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Salloi named finalist for MLS Most Valuable Player and Comeback Player of year

Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi is a finalist for the 2021 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player award and the MLS Comeback Player of the Year, Major League Soccer announced.

Salloi was named a finalist for both accolades after earning votes among three groups: current MLS players, MLS club technical staffs and select media members. End-of-year MLS award winners will be announced over the next three weeks.

A product of the Sporting Kansas City Academy, Salloi is in contention to become just the third player in club history to receive Landon Donovan MLS MVP honors after Preki won the award twice (1997, 2003) and Tony Meola took the award in 2000.

Salloi is one of five Sporting players to be tabbed an MLS MVP finalist alongside Preki (1996, 1997, 2003), Meola (2000), Graham Zusi (2012) and Benny Feilhaber (2015).

2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Finalists
• Daniel Salloi (Sporting Kansas City)
• Valentin Castellanos (New York City FC)
• Carles Gil (New England Revolution)
• Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC)
• Joao Paulo (Seattle Sounders FC)
•
2021 MLS Comeback Player of the Year Finalists
• Daniel Salloi (Sporting Kansas City)
• Carles Gil (New England Revolution)
• Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (LA Galaxy)
•
Salloi, who on Saturday was named the 2021 Sporting KC Most Valuable Player, tallied MLS career-highs with 16 goals and eight assists.

His 24 combined goals and assists were tied for fourth in MLS and the fifth-most in a single regular season in club history. His 16 non-penalty goals were tied for the league lead, the most all-time by a Sporting player and equaled the MLS record for a homegrown player.

An eight-time MLS Team of the Week selection this season, Salloi took home MLS Player of the Week honors on Sept. 30, a day after scoring twice to spark a 3-1 road victory over FC Dallas. With starts in 26 of 30 appearances over the course of 2021, he scored or assisted in 15 of 22 matches during a torrid spell from May 16 to Oct. 17.

Salloi delivered in clutch moments throughout the year, ranking fifth in MLS with five game-winning goals and scoring late equalizers against Austin FC on June 12, the San Jose Earthquakes on July 21 and the Portland Timbers on Aug. 18. His five match-winners were one shy of equaling the club record.

Sporting went 11-0-3 in the 14 matches that Salloi scored this season, with the 25-year-old helping lead the club within three points of first place in the Western Conference. Manager Peter Vermes’ side ranked second in MLS with 58 goals and posted 17 wins, one shy of tying the club record for a 34-game regular season.

Salloi is also one of three finalists for MLS Comeback Player of the Year, awarded to a player who has overcome injuries or adversity in order to achieve success during the 2021 regular season.

After logging just 165 minutes in 2020 and scoring once across the previous two seasons, Salloi erupted for the sixth-largest year-over-year goal increase in MLS history.

The following players have won MLS Comeback Player of the Year as members of Sporting: Meola (2000), Chris Klein (2002, 2005), Eddie Johnson (2007) and Tim Melia (2015).

Salloi and Sporting will begin their journey in the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday, as hosts to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Round One at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets are available at SeatGeek.com and kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. with live coverage on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, the Bally Sports app, UniMas, TUDN and MLSsoccer.com.

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Vancouver Whitecaps to visit Sporting KC Nov. 20 in Round 1 of MLS Cup Playoffs

Sporting Kansas City will play host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday, Nov. 20, in Round One of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.

The conference quarterfinal clash is scheduled for 4 p.m. with tickets available at SeatGeek.com. Match broadcasts will air regionally on Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Midwest as well as nationally in Spanish on Univision and TUDN, with an additional English-language live stream on MLSsoccer.com.

As the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, Sporting will play host to the sixth-seeded Whitecaps after splitting two regular season meetings with Vancouver earlier this year. Sporting posted a 3-0 home win on May 16, riding an Alan Pulido brace and a strike from Daniel Salloi, before falling 2-1 at Vancouver on Oct. 17.

Sporting owns an 11-4-4 regular season record against the Whitecaps and notably defeated Vancouver on penalty kicks in the MLS is Back Tournament Round of 16 on July 26, 2020. This will mark the first time the clubs have met in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Major League Soccer announced the schedule for the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, which will unfold in a single-elimination format with the higher-seeded team as host for each match.

The winner between Sporting and Vancouver will advance to the Western Conference Semifinals on Nov. 28, facing either No. 2 seed Seattle Sounders FC or No. 7 seed Real Salt Lake at 2 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. The conference championships are slated for Dec. 4-5 and the 2021 MLS Cup will take place at 2 p.m. on Dec. 11.

Sporting has reached the MLS Cup Playoffs in 10 of the last 11 seasons and will be playing for its third league championship this fall, having hoisted the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013.

Sporting manager Peter Vermes — who won the 2000 title as a player and the 2013 title as a coach — has set an MLS record with his 17th combined playoff appearance as either a player (seven) or a head coach (10).

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Controversial loss drops Sporting to third place heading to MLS playoffs

Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva got the better of forward Khiry Shelton in a scrap for the ball near the Salt Lake penalty area. Salt Lake won the match 1-0 on a goal in second half stoppage time. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

Sporting Kansas City enters the MLS playoffs on a sour note, giving up a goal late in second half stoppage time to Real Salt Lake and dropping to third in the Western Conference standings.

The loss came with controversy. A penalty area hand ball by Salt Lake defender Justen Glad went unmarked by referee Ted Unkle in the final minute of regulation. Unkle also declined a video review of the incident, to great displeasure from the crowd and the team.

A call would have given Kansas City a penalty kick and the likely chance of closing out the match ahead 1-0.

In his post-game press conference, manager Peter Vermes ripped into the officials and the league. He called the officials’ failure a “travesty,” noting that it affected not just the teams in the match but also knocked the Los Angeles Galaxy out of the playoffs due to Salt Lake’s win.

Vermes, who earlier in the season pledged to refrain from commenting on officials, didn’t hold back in his post-game press conference. He called the decision a “black mark on this league,” and “unprofessional.”

“The fact that we missed that out there, in any game,” said the coach, “let alone the magnitude of this game, is incredibly disappointing to someone who has been in the league since 1996. We have come so far, but we haven’t come far enough. I’m embarrassed to be part of the league when you can’t do that.”

The 1-0 loss is the third consecutive for the team, which will open the playoffs at home against the sixth place Vancouver Whitecaps.

Following the match, goalkeeper Tim Melia hit a positive note, saying that at the start of the season the team would have gladly accepted the chance to open the playoffs at home.

Kansas City controlled most of the possession and had multiple scoring opportunities, especially in the second half. Daniel Salloi found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper David Ochoa in the 49th minute and again in the 62nd, but was denied by the keeper both times.

The Sporting lineup had multiple changes from the squad that played at Austin on Wednesday, due to a lengthy injury list. Frequent scorers Johnny Russell and Gadi Kinda both stayed on the sidelines, and Grayson Barber and Khiry Shelton started the match in their stead. Center back fixture Ilie Sanchez also started the game on the bench.

The date and time for Kansas City’s first-round playoff match against Vancouver at Children’s Mercy Park will be announced later by the league.