Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City faces the LA Galaxy in Carson, Calif., on Saturday in the first of a two-game road trip.

The reigning MLS Cup champions are in the midst of a 25-game unbeaten streak at StubHub Center including their 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final last December.

Saturday’s match is scheduled to kick off at 9:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on KMCI’s 38 the Spot and SKCTV across the Midwest with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. The match will also be available on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).

Sporting Kansas City leads MLS with 30 road wins since the beginning of 2011 but has lost their previous two road matches against LA, last beating the Galaxy at StubHub Center on Aug. 28, 2010. Sporting KC earned a 2-1 victory against the Galaxy in the lone meeting of 2014 and Peter Vermes maintains a 3-2-2 head-to-head advantage against LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena.

The Galaxy enter Saturday’s contest with some momentum after defeating the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in their last outing courtesy of an Alan Gordon header in the 23rd minute and 10 saves from goalkeeper Jaime Penedo. The performance earned Penedo MLS Player of the Week honors.

The Galaxy also feature Ireland international striker Robbie Keane who has scored 55 regular season goals in 88 games since joining LA after a 15-year career in Europe. Keane is questionable on the club’s injury report after missing last Sunday’s victory with a groin injury.

With the victory, LA moved to 2-2-2 this season and sits just one point behind Sporting KC (9) in the Western Conference standings.

Sporting KC is coming off a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park and are riding a four-game unbeaten streak, the second longest active streak in MLS.

Sporting Kansas City centerback Ike Opara suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the 84th minute of last week’s match against Salt Lake and will be unavailable this weekend.

Seth Sinovic (left groin strain), Chance Myers (left Achilles) and James Ansu Rogers (left knee strain) are also listed as questionable on the injury report for this weekend’s match.

In-game updates will be available at SportingKC.com/GameOn and via Twitter at @SKCGameday (English) and @SoySporting (Spanish).

Sporting Kansas City announced that defender Ike Opara has been diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left ankle.

Opara suffered the injury in the 81st minute of Saturday’s scoreless draw between Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. The 26-year-old centerback had played every minute of the team’s first six games until that point after coming back from a season-ending surgery in his right ankle one year ago.

He leads Sporting KC – and all MLS defenders – with two goals in 2015, while also anchoring a backline that has three shutouts and has conceded the fewest shots per game (9.83) of any team in the league this season.

In addition, Opara leads all MLS players in 2015 with 30 interceptions and 33 aerials won, while ranking second in duels won (55).

Opara was named to MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week in three of the season’s first four weeks and finished third in MLS Player of the Month voting for March.

He has made 66 MLS appearances (including postseason) in six professional seasons since being selected No. 3 overall by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.

Sporting KC acquired Opara prior to the 2013 season, in which he made a career-high 21 MLS appearances en route to the club’s MLS Cup championship.

Opara has been a key contributor for teams that have won the NCAA National Championship (Wake Forest, 2007), Supporters’ Shield (San Jose, 2012) and MLS Cup (Sporting KC, 2013).

At the international level, Opara represented the United States at the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt and was also a member of the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team during Olympic qualifying in 2012.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler is a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team roster for this week’s international friendly against Mexico, U.S. Soccer announced.

The CONCACAF rivals will play at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday live on FOX Sports 1, UniMas and UDN from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

“I’m excited to join the national team,” Besler said. “It’s always an honor to represent my country and games against Mexico definitely carry extra meaning for our team. This will be a good test for us as we continue to prepare to defend our Gold Cup title.”

Besler has made 25 career international appearances for the United States since his debut in 2013, including starts in all four U.S. MNT matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 28-year-old made his 150th MLS regular season start for Sporting KC last night and recorded game-winning assists in the team’s previous two matches.

An Overland Park, Kan., native, Besler is in his seventh professional season since being selected in the first round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft out of Notre Dame. He is a three-time MLS All-Star (2011, 2013, 2014) and has twice been named to the MLS Best XI (2012, 2013) to go along with an MLS Defender of the Year honor in 2012.

Besler is one of eight defenders on Jurgen Klinsmann’s 22-player roster. He will re-join Sporting Kansas City on Thursday in Los Angeles in preparation for the team’s Week 7 road match against reigning MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy on Saturday.

The United States — currently ranked No. 27 by FIFA — is unbeaten (2-0-3) in their past five matches against Mexico since falling to El Tri in the 2011 Gold Cup final. Mexico, No. 18 in the world rankings, is coming off a 1-0 win over Paraguay at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City last month.
– Story from Sporting KC