Trialist X

This past Saturday in the Wizards preseason opener, the Wizards midfield for the first team out was Roger Espinoza, Davy Arnaud, Mauro Fuzetti, and Trialist X. Trialist X did not turn out to be the brother of Speed Trialist. Trialist X was named today by the team as Birahim Diop, formerly of the Metrostars. Diop played for the Metros in the 2001 and 2002 season. In two seasons, Diop played in 6 games, starting 3. Most of his minutes came in the 2002 season for the Metros. After leaving the Metrostars, Diop apparently followed former coach, Octavio Zambrano to Moldova. Diop just turned 31 this past Sunday. We'll see if Diop does enough to impress the Wizards.

Four Players Gone From Camp

The Wizards thinned out the number of players in camp today, as four players from the camp roster were let go. Rauwshan McKenzie, Ofori Sarkodie, Eric Gehrig, and Kyle Brown were all let go. McKenzie was the only player that was under contract for the Wizards, Sarkodie, Gehrig, and Brown were trying to earn a contract.

McKenzie started 5 league games in his 2 years in KC, all this past season for a total of 437 minutes. In all competitions McKenzie started 9 games, and appeared in 10. He scored one goal for the Wizards, a header in the team's US Open Cup game against Minnesota last year. In all competitions, McKenzie played 827 minutes for the Wizards. He was also named the Down the Byline Player of the month in July this past season.

Sarkodie was the Wizards 4th round draft pick in this past year's MLS draft. Sarkodie had captained the US U-17 national team and played at the U-20 World Cup for the US as well. Unfortunately it appears that Sarkodie's career may have peaked when he was with the US youth teams.

Gehrig was an undrafted college senior out of Loyola Chicago. He had 2 goals 3 assists in his senior campaign for the Ramblers. He also participated in the Wizards invitee tryout before preseason started.

Brown was the most experienced professional player of the 4 players let go. In 3 seasons in MLS playing with New England, Real Salt Lake, and Houston Brown had 24 appearances scoring 2 goals. Last season he appeared 25 times scoring one goal for the Austin Aztex.

Also, the Wizards did have some differentiating information about Saturday's game saying that it was actually trialist Alexei Casian, not Nelson Pizarro that got the Wizards 5th and final goal in the win over the Arizona Sahuaros.

Wizards Win Preseason Opener

Last night in Arizona, the Wizards played their first preseason game against the Arizona Sahuaros at Grand Canyon University. No official report on the game has come out yet, the only thing I've found so far with the result is tweets by Wizards forward, Kei Kamara, who apparently did not have a good game in his 30 minute shift. According to Kamara, the Wizards won the game 5-0. Once more details on the game come out, I'll update this post.


UPDATE: Thad has the information on who played and who scored last night for the Wizards. The first team was the same as the "Blue" team that won the scrimmages on Friday in practice. Josh Wolff scored the first two, the first off a short corner from Roger Espinoza, the second coming from Zoltan Hercegfalvi. Hercegfalvi got the third goal off an assist from Mauro Fuzetti. Fuzetti got the 4th goal finishing a chance on the back side. All these goals came within the first 16 minutes of the game.

The second group appeared to struggle, which goes along with what Kamara said in his twitter post last night. The fourth goal came from the third group, as Nelson Pizarro scored with a diving header. New signing, Pablo Escobar was red carded late on for a rough tackle.

Podcast 3

Thad and I recorded podcast number 3 this past Sunday night, and here's a link to the 3 part podcast. We're still in the process of finalizing a name and once we get a name we'll start working on getting it up onto I-tunes for all you guys.

This episode we discussed the stadium construction starting, the US-Honduras game, Roger Espinoza's potential loan move, the trialists in camp, and the rest of the roster. Enjoy everyone and if you have any ideas for names, leave them in the comments section.

Random Wizards News

Not a lot of big news today, but some different random bits of news about the Wizards.

First, Wizards President, Robb Heineman has an update on what's going on out at the Wizards stadium site out at the Legends. No big news on that front, other than they continue to move dirt around and are getting ready to start moving dirt away from the site. Below is the video from Hillcrest Road.



Also from Hillcrest Road the past two days, Kerry Zavagnin has been providing practice updates over at the Wizards blog. Yesterday was the first day of those updates and today he added even more to the report on practice. Today's report provides a lot more information on what the team is doing in practice, but yesterday gave more thought to the belief that goalkeeper Kevin Hartman will not be back in KC. Yesterday Zavagnin said that the #1 shirt is wide open that there's not really a #1 at the moment. You could say people are reading to much into it, but some people, including myself see this as a sign that Hartman likely isn't going to be in KC next season.

On the US national team front, no Wizards were named to the US roster for the upcoming friendly against El Salvador in Tampa in late February. This move doesn't bother me at all, I'd rather Wizards players be in camp right now preparing for the 2010 MLS season.

Finally, a little delayed news from before the signing of Kei Kamara was completed. According to Soccer America before the signing was completed the Wizards were apparently contacted about former MLSer, Stern John, who has been playing in England since leaving MLS after the 1999 season. There isn't word on whether the Wizards were actually really interested in signing John, only that they'd been contacted about him. The signing of Kamara, as the SA article says, likely took KC out of the running to get John, as the Adam Cristman trade showed the Wizards already had too many forwards on the roster.

Former Wizards Update

Here's another week of weekly Wizards updates. As mentioned earlier today, there's a new former Wizard, as Adam Cristman has been traded to DC. I also believe another former Wizard may be on the look out for another team, as Scott Sealy no longer appears on the roster for Bnei Sakhnin on the Israeli FA website.

MLS
Shavar Thomas - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes in Jamaica's 1-0 win over Canada in an international friendly.

Indoor
Sean Bowers - San Diego - Beat California 11-10 last Thursday.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 10-6 loss to Milwaukee.
Vicente Figueroa - California - Lost to San Diego 11-10 last Thursday.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Beat California 11-10 last Thursday.

International
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Drew 1-1 with Bella Vista on the 1st.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Puebla's 2-1 loss to Querétaro.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Played Boys Town today.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Are on winter break until the end of February.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Came off the bench, scoring a goal in Aris' 2-1 loss to Xanthi.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Did not play in Aldosivi's 2-0 loss to Deportivo Merlo.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Mughan's 1-0 loss to Inter Baku.
Scott Sealy - Bnei Sakhnin FC - Israel - Did not dress in Bnei Sakhnin's 1-0 win over Hapoel Haifa. I have thoughts he may not be with the team any more.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 2-0 win over SC Paderborn 07.
Diego Walsh - Wellington Phoenix - Australia - Did not dress in Wellington's 1-0 win over Adelaide United.

Get Your Planners Out

Today the MLS schedule was released for the 2010 season and it's time for everyone to get their planners out and start figuring out their vacations and road trip plans to see the Wizards this season. Kansas City 13 Saturday night games, 1 Thursday night game, and 1 Sunday afternoon game. Most of the Saturday games are at 7:30 except for the game against FC Dallas in September which is at 7. For those fans outside KC, it's going to be a lot harder to see the team unless you get the Direct Kick package as the Wizards only have 3 games on national broadcasts this year. And those are KC's first three games in May. Saturday May 1st in Houston is on FSC, Wednesday May 5th on ESPN2 in DC, and Saturday May 15th against Chicago, again on FSC.

The close road trips for Wizards fans all come in July, as the Wizards play in Dallas July 3rd, Columbus July 14th, Colorado July 17th, and July 24th in Chicago. Longer trips to either Houston or Salt Lake are both in May.

Here is the Wizards schedule.
March
03/27 - Saturday D.C. United 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
April
04/10 - Saturday Colorado 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
04/17 - Saturday at Seattle 2:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
04/24 - Saturday LA Galaxy 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
May
05/01 - Saturday at Houston 7:30 p.m. FSC, FSE
05/05 - Wednesday at D.C. United 6:00 p.m. ESPN2, Deportes
05/15 - Saturday Chicago 7:30 p.m. FSC, FSE
05/23 - Sunday Columbus 3:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
05/29 - Saturday at Real Salt Lake 8:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
June
06/05 - Saturday at Toronto FC 3:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
06/10 - Thursday Philadelphia 7:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
06/26 - Saturday New York 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
July
07/03 - Saturday at FC Dallas 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
07/10 - Saturday Chivas USA 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
07/14 - Wednesday at Columbus 6:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
07/17 - Saturday at Colorado TBD DK, MLSnet.com
07/24 - Saturday at Chicago 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
07/31 - Saturday Toronto FC 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
August
08/07 - Saturday Real Salt Lake 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
08/14 - Saturday at San Jose 9:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
08/21 - Saturday New England 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
08/28 - Saturday at LA Galaxy 9:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
September
09/04 - Saturday at Philadelphia 2:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/11 - Saturday Houston 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/19 - Sunday at Chivas USA 7:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/25 - Saturday FC Dallas 7:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
October
10/02 - Saturday at New York 6:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
10/09 - Saturday Seattle 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
10/16 - Saturday at New England 7:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
10/23 - Saturday San Jose 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com

Cristman Traded

Last year I spoke with some excitement when the Wizards traded for forward Adam Cristman. I thought given the chance he could be a big time goal scorer for the Wizards. Unfortunately a foot fracture and a hamstring injury limited Cristman to only 5 appearances for the Wizards, 3 starts, and only 213 minutes played. For those that missed it on Twitter today (still the best way to keep in touch with this blog during the day), Cristman's time in KC came to an end. Cristman was traded to DC United today for an international slot for two years.

Overall I like this trade and it makes a lot of sense. The Wizards are currently stacked at forward, with Teal Bunbury, Zoltan Hercegfalvi, Kei Kamara, and Josh Wolff already with the team, it was going to be hard to justify having a 5th forward on the roster, and Cristman appeared to be the odd man out. I thought the Wizards would have trouble trading Cristman due to his lack of playing time and his injuries the past two seasons. But former Wizards coach Curt Onalfo brings in a player he helped originally bring to KC. And to get an international slot for him is a good move, especially with the number of foreign players currently in camp for KC. A smart move in my opinion by the Wizards team.

Preseason Camp Roster

Thad at The Back Post and myself have posted on this, but today the team has posted an official preseason camp roster. Missing from the list are the Wizards 3 remaining out of contract players, Kevin Hartman, Eric Kronberg, and Claudio Lopez. And the further along we get the less likely I feel that any of these 3 players will be back with the Wizards for the 2010 season. Here is the Wizards official preseason camp roster, broke down by position.

Goalkeeper: Louis Crayton, Alex Horwath, Boris Pardo, Ian Walker
Defender: Korede Aiyegbusi, Matt Besler, Nick Cardenas, Jimmy Conrad, Michael Harrington, Aaron Hohlbein, Jonathan Leathers, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chance Myers, Ofori Sarkodie (Pablo Escobar is not listed yet)
Midfielder: Davy Arnaud, Stephane Auvray, Alexei Casian, Roger Espinoza, Mauro Fuzetti, Eric Gehrig, Santiago Hirsig, Jack Jewsbury, Igor Kostrov, Michael Kraus, Kurt Morsink, Nelson Pizarro, Ryan Smith, Kevin Souter, Lance Watson, Graham Zusi
Forward: Kyle Brown, Teal Bunbury, Adam Cristman, Zoltan Hercegfalvi, Kei Kamara, Josh Wolff

And there's always the chance of more trialists joining the team in Arizona, including the "left sided attacking player" that Robb Heineman has mentioned in the past. There's a total of 38 players in camp counting the new player and Escobar, so it'll be interesting to see who makes the final roster.

Preseason Schedule Out, League Schedule Tomorrow

The Wizards are currently down in Arizona for the second leg of the 2010 preseason, with plenty of players competing for spots. Today the team released their schedule for the games the team will be playing down there. The Wizards will be playing 4 MLS teams while they are down there along with playing Grand Canyon University in their 7 games down in Arizona. The schedule kicks off this Saturday at noon when the Wizards take on the Antelope. KC then plays San Jose twice on the 10th and the 13th before returning to KC for a week. They then play Chivas USA, LA, and Columbus before closing preseason in Arizona against the Antelope again. Below is the team's full preseason schedule.


Date/Time (All Times Central) Opponent Location
Saturday, Feb. 6, 12 p.m. Arizona Sahuaros Grand Canyon University
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 12 p.m. San Jose Earthquakes Reach 11
Saturday, Feb. 13, 12 p.m. San Jose Earthquakes Arizona State University
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 12 p.m. Chivas USA Reach 11
Friday, Feb. 26, Time TBA Los Angeles Galaxy Reach 11
Thursday, March 4, 12 p.m. Columbus Crew Reach 11
Sunday, March 7, 12 p.m. Grand Canyon University Reach 11

As for the league schedule, that will be coming out tomorrow at 1pm central time. Meaning it'll be time to start planning the rest of my year and figure out where I'll be road tripping to this season to see the Wizards play. I'd love to make it to either Salt Lake or Toronto this year for a game, and I'll likely make it to one of the "close" road trips (Colorado, Dallas, Chicago).

Moldovans in Camp

Along with his mention of the Ryan Smith tonight, Robb Heineman also gave us the names of the two Moldovans that are training with the Wizards right now. While he only gives us last names, with some searching, it appears the players are Alexei Casian and Igor Kostrov. Casian appears to have last played for Dinamo Bender in Moldova. Casian also has a video out on Youtube of some of his play as well (seen below). Kostrov also appears to have played with Bender, but has also spent time in Israel. From what I saw out at practice on Saturday of these two, they're both decent players, we'll see if either or both of them make the team.

Left Sided Attacking Player in Camp

The Wizards have another new player in camp. Robb Heineman posted tonight on Twitter that the player has joined the Wizards for training down in Arizona. The player, former Arsenal youth player, Ryan Smith just recently left financially struggling Crystal Palace. He's jumped around different teams in league 1 and the Championship in England since leaving Arsenal. Smith has also not gotten a ton of playing time in his travels, playing 56 league games since leaving Arsenal after the 05-06 season. Most recently, Smith had a short trial at Grimsby Town before coming to Kansas City.

Kamara Re-signed

For those that missed the tweets earlier today, the Wizards have re-signed forward, Kei Kamara. Of the four players that were still out of contract when preseason had started, Kamara was the guy that I thought the least likely to re-sign as he seemed set on going abroad. As preseason started, though, I changed my mind, not because of Kamara specifically, but because of things involving the Wizards other 3 unsigned players (Kevin Hartman, Eric Kronberg, and Claudio Lopez). Kamara's re-signing is big news for the Wizards, it gives them another striker option and one that brings something to the table that none of the rest of the current strike force with the Wizards have.

Kamara's re-signing means that the Wizards have now have Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Adam Cristman, Zoltan Hercegfalvi, Michael Kraus, Josh Wolff, and even Davy Arnaud as strikers in camp. You have to think that at least 1, possibly 2 of these guys won't make the roster once the season starts. It certainly adds to the competition for these spots and will make preseason extremely interesting.