Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City takes on first place D.C. United at 6 p.m. on Saturday at RFK Stadium in the nation’s capital.
The cross-conference match-up will air on KMCI-TV’s 38 the Spot locally and on SKCTV across the Midwest, with coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans can listen to the match on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
Saturday marks Sporting KC’s return to the nation’s capital for the first and only time during the 2015 MLS regular season. In 2014, the two teams met on three occasions and Sporting Kansas City went winless in the series (0-2-1).

However, the visitors have only one loss in their last five trips to RFK Stadium, including three shutouts and just two goals allowed. Sporting KC is undefeated against Eastern Conference opponents in 2015 (3-0-1) and is one of two MLS teams (Seattle Sounders FC) with a winning road record since the beginning of 2011 (30-28-18).

D.C. United is unbeaten in 16 straight home games across all competitions dating back to July 2014 and is off to the best eight-game start in club history with 17 points.

Most recently, D.C. United defeated Crew SC 2-0 at RFK Stadium courtesy of goals from Fabian Espindola and Sean Franklin. United midfielder Chris Rolfe earned the game-winning assist and Rolfe’s three assists in 2015 rank the ninth-year pro sixth in MLS this season — trailing Sporting KC’s Benny Feilhaber, who leads the league with five assists.

Sporting KC is also fresh off a three-point performance, which they obtained from a 1-0 victory against the Chicago Fire last weekend. Paulo Nagamura tallied the game-winner and goalkeeper Tim Melia garnered the shutout in his Sporting KC debut.

Sporting KC and D.C. United are 20-20-11 in the all-time series and will look to break the stalemate on Saturday. Sporting KC will be without Marcel de Jong as he recovers from a muscle strain in his left hip. Nagamura is also listed as questionable on the team’s injury report with a lower back sprain.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown was selected to the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team roster on Thursday for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be held from May 30 – June 20 in New Zealand.

“I could not be more excited to be named to the roster for the U-20 World Cup,” Palmer- Brown said. “We have an exciting group of players and I cannot wait to get to New Zealand to compete against the best U-20 players in the world.”

“I’m very excited about this particular group,” said U.S. U-20 MNT head coach Tab Ramos. “It was very difficult making the final decision because there were quite a few players who deserved to go to the World Cup. Unfortunately, in the end I can only select a certain number and I’m very happy with the selections that we made.”

Palmer-Brown has appeared in seven matches for Sporting Kansas City across all competition, including the team’s 2015 season opener, since signing as a homegrown player in August 2013. He made his MLS debut in 2014 at age 17 and remains the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer match in club history.

A Lee’s Summit, Mo., native, Palmer-Brown is a product of the Sporting Kansas City Academy and will graduate from Archbishop O’Hara High School this month. He is the third player in Sporting KC’s history to represent the U.S. at a FIFA U-20 World Cup while playing for the club along with Francisco Gomez (1999) and Mikey Lopez (2013).

Palmer-Brown made his debut with the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team as a 16-year-old in January 2014. He participated in the 2014 Dallas Cup with the U-20’s and has since participated in three of the team’s international training camps in Argentina (September 2014), England (March 2015) and Austria (April 2015).

In 2013, Palmer-Brown attended the prestigious U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla., for the spring semester and he was named one of five finalists for U.S. Soccer’s 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year.

The United States is one of 24 countries to qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, a biennial competition that celebrates its 20th edition this summer after first being played in 1977. A total of 52 matches will be played in seven host cities across New Zealand.

The U.S. was drawn into Group A alongside Myanmar, New Zealand and Ukraine. The top two teams in each of the six groups – along with the top four overall third-placed teams – advance to the Round of 16 in the tournament’s Knockout Stage.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber was voted MLS Player of the Month for April.

The veteran midfielder finished the month with two goals and three assists including the first brace of his five-year MLS career.

“It’s an honor to be nominated alongside a great group of MLS players and I’m humbled to have won the award,” Feilhaber said. “It’s great that our team is improving throughout this stage of the season and I’m pleased to have been able to play my part.”

Feilhaber, 30, is tied for first in MLS with five assists in 2015 after logging three in the month of April.

During a month in which Feilhaber played every minute in Sporting Kansas City’s four games, the World Cup veteran started strong by setting up two goals with corner kicks in a 3-2 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Union on April 5.

After Dom Dwyer headed home his service in the 16th minute, Feilhaber delivered the game-winning assist on the club’s 1,000th goal in all competitions when Sporting KC scored their second of two goals in stoppage-time.

Named the Man of the Match in a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake on April 11, Feilhaber then became the second fastest KC player all-time to reach the five-assist mark in a season — doing so in his seventh league appearance — when he provided the final pass for Krisztian Nemeth’s equalizer at the LA Galaxy on April 18. He also entered the club’s record books as only the second player to assist on five of the team’s first seven goals in a season.

Feilhaber capped off April with his first two-goal performance in a wild 4-4 draw against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Down 3-2 in the 80th minute, Feilhaber leveled the match with a well-placed penalty kick past goalkeeper Tyler Deric. After the Dynamo regained the lead minutes later, Feilhaber’s stoppage-time blast, which was voted MLS Goal of the Week, gave Sporting KC its fifth consecutive result in Houston.

This is the second MLS Player of the Month award in Feilhaber’s career after earning his first award in July 2014. Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer and former Sporting KC goalkeeper Eric Kronberg were also voted Player of the Month last year in May and June, respectively. Voting for MLS Player of the Month is open to the public on MLSsoccer.com.

After a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon at Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City will hit the road this weekend to take on D.C. United. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. with coverage available locally on KMCI-TV 38 the Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV.
– Story from Sporting KC