Sporting Kansas City closes out the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League group stage on Wednesday, as host of Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Tickets for the match are available at Ticketmaster.com, while CONCACAF’s official Facebook page will provide an English-language live stream.
Wednesday’s game serves as a battle for second place in Group C of North America’s premier club competition. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-0-0, 12 points) have already punched their ticket to next year’s knockout rounds, eliminating Sporting Kansas City (0-2-1, 1 point) and Central FC (0-2-1) in the process.
With a pivotal decision day showdown against the San Jose Earthquakes beckoning this weekend, Sporting Kansas City’s manager has ushered in squad reinforcements for the midweek clash.
Defender Ever Alvarado and midfielder Emmanuel Appiah have been recalled from their loans to the Swope Park Rangers, while Tyler Pasher, Tomas Granitto, Alex Molano and Nansel Selbol join Sporting KC from SPR on short-term agreements. Granitto, Molano and Selbol earn their first call-ups to Sporting Kansas City.
The CCL fixture comes four days before Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers play their biggest games of the year on Sunday. Sporting KC will play host to San Jose at 3 p.m. Sunday, knowing a decision day victory would clinch a club-record sixth straight playoff berth. The Rangers then look to bring a league championship back to Kansas City when they visit New York Red Bulls II in the 2016 USL Cup final at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Central FC has the same record in Group C as Sporting Kansas City, taking a draw and two losses from their first three games. The Sharks suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Vancouver on Aug. 2 before holding Sporting Kansas City to a 2-2 draw a fortnight later. Vancouver completed its sweep of Central FC with a 4-1 victory on Sept. 28, officially bouncing Central FC from the tournament.
Wednesday’s contestants first met on Aug. 16 in Sporting Kansas City’s group stage opener at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. Sporting KC came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw in an entertaining affair that produced four second-half goals. Defenders Seth Sinovic and Kevin Ellis bookended the scoring with their first goals of the year, while Marcus Joseph and Kenwyne Jones struck for the Sharks.
Led by head coach Dale Saunders, Central FC has enjoyed tremendous success since its founding in 2012. The Sharks have claimed two straight TT Pro League titles and are two-time defending champions of the CFU Club Championship, a tournament contested by the best clubs from the Caribbean Football Union. Central FC is making its second appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League, having crashed from the 2015-2016 group stage last fall after finishing second behind LA Galaxy.
The Sharks are off to a 3-0-0 start in the TT Pro League and sit atop the standings as they seek a third consecutive domestic title. Midfielder Darren Mitchell leads the league with four goals scored, while Trinidad and Tobago captain striker Kenwyne Jones – currently on loan from MLS expansion side Atlanta United FC – boasts almost a decade of experience in the English Premier League.
The CONCACAF Champions League is an international tournament made up of the best teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The 2016-2017 group stage divides the 24 teams into eight groups of three and is contested in a round-robin, home-and-away, four-game format that runs from August through October. Sporting Kansas City punched their ticket via the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship, ousting the Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw last September.
Additional in-game updates will be available on the SportingKC.com Match Tracker and through the club’s official mobile app Sporting KC Uphoria.