up views of this design of the stadium, including the walk into the stadium and a much more neighborhood feel to the stadium, where you could walk right up to it. Almost like if the stadium had been built now at one end of the Legends, where you could walk through the Legends shopping area right up to the stadium. In the photos you also see the beginnings of the idea of a "Cauldron bar" for supporters to hang out in before and after the game.

Without the backing of the TIF money, bonds, and recession, the Bannister stadium plan ended up getting shelved as did the entire redevelopment there. Sporting worked out a deal with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County to utilize STAR Bonds that were used to build the Legends in the first place. With that came a permanent move to the Kansas side as the club had been playing at Community America Ballpark after leaving Arrowhead.

One of the first looks fans got of the new stadium designs was at a season ticket holder gathering in September of 2009 ahead of a friendly between Chivas Guadalajara and Club America at Arrowhead. Fans got to ask questions of KC staff at the gathering and a number of questions about the move away from Bannister. We also got some renderings and in them you can see the basic shape of the stadium really starting to come into place, although thankfully we didn't get the wavy roof.

That basic design would continue to evolve as the process continued to move forward. The next rendering really was close to the final result except for a few big things like the roof, and the absence of the Victory Suite in the northwest corner of the stadium.

The final design for the stadium except for minor changes came out in 2010. And it looks like the stadium we've come to love, minus the buildings in the Sprint Plaza.

There it is, one of the "crown jewels of American soccer."

Thankfully, the stadium itself helped us forget a rather forgetful game against the Chicago Fire, and this moment when Michael Kennedy introduced himself to a whole new set of KC fans after the performance in 2004.

Mexican Interest in Gil - Former SKC Wizards Update

Luis Gil was only a KC player for a day or so before being traded to Real Salt Lake in exchange for an international roster spot, a 2011 second round draft pick (used on JT Murray) and 25% of any future sell on by the club. Since then, Gil has gotten plenty of time with Salt Lake over the years and before a leader on the US youth teams that he's represented. Now he's getting interest from teams abroad. Reports today that Mexican clubs are interested in Gil. whose contract apparently expires after this season. Should Gil leave for nothing, KC's part of the Gil trade becomes more lopsided against KC (although they really had little choice).

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

Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in DC's 3-1 win over Chicago. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 loss to Toronto.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 64 minutes in New England's 2-0 loss to Portland.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 3-2 win over Chciago.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Dressed but did not play in RSL's 0-0 draw with Colorado.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 0-0 draw with Salt Lake.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Portland's 2-0 win over New England.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Columbus' 3-0 loss to Philadelphia. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Montreal.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 2-1 win over DC.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in either of Montreal's games.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 53 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 3-0 win over Columbus. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelhia's 2-1 loss to NYCFC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not dress in San Jose's 0-0 draw with Dallas.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus -  Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 3-0 loss to Philadelphia. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Montreal.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Suspended for Tampa's 2-1 win over Edmonton.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to Indy.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-0 loss to San Antonio.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-0 loss to San Antonio.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in OKC's 2-0 win over Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Vancouver.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Austin's 1-0 win over Sacramento.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Did not play in Sacramento's 1-0 loss to Austin.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Did not play in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to Richmond.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to Richmond.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - No game this week.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Austin's 1-0 win over Sacramento.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 32 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Portland. Did not play in OKC's 2-0 win over Vancouver.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 win over Charlotte.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 76 minutes in Quilmes' 2-0 win over Argentinos Juniors.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Offseason.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 5-1 loss to Guizhou Zhicheng.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Tied Lujan 1-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Girona.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in ABC's 1-0 win over CRB.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Akzhayik 2-0.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Offsason.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 64 minutes in El Salvador's 1-0 loss to Chile.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Offseason.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Offseason.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Offseason.

Five KC Players on Gold Cup Preliminary Rosters

Today CONCACAF announced the preliminary squads for this summer's Gold Cup. The 35 man rosters for all 12 teams was announced today. The rosters will be knocked down to 23 for the actual tournament itself, although teams can make changes to their roster after the group stage.

For Sporting KC, they've had five players named to the provisional squads for four different countries in the Gold Cup. All of the five players were expected call ups, for the US national team, captain Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are on the list, neither was called into the national team for the games against the Netherlands and Germany. And while the US won both of the games, some of the defensive struggles could give a chance for Besler to win back the starting left center back post. As for Zusi, he probably has a much tougher task of winning back a spot on the team with the way the national team has played lately. And honestly up until the last couple games Zusi hasn't really looked like he should get a call up the way he's played since the World Cup last summer.

The other call ups involve Roger Espinoza being called back to the Honduran national team after having not been called in the last two times they've gotten together. Also there's Marcel de Jong who is on the Canadian roster after missing their most recent call ups for World Cup qualifiers as he returns from injury. The final call up is defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar for Haiti. Mustivar earns his first call up for Haiti as a member of KC.

If all players get called up to the final 23, four KC players will be playing at Sporting Park on July 13th with Honduras, Haiti, and the USA all in town.

The tournament kicks off on July 7th with the group stage and runs through July 26th. The US for example though has another friendly on July 3rd and would likely want players in camp a few days before that. What that means is that any Sporting KC players that make the final or third place game could miss as many as five games with Sporting. Should KC beat St. Louis in the US Open Cup, their fifth round match up would be on June 30th or July 1st followed by league games on July 12th at Vancouver, July 18th vs Montreal, and July 24th vs Real Salt Lake. The fifth game is dependent on US Open Cup advancement as the quarterfinals are July 21st or 22nd.

Certainly not a great situation, but they're not alone, two of their three opponents, Vancouver and Salt Lake have also had five players named to provisional rosters. The third opponent, Montreal only has one called up.

OCSC Restate Interest in Acquiring Dwyer

What had started by looking like a quiet week for Sporting KC with a bye week from MLS play got a little interesting last night due to Orlando City's coach's show. The show, which features Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath discussing their past week's match up against the Chicago Fire and looking ahead towards their game against DC United and their Open Cup game against Charleston. Also included in the show is a question and answer portion where fans ask questions of the coach. One of the questions that Heath was asked was about a potential move for Dom Dwyer.

The question goes along with rumors that have been around since it was announced that Orlando City would be entering the league. Dwyer enjoyed a very successful loan to Orlando City during the 2013 season when he scored 19 goals and another four in the championship game after returning to Orlando City for that game. He had won over the Orlando fans that were desperate to get him back when they moved to MLS. Unfortunately for them, Dwyer replicated his USL success in MLS play in 2014, setting a team record for goals and really diminishing any hope of him going to Orlando.

Still, that didn't stop Orlando fans from continuing to hope that he'd return, last week there were unsubstantiated rumors that Orlando had offered "the most money ever for an MLS player." There was never anything further on that, no direction on whether that was the most money Orlando had offered, or for all of MLS. Assumption is that would have been within the league money, since the league transfer record is $10 million and I can't see Orlando paying that.

In response to the question that Heath was asked, his initial response confirmed Orlando's continued interest in Dwyer, saying "if we ring Kansas City one more time, we're going to get reported to the league."

Obviously he's making a joke about Orlando's pursuit and how active they have apparently been in trying to get Dwyer. Heath continues "There is no secret that Dom wants to be here. We have tried to bring him here; we have done everything we can. Unfortunately we can't do it yet."

Heath finishes his answer by stating how the club is going to keep trying to get Dwyer back and how Orlando is his "spiritual home" and how Dwyer "wants to come back."

"But we will keep trying. I think this is his spiritual home, he wants to come back; we would love to have him, but we will have to wait and see how long it takes before we can do it."

The conversation as a whole seemed odd, simply because you don't hear MLS coaches talk so forwardly about a player under contract with another MLS club, especially to the extent that Heath did. For many, it brings up questions of tampering on the part of Orlando's coach.

A little over two years ago, MLS made clarifications to their tampering rules after the situation that Robbie Rogers was involved in with Chicago, LA, and Seattle, which lead to the new rules below.

"Any member, officer, shareholder, director, partner, employee, agent, or representative thereof or any person holding an interest in a team cannot tamper, negotiate with, or make an offer, directly or indirectly, to a player or his representative.

"Same parties also may not tamper with: (i) a coach or other employee under contract with another member; or (ii) an employee at a director level or above of another member, in each case, unless written permission is first sought from the general manager or principal of such other member, which permission may not be denied with respect to upwardly mobile positions."

From reading the rules, it doesn't appear that there was any clear form of tampering on the part of Heath in this situation. Although you could ask how Heath knows that he wants to come back, and what conversations he's had that have included learning that information.

Overall, I'm not sure that there is much that Peter Vermes and KC can do with the league regarding this, unless there is other evidence in the background that KC can find. But what it probably means in the short term is that Vermes is probably going to be a little soured on doing business with Heath for a little while.

Sunday After Stats

In the 22nd minute, Graham Zusi moved past Josh Wolff and into 13th place for minutes played in league play. In the 52nd minute, Zusi moved past Jimmy Nielsen and into 12th place on that list, he finished the game with 11,536 minutes played.

Zusi started his 125th league game for KC, tying him with Tony Meola for 14th place on that list.

In the 74th minute, Roger Espinoza moved past Sean Bowers and into 20th place for minutes played in league play for KC, he finished the game with 9,195 minutes played.

Espinoza made his 124th league appearance for KC, breaking his tie with Chance Myers and Chris Brown for 16th on that list.

Espinoza started his 104th league game for KC, tying him with Bowers for 20th place on that list.

Sporting Finally Top Seattle

KC finally ended their jinx at home against the Seattle Sounders, picking up their first win in the club's history against the Sounders. And it wouldn't be a KC vs Seattle game without a late goal, only this time it was Sporting KC that picked up the late winner in a bit of controversial fashion from the penalty spot.

As expected, Dom Dwyer wasn't available for KC and the only true forward on the field at the start of the game for either side was Seattle's Lamar Neagle. While KC had he better of possession in the first half, they struggled to create chances, with a lot of their work coming down the wing and trying to cut inside since there was no bigger body to play the ball into. The chances that the did create came from further out from goal with the likes of Marcel de Jong, Benny Feilhaber, and Graham Zusi all having efforts from distance that they really couldn't keep on goal. Seattle meanwhile was creating fewer chances but they were putting their efforts on net. Neagle stung Tim Melia's hands from distance after being played in by Marco Pappa. Overall Seattle just looked the more dangerous, especially on set pieces, a pair of early corners looked likely to be the opener as Melia saved a header by Neagle and the rebound was cleared while a second corner went back post and was headed across the face of goal but no one got a touch as the ball went all the way through the six yard box. Outside of the dangerous set pieces though Seattle, like KC was limited to a lot of shots from outside the box. Melia did well to save and hold onto a shot by Pappa in the 19th after a poor give away by Amadou Dia. As the half went on KC was able to find some space on the wing and did get some good low crosses into the box, both for rookie Connor Hallisey, but on the first after a cross by de Jong, Hallisey put the effort over and on the second he just couldn't slide out and reach the cross from Dia. In the 36th minute Melia made probably his best save of the game as Neagle broke in on goal he fired a shot towards the corner that Melia got a hand on and knocked back up in the area. Melia immediately got his head up and located the ball, pushing it out for a corner before Neagle could pounce on the rebound. The biggest save that Seattle's Stefan Frei had to make came in the 41st after receiving a pass in the middle of the field Zusi popped the ball up and volleyed it on goal and Frei had to push the ball away for a corner.

The second half saw a lot of the same from both sides, Seattle creating few shots, but getting them on goal, while KC was limited to a lot of long range shots. Before the hour mark, Dom Dwyer made his return to the field for KC coming in for de Jong and pushing Zusi out to a wide position. KC looked a little more organized in attack with Dwyer on and Zusi able to play a more free role on the wing. Zusi almost set up Hallisey for an effort, but the rookie just couldn't catch up with the pass, instead losing the shooting chance and having to back heel it to Roger Espinoza who couldn't get his effort on goal. Seattle came the other way as Pappa danced around a few KC players and fired a shot on goal but Melia was up to the effort. In the 66th minute it looked like Seattle grabbed the lead as Pappa crossed a ball in to Neagle who put the ball into the net, but the offside flag was raised ruling the goal out. The assumption was that Neagle was who the flag was on, but replays seemed to show Neagle was onside and there was no replay to see if Pappa was actually the one off. In the 82nd minute, the big point of contention as Espinoza played a lifted ball into the box for Dwyer. Zach Scott tried to hold Dwyer off the ball as he tried to get to it while Frei came off his line. Frei went through Dwyer to get to the ball, knocking him over and referee Ismail Elfath pointed to the spot. Feilhaber stepped up and sent Frei the wrong way with a stutter step to put KC on top 1-0. KC held off the Seattle attack over the last few minutes and finally got their win over Seattle.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Finished the game with six saves and looked strong and confident in net for Sporting yet again.

Player Ratings - Melia 8, Anibaba 7, Ellis 7, Besler 7, Dia 5, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 6, de Jong 5, Zusi 5, Hallisey 5. Subs Dwyer 5, Abdul-Salaam NR.

Match Day 14: Lacking Options Up Top

Tomorrow at Sporting Park, the two highest scoring teams in the league will face off. Unfortunately those high scoring offenses may not be seen as both teams are faced with injuries and national team call ups that will limit the rosters that both teams will have to choose from tomorrow, especially up top.

Seattle comes into the game second in the Supporters' Shield race, but with two games in hand on first place DC. But they may be playing without their top three forwards tomorrow. Obafemi Martins could miss the game after having surgery on his nose during the week and could miss the game tomorrow, Clint Demspey's wife is on the verge of giving birth to a child, and Chad Barrett apparently picked up an injury in training. Those absences, if they all miss the game, could leave Seattle quite thin up top. The Sounders will also be without two other important players on the team, as club captain Brad Evans is with the US national team, and Osvaldo Alonso is suspended by the MLS disciplinary committee for a challenge in their game on Sunday.

While the Sounders are short, KC isn't much better, especially up top. Krisztian Nemeth is with the Hungarian national team and isn't available tomorrow, while the team's other two forwards, Dom Dwyer and Jacob Peterson are both injured and could miss tomorrow's game as well. Like the Sounders that leaves KC lacking in the forward position for the game tomorrow. Thankfully everywhere else KC is healthy and getting healthier. But tomorrow with Nemeth out and Dwyer and Peterson still question marks, KC could very well run out their traditional 4-3-3, but have it look a lot more like a 4-6-0, with someone like Graham Zusi playing in the "false 9" role that Spain made famous. The problem with that is that it would require more of a change in KC's style of play. Currently KC likes to play a lot of balls into the feet of the striker for them to hold up, or cross from wide positions. Without the likes of Nemeth or Dwyer on the field, KC's opportunities for either of those decreases greatly. Talk from Robb Heineman recently though made it sound like Dwyer would be ready to go for the game tomorrow, which would certainly be welcome for KC, but I'm not sure he'll be set to start.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustiar

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Medranda - Zusi - Hallisey

Number to Remember - 352 - That's the number of minutes that KC has gone scoreless against the Seattle Sounders in league play. KC's last goal against the Sounders came in the 8th minute of KC's 1-1 draw in Seattle back on June 20th of 2012. Since then, KC has lost twice and drew 0-0 two weeks ago in Seattle. In all competitions, that number is a little lower at 307, since Kei Kamara's penalty kick in the 2012 US Open Cup final.

Key Match Up - KC forwards vs Chad Marshall - This could be a very big mis-match depending on who actually plays for KC, and how Sporting chooses to play the game. If Dwyer can not go, KC really needs to focus more on balls on the ground and passing around the Seattle center back, which would suit their style if they can succeed with it. The more KC goes to the air, the more they are going to be playing right into Marshall's and Seattle's hands.

PREDICTION - Considering the potential offensive absences, this has gone from being a potential barn burner to a potential cagey defensive match up. Which means that this game will likely be another match up decided by one goal if there is any difference between the two teams at all. KC is riding their six game unbeaten run, and has yet to lose at home this year. Meanwhile the Sounders have never lost to KC in Kansas City since the Sounders came into MLS. Unfortunately I don't think any of that will change tomorrow. With all the potential absences, I think this game as a draw written all over it.

SKC - 1 (Feilhaber)
SEA - 1 (Pappa)

#TBT KC's Lone Win Vs Seattle

Sporting KC on Saturday will play Seattle for the 11th time in regular season play and 13th time in all competitions. KC though has not won once in the last nine MLS games, and last 11 in all competitions against the Sounders (the US Open Cup in 2012 technically is a draw that was then won on penalty kicks). The only win that KC has all time against the Sounders was in the very first meeting on April 11th, 2009 at Century Link Field.

So this week for Throw Back Thursday, I'm looking back on KC's lone win over the Sounders. Unfortunately I've been searching all over the net the past few days trying to find the full highlights of the game, but have been unable to find full highlights of the game.

While KC had some good early play (according to my write up on the game at the time), they struggled to create opportunities, but the game changed in the 29th minute when Herculez Gomez was played in on goal against Kasey Keller. Keller came out to challenge Gomez and went to ground as Gomez tried to chip it over him. The chip struck Keller's arm as the Sounders' goalkeeper was outside the box. Keller was given his marching orders and KC was up a man for 60 minutes. KC though didn't test Keller's back up, Ben Dragavon in the remaining 15 minutes of the first half.

The second half saw the Sounders control the game for long stretches. KC much of the time looked like the team that was down a man during that time. The Sounders though couldn't break through KC's defense. Then in the 80th minute as KC got forward, the ball came to Davy Arnaud who was about 30 yards from goal, he took a touch and fired a long range shot that Dragavon seemed to get a late jump on as he only got a touch on it as it went into the side netting to give KC the 1-0 lead. KC's defense was able to hold up down the stretch and were the first team to take points off the Sounders in their expansion season.

The lineup for the game features two players that are in the KC team now, Matt Besler, and Roger Espinoza.

Kevin Hartman, Lance Watson, Aaron Hohlbein, Jimmy Conrad, Matt Besler, Herculez Gomez (Michael Harrington  77), Santiago Hirsig (Michael Kraus  64), Jack Jewsbury, Josh Wolff, Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez (Roger Espinoza  82).

Marin Finds a New Club - Former SKC Wizards Update

Club Deportivo Palestino in Chile announced today that they had signed former Sporting KC goalkeeper, Luis Marin to a contract. Marin, who agreed to terminate his contract with KC just a week ago has already found himself a new club. While the official story on his departure was home sickness, his sitting on the bench while Tim Melia starter probably didn't sit well, and Marin seemed to never really adjust to life in KC. Good luck to him with his new club.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Scott Angevine
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Carlos Marinelli
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Did not dress in DC's 1-0 loss to Portland. Started and played 90 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 2-2 draw with LA.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Columbus.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 54 minutes in RSL's 1-0 loss to LA. Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in RSL's 2-1 loss to Vancouver.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 1-0 loss to Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Colorado's 2-1 loss to Portland.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 6 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over DC. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Portland's 2-1 win over Colorado.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Out on leave.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Started and played 90 minutes in Toronto's 3-1 win over San Jose.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-0 loss to Chicago.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-1 loss to DC.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 3-1 loss to Toronto.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus -  Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Out injured.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh. Started and played 89 minutes before being red carded in Tampa's 2-2 draw with Indy.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 3-2 loss to Charleston. Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 draw with San Antonio.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Started and played 120 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Came off the bench and played 50 minutes in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Chattanooga.

USL
Christian Duke - Oklahoma City - Did not play in either of OKC's games.
Brian Fekete - Austin - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio.Came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to OKC.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 3 goals in Sacramento's 7-3 win over Chula Vista. Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Sacramento's 1-1 draw with Real Monarchs.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Came off the bench and played 3 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Started and played 90 minutes in Charlotte's 1-0 win over Carolina.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Came off the bench and played 1 minutes in Arizona's 2-0 loss to Vancouver.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Did not play in Austin's 2-0 win over San Antonio. Came off the bench and played 19 minutes in Austin's 1-0 loss to Austin.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Tulsa. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 1-0 win over Austin.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Jacksonville. Started and played 90 minues in Richmond's 4-2 win over New York.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Offseason.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Offseason.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Tacoma - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - Offseason
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Quilmes' 2-1 loss to San Lorenzo.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Offseason.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Offseason.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - Offseason.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Mohun Bagan.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Started and played 90 minutes in Qingdao's 3-1 loss to Hebei China Fortune.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Defeated Defensores Unidos 2-1.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) - No game until 6/20.
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 70 minutes in Lugo's 1-1 draw with Albacete.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Offseason.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Offseason.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - ABC (Fluminense) - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in either of ABC's ames.
Igor Kostrov - FK Kyzyl-Zhar - Kazakhstan - Defeated Vostok 2-1.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Just signed for the club.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Started and played 90 minutes in Servette's 4-0 loss to Winterthur.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 3-3 draw wtih Amkar Perm.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 6/19.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Started and played 45 minutes in Stjarnan's 3-0 loss to Breidablik.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 2-2 (3-1) Cup win over Sporting Braga.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned from BEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game this week.
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Offseason.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game this week.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - Started and played 90 minutes in Sarajevo's 3-1 win over Sloboda Tuzla.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 loss to Wurzburger Kickers. Came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Wurzburger Kickers, Saarbrucken lost the series 6-5 on PKs.