Category: Sporting KC

Dwyer chosen for MLS All-Star game

Dom Dwyer

Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer was named an MLS All-Star on Sunday, replacing injured Toronto FC forward Jermain Defoe on the game day roster.

MLS All-Star Head Coach Caleb Porter selected Dwyer to join teammates Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin and Graham Zusi for the league’s showcase against FC Bayern Munich at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

With Dwyer’s addition, Sporting Kansas City’s four players on the MLS All-Star game day roster are tied with the Seattle Sounders FC for most among any team. The two sides lead their conferences and are separated by one point in the Supporters’ Shield standings.

“I am excited to play with some of the best players in Major League Soccer and in the world,” Dwyer said. “It should be a memorable week and I look forward to the events, the game and representing MLS.”

Dwyer ranks second among MLS players with 14 goals this season, third most on the team’s all-time single-season goal scoring chart. His nine left-footed goals and three headed goals lead the League, as do his four multi-goal games.

The 24-year-old is the only player to appear in all 26 competitive matches for Sporting KC this season. He was named MLS Player of the Month in May with goals in four consecutive games.

Selected in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Dwyer scored 26 goals across six competitions in 2013 while splitting time with Sporting Kansas City and the team’s USL PRO affiliate Orlando City SC. The Englishman was the USL PRO’s top scorer and Championship MVP with four goals in the final before propelling Sporting KC to MLS Cup by scoring the game-winning goal in the Eastern Conference Championship.

The 2014 MLS All-Star Game will be nationally televised live on ESPN2 and UniMas in the United States as the MLS All-Stars take on 23-time German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich.

As part of the 2014 MLS All-Star festivities, the MLS Homegrown Game will make its debut on Monday. Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Erik Palmer-Brown were chosen to the 20-player roster to join the League’s top Homegrown players in a showcase against the Portland Timbers U-23s (9 p.m., WatchESPN, MLSsoccer.com).

2014 MLS All-Star Roster
Goalkeepers: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders : Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Sean Franklin (D.C. United), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards : Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC), Erick Torres (Chivas USA), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)
– Story from Sporting KC

Three inducted into Sporting Legends during last night’s Sporting KC match

Sporting KC and the Philadelphia Union played to a 1-1 draw at Sporting Park Friday night in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo by William Crum)

by William Crum

At last night’s game between Sporting Kansas City and Philadelphia Union, three were inducted into the Sporting Legends.

Club founder Lamar Hunt, manager Peter Vermes and six-time All-Star Jimmy Conrad received the honor.

Clark Hunt Jr., son of the late Lamar Hunt, said, “My father was a true visionary, he believed in soccer and how it is beneficial to the local community. We need to encourage soccer in our community. I feel we need to move forward.”

“We need to move forward, soccer was started here on the shoulders of Lamar Hunt who visualized what soccer and do for the local community. I’m really excited about what is going on with soccer in the Kansas City area. I’m only 37 years of age; I feel I need to be an ambassador regarding soccer. Who would ever imagine soccer popular in Kansas City in the old days. Now look at it. It is really exciting,” said Jimmy Conrad, former Kansas City Wizards team captain.

In the game against Philadelphia, the first half was scoreless. It wasn’t until the second half that things started to happen. Graham Zusi scored the first goal. It wasn’t until a little bit later that Brian Brown scored a goal for Philadelphia, tying the game.

After the game, the manager for Sporting Kansas City, Peter Vermes, said, “I feel we could have done better; however, Philadelphia Union is a real good team. They’re really disciplined.”

Graham Zusi said after the game, “I was really disappointed; I feel we could have won the game.”

Sporting Kansas City’s next game is in Vancouver, British Columbia, at BC Place on Sunday, Aug. 10.

Fans cheered during Friday night’s Sporting Kansas City match with the Philadelphia Union. Sporting The teams played to a 1-1 draw in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo by William Crum)

Clark Hunt Jr. accepted an honor for his late father, Lamar Hunt, founder of the soccer club, on Friday night at the Sporting Kansas City match. Lamar Hunt was inducted into the Sporting Legends. (Photo by William Crum)

Jimmy Conrad, former team captain for the Kansas City Wizards, was inducted into the Sporting Legends on Friday night. (Photo by William Crum)

Peter Vermes, manager of Sporting Kansas City, was inducted into the Sporting Legends on Friday night. (Photo by William Crum)

Sporting Kansas City’s Graham Zusi scored his team’s only goal in the 1-1 draw Friday night at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. It was Zusi’s 20th career goal for Sporting KC. (Photo by William Crum)

Sporting KC and the Philadelphia Union played to a 1-1 draw at Sporting Park Friday night in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo by William Crum)

Sporting KC and the Philadelphia Union played to a 1-1 draw at Sporting Park Friday night in Kansas City, Kan. (Photo by William Crum)

Sporting KC to face Philadelphia Union Friday in KCK

Sporting Kansas City puts its four-game winning streak on the line Friday when the Philadelphia Union visits Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The 7 p.m. match will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network, with additional radio coverage on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Gran D 1340 AM (Spanish).

A limited number of tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.com. The first 10,000 fans to Sporting Park will receive a pair of Sporting KC spirit sleeves.

Atop the Eastern Conference standings, Sporting KC (11-5-5, 38 points) will look to avenge its 2-1 home defeat to the Union (5-8-8, 23 points) on May 14. Peter Vermes’ men are undefeated in seven MLS matches and have surged into a first place tie in the Supporters’ Shield race with Seattle Sounders FC.

During this unbeaten stretch, the MLS champions have secured five consecutive road wins, tied for the second longest MLS road-winning streak during the non-shootout era (2000-present).

The Philadelphia Union have just one loss in 10 games across all competition and rank first in the Eastern Conference with 33 MLS goals.

Since taking over as interim manager on June 10, Jim Curtin is 2-1-2 in the League and has led Philadelphia to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals with three wins in the tournament.
– Story from Sporting KC