Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City heads east to face D.C. United on Saturday at RFK Stadium.

The match, set to kick off at 6 p.m., will feature the defending MLS Cup champion Sporting KC and the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open winner D.C. United.

Fans can view the match locally on KMCI’s 38 The Spot and on SKCTV across the Midwest.

Saturday marks the seventh game in a span of 28 days for Sporting Kansas City, who is looking to snap a four-game winless streak and secure the club’s first victory since May 10 against the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo. Sporting KC recorded back-to-back draws in its last two outings, including a 1-1 result against 2013 Supporters’ Shield winners New York Red Bulls on Tuesday.

D.C. United finished at the bottom of the MLS standings in 2013 with just three wins through 34 regular season matches. However, the club secured a draw and four victories on the road to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title, including a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in the final.

Sporting KC hoisted the U.S. Open Cup trophy in 2012 and also played Real Salt Lake in a championship match in 2013, defeating the Western Conference opponents in the MLS Cup final.

With their titles, Sporting Kansas City (Group 2) and D.C. United (Group 4) will each represent Major League Soccer in the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League later this year.

In 2014, D.C. United sits in third place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Sporting Kansas City, and maintains a 5-4-3 record. D.C. United has scored 12 goals at home this season, second best in the East behind only the New York Red Bulls who have tallied 13. D.C. United forward Fabian Espindola has contributed four of his team-leading six goals this season and all five of his assists at home.

Espindola, who ranks sixth in Major League soccer for goals scored (6) in 2014 and second for assists (5), was acquired by D.C. United in the offseason along with two former KC teammates. Midfielder Davy Arnaud, once a captain in KC and the team’s all-time leader in regular season games played, and Designated Player Eddie Johnson were part of a roster overhaul by head coach Ben Olsen that also included four new contributors on the backline in Cristian Fernandez, Jeff Parke, Bobby Boswell and Sean Franklin.

Sporting KC is 5-4-4 in 2014 and holds a slight advantage (20-18-10) over D.C. United all-time. Sporting KC is 6-12-5 on the road against D.C. United, but is undefeated in the last seven matches between the two clubs with six victories. Sporting KC’s last loss to D.C. United came at RFK Stadium on May 5, 2010.

Sporting KC’s Dom Dwyer has scored 10 goals this season and sits in second place for goals scored behind New York’s Bradley Wright-Phillips (11), who notched the game-tying goal in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Sporting Park. Manager Peter Vermes will again be without Matt Besler (USMNT), Graham Zusi (USMNT) and Lawrence Olum (Kenya) due to international duty, however he has two-time MLS All-Star Aurelien Collin back in central defense after recovering from a hamstring strain.

– Story from Sporting KC

Major League Soccer unveiled the fan ballot this week for the 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game featuring eight representatives from each of the 19 clubs as voted on by media.

Sporting Kansas City’s nominees eligible for selection:

GK Eric Kronberg – Best goals against average (1.00) among goalkeepers with a minimum of five games played and leads all MLS goalkeepers with five shutouts
DEF Matt Besler – Two-time All-Star (2011, 2013) became team captain and earned a spot on the U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the 2014 World Cup
DEF Aurelien Collin – Two-time MLS All-Star (2012, 2013) leads MLS defenders with two goals and anchors the second best defensive team in MLS
DEF Seth Sinovic – Leawood, Kansas native has contributed to five shutouts, most of any player this season, and leads all Sporting KC defenders in minutes played
MF Benny Feilhaber – In MLS, Feilhaber is 2nd in fouls suffered (37), 3rd in duels won (95) and 6th in successful passes (647); 2nd on team in assists (3)
MF Oriol Rosell – Broke MLS records, kept by Opta since 2011, for successful passes (160) and touches (174) in a match in 3-0 win at Montreal
MF Graham Zusi – Two-time MLS All-Star (2012, 2013) leads team with four assists and has recorded the second most successful crosses/corners in MLS (30)
FWD Dom Dwyer – Second in MLS with 10 goals and 46 shots while ranking first among all players in game-winning goals (3) and multi-goal games (3)

Fan voting is available online at MLSsoccer.com now through July 11. Additionally, votes will be tallied via Twitter from July 2-6. Eleven players – one goalkeeper, three defenders, four midfielders and three forwards – with the highest combined votes will be named to the All-Star Fan XI.

The 11th player – a forward – will be determined by the AT&T/EA SPORTS “More than a Vote” Challenge. Fans have the opportunity to vote one forward into the 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game by scoring goals in EA SPORTS FIFA 14 on the Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. The forward with the most votes – one goal equals one vote – on July 11 will occupy the final forward spot on the All-Star Fan XI.

The 2014 MLS All-Star Game will be held Aug. 6 in Portland, Ore., featuring the MLS All-Stars against Germany’s Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The marquee match will air live on ESPN2 and UniMas from Providence Park.

A total of 32 All-Stars are named each year, per the collective bargaining agreement. Media, fans, players, the All-Star coach and MLS Commissioner Don Garber all contribute in the All-Star selection process.

MLS All-Star Game Voting Timeline:
May 28: Fan voting begins
July 2-6: Fan voting – Twitter Window
July 11: Fan voting closes
July 16: Fan XI unveiled
July 19 or 21: Game day roster and commissioner’s picks announced
Aug. 6: Final list of 32 All-Stars (4 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 13 midfielders and 7 forwards) announced

– Story from Sporting KC

by William Crum

Last night Sporting Kansas City went up against the New York Red Bulls in one of the most challenging matches ever.

Sporting Kansas City is plagued with a lot of injuries, making it very hard for Sporting Kansas City to win. However, the team did tie, 1-1. A lot of the fans had hoped that Sporting KC would win, however, due to the injuries that the team is facing, this did not happen.
According to coach Peter Vermes, the injuries are the reason the team did not do as well as expected.
“The game was really grueling, making it really hard for Sporting or either team to win. It was one of the most challenging games ever,” he said.
The first goal was scored by Sporting Kansas City, Antonio Dovale No. 9. The second goal was scored by New York Red Bulls, No. 99 Bradley Phillips.
According to Mike Petke, head coach for the New York Red Bulls, “Sporting Kansas City is a real tough team, they are real hard to beat. I’m glad we did as well as we did.”
Soon Sporting Kansas City will have a break. This will give the team a chance to rebuild, and to bring back those players who were on the injured list.