Sporting Draw Desert Diamond Cup Opener

Sporting KC kicked off the Desert Diamond Cup today in Tucson, Arizona with a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids. Sporting came out in their tradition 4-3-3 with a lineup that very likely could be the one that starts in DC in less than a month, with Tim Melia in goal, Seth Sinovic, Matt Besler, Ike Opara, and Graham Zusi along the back line, a midfield of Ilie Sanchez, Roger Espinoza, and Benny Feilhaber, and a forward line of Gerso Fernandes, Dom Dwyer, and Latif Blessing. Dwyer, Feilhaber, and Zusi all made their preseason debuts for Sporting KC, Dwyer going the least amount of time, just 30 minutes as he's still recovering from offseason ankle surgery.

KC's best chance of the first half actually came from DWyer's replacement, Soony Saad near the end of the first half. Colorado's two center backs had gotten pulled apart and Feilhaber slid a ball to Saad at the top of the box, but Saad's effort was touched wide by Zac MacMath in the Colorado goal.

Full scale changes were made for both sides at half time and it was KC that continued to control play and were finally rewarded for it in the 51st when Tyler Pasher beat his man into the box and crossed the ball from the end line to the back post where Swope Park Rangers' defender, Amer Didic looped a head into the net to put Sporting on top 1-0. Kansas City continued to control the play but couldn't find a second goal. That inability ended up costing them in the 87th minute when a ball into the box appeared to be handled by Cameron Porter before Sporting eventually got it clear. Upon the next stoppage of play, about a minute later, referee Alan Chapman halted play to review the incident in the box with Pasher. After reviewing the play for about a minute Chapman emerged from the tent and called a penalty kick for the Rapids and yellow carded Porter. Dillon Power stepped up and buried the penalty kick just after stoppage time started to tie the game at 1-1.

Overall the process from incident to conclusion took about three and a half minutes, the hand ball by Porter occurred at 86:40 of the second half and the ball went out of play at 87:40. Chapman reviewed the play for about a minute and emerged from the tent at 88:40 pointing to the penalty spot seconds later. After finding Porter, carding him, getting goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas on his goal line and yellow carding him, Powers put the penalty away at 90:08. If Chapman had originally called the penalty, Sporting likely would have argued to the point where the same amount of time would have been wasted before Powers stepped up to take the penalty. If Chapman ended up not calling the penalty still, the Rapids would have still had a deep throw in and lost just one minute of play.

I don't think it's a bad thing for one of its first uses, but I'm still not sure on the timing of the situation, I mean I'd never want to be the referee in a situation where I miss a call at Children's Mercy Park (or any other MLS stadium) where Sporting end up going down the other way without a stoppage of play and score only to have that goal taken off the board because the referee reviews the decision at the other end that occurred first. It will be interesting to follow the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) to see how it is tweaked before MLS starts using it in real games after the All Star break this season.

Sporting Fall to Colorado

A week that looked like it was starting out with such promise for Sporting Kansas City with a 3-1 win over New York City FC has come crashing down with a pair of 1-0 losses on the road after Sporting feel to the Colorado Rapids in Denver tonight.

The first half wasn't a great advertisement for the beautiful game as neither side really created much and the game really got bogged down in the midfield for both teams. Each side had good periods of possession but neither side was really able to do much with it as the two teams combined for just a single shot on goal in the first half, an easy save by Tim Howard on a shot from outside the box by Dom Dwyer.

The second half didn't improve things a whole lot for either side. KC got another injury blow as early in the half Brad Davis left with a calf injury, adding him to the injury list that includes a pair of probably starters for KC in Nuno Coelho and Graham Zusi. The game continued to drag out for both sides with Kansas City seemingly content to see the game go 0-0 and Colorado struggling to create going forward. In the 78th minute though things changed on a poor give away by Ike Opara on a pass. Dillon Powers collected the ball and fed it to Marlon Hairston (who'd made the initial interception) who dribbled at Opara and got him to bite on a touch to the outside. Hairston cut back inside and curled a ball into the far post to put the Rapids on top 1-0. Kansas City threw numbers forward again trying to find an equalizer but could only create a single shot on goal after going down a goal. Into stoppage time KC had a penalty shout that referee Drew Fischer decided not to call as Diego Rubio's leg got kicked out from under him by Jared Watts. The final whistle blew and while the missed call is certainly a big talking point, Sporting Kansas City's ineptitude on offense seems to have returned as has their penchant for shooting themselves in the foot defensively. After scoring six goals in two games, Kansas City seems to be back to the goal scoring form that saw them win just once in nine games before they went on a short unbeaten run.

Wizards Man of the Match - Roger Espinoza - Colorado really didn't get much going at all offensive tonight outside of a single giveaway by Ike Opara. A big part of that was due to Espinoza in the midfield. Colorado ended up playing a lot of balls over the top to bypass Kansas City's midfield and Espinoza.

Player Ratings: Melia 5, Abdul-Salaam 6, Opara 5, Olum 6, Medranda 6, Mustivar 6, Espinoza 7, Feilhaber 5, Davis 4, Dwyer 4, Peterson 3. Subs: Hallisey 4, Rubio NR, Mapp NR.

Match Day 22: From the Worst to the Best

On Wednesday night Kansas City had played the worst team in MLS in the Chicago Fire and fell 1-0, now tomorrow night in Colorado Sporting Kansas City will take on the best team in MLS in terms of points per game, the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids sit in second place currently in the Western Conference on 34 points, but have only played 18 games, compared to first place FC Dallas who has 37 points in 21 games. The Rapids currently sit with 1.89 points per game so far this season.

Colorado has been so successful this season on the back of its defense. The club has allowed just 13 goals through the first 18 games this season. And to make themselves better the club signed US men's national team goalkeeper, Tim Howard this past spring. With the transfer window open and his contract with Everton expired, Howard has stepped into the net for the Rapids giving them a veteran presence in goal. It's a bit disappointing for their former starter, Zac MacMath, who had been playing well in goal before being replace. The defense in front of the goalkeeper though has done very well for the Rapids, with Axel Sjoberg having himself a very solid season for the Rapids in defense. Offensively, the Rapids aren't a juggernaut, having scored just 21 goals in their 18 games with forward Kevin Doyle leading the way.

Sporting Kansas City got more bad news this week after the Chicago game with the news that Nuno Coelho re-aggravated the same hamstring injury that kept him out for a month against the Chicago Fire. It's especially concerning with the fact that Coelho felt that he was at 100% when he started Wednesday against the Fire. His injury forced Kansas City to recall Kevin Ellis from his loan to Swope Park Rangers and could make for an interesting center back pairing with Ike Opara maybe needing to be rested for his game and Matt Besler not seeming to be in form for the club. Kansas City also could be without Graham Zusi again as he's still questionable, a big blow after his big performance against the Columbus Crew in his last game. His absence could be felt more if KC goes with what's been an ineffective wing lineup with Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson, but with both starting on the wing Wednesday, expecting both again is probably unlikely. One is likely to start though with Zusi questionable and Justin Mapp apparently still not able to start a game.

Davis - Dwyer - Hallisey

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Olum

Medranda - Besler - Ellis - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of consecutive losses that Sporting KC has against the Colorado Rapids, two losses so far this year and two last year. KC lost five straight against the Rapids back in 1998 and 1999. The Rapids for the most part have been one of the teams that KC really dominates in league play, but that's mainly been at home. Still KC will be hoping the losing streak doesn't extend to five.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Axel Sjoberg - Dwyer has been able to get himself space against bigger bodies, but Sjoberg is having himself a very good season for the Rapids. He's also a head and a half taller than Dwyer. Sporting's tendency to try to whip balls into the box against the Rapids this year has been far from successful with Dwyer going up against Sjoberg.

PREDICTION - On paper this game looks like it will be far from an offensive break out for either team. Kansas City on short rest isn't a high scoring team to begin with, and neither are the Rapids. With Kansas City on short rest that likely points to a bit more laid back approach from Kansas City, especially on the road at altitude. This game likely won't be the picture of pretty soccer, and unfortunately it's not one that I'm sure KC is able to walk out of with three points.

SKC - 0

COL - 1 (Doyle)

Better Than Saturday, But Far From Good

Sporting KC were unable to stop their current skid and extended their winless streak to seven games with a 1-0 loss against the Colorado Rapids. Making four changes to the lineup that lost 2-0 on the weekend, including club captain and vice captain Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, along with the team's reigning MVP Benny Feilhaber, as Peter Vermes hoped to find a way to end the club's run without a win. Unfortunately the changes Vermes made did little to improve the team's attacking ability, and while the overall performance was better, the toothless offense is a big worry.

One thing that has plagued Kansas City during this current run has been mistakes at the back leading to goals for opponents. In the 20th minute a KC giveaway almost saw it happen again as a poor pass by Ike Opara ended up going right to Sam Cronin who fired a one time shot towards goal with Tim Melia out of position, but the shot went wide of the post. Another giveaway by Roger Espinoza after he tried to clear a ball instead of shielding it out of bounds went to Luis Solignac who cut inside and fired a shot that deflected wide of goal. The defensive mistakes still didn't seem to be cleared up. KC's best chance of the first half ended up being a fairly tame shot by Espinoza that was easily collected by Zac MacMath in the 42nd minute.

The Rapids have scored quite a few goals early in the second half and almost did again tonight off an early free kick as Jermaine Jones had a chance on a shot that Melia spilled, but eventually KC cleared it away. Minutes later, Colorado and Jones had another chance, this time Jones beat Melia, but Dom Dwyer was behind the KC goalkeeper, backing him up to clear the ball off the line to keep the game scoreless. KC again had plenty of the ball but really could do nothing with it going forward, with three defensive midfielders, KC really struggled to link their defenders with the forwards and mainly resorted to long balls over the top to Dwyer who was going against the the 6'5" Bobby Burling and 6'7" Axel Sjoberg. Those aren't match ups that the 5'9" Dwyer is going to win a lot of. Meanwhile the Rapids continued to push forward and in the 76th minute found themselves up a man on an interesting call by referee Jose Carlos Rivero. Jermaine Jones raced towards the corner flag with Opara marking him, Jones cut the ball between Opara's legs towards goal and then tried to race onto the ball but instead ran into Opara. Both players went to ground and an obstruction foul appeared to be called on Opara, a fine call even if there wasn't much Opara could have done to avoid it, but then Rivero produced the yellow card, Opara's second of the game and KC was down to 10 men for the final 15 minutes. The Rapids immediately made Kansas City pay off the free kick. The initial cross was cleared, but the ball fell to Dillon Serna who dribbled across the top of the box before getting a yard of space on Jacob Peterson and firing a shot through traffic that Melia didn't appear to see until it was too late and the ball made it into the corner to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead. Down a goal now KC tried to push forward but again struggled to create much at all going forward. KC's best chance to find an equalizer didn't come until stoppage time when Nuno Coelho ran over a free kick and touched it to Dwyer who fired a shot on goal but it was blocked away. Minutes later the final whistle blew and KC will now head home having gone winless in seven and just one win in their last nine.

Wizards Man of the Match - Nuno Coelho - With Matt Besler not playing, Coelho became the organizer of the back line and did a good job of keeping Colorado from getting many looks on goal at home. He continues to be the best defender for Kansas City this season (discounting his performance against Houston).

Player Ratings - Melia 5, Sinovic 5, Coelho 6, Opara 5, Abdul-Salaam 5, Olum 4, Mustivar 5, Espinoza 5, Davis 2, Dwyer 2, Medranda 3. Subs, Dia 5, Hallisey 2, Peterson 2.

Match Day 12: How Many Changes Does Vermes Make?

Sporting Kansas City head coach, Peter Vermes did not mince words after Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo. Vermes laid into his team in a post game interview about their lack of effort of certain players and their intensity of the field. He hinted at changes coming for the next game, changes he couldn't necessarily make against Houston because of players getting tired. His first chance to show those changes is tomorrow night in Colorado against the MLS leading Rapids.

The Rapids have gone from a team that was a laughing stock in preseason for barely having enough players to dress a full game day 18 to sitting on top of the Supporters' Shield standings with 20 points in the early going. The Rapids are also unbeaten in their last five matches, four wins and a draw, the latest result being a 1-0 win at home vs Real Salt Lake. The goal coming thanks to midfielder Jermaine Jones who has become a major goal scoring threat for the Rapids since joining the club after serving his six game suspension to start the season. Like Kansas City, Colorado has another game coming up this weekend, which could lead to some rotation of the lineup, but with their weekend trip being to Columbus, and tomorrow being a conference game, putting their best lineup out tomorrow should be a given for KC.

Vermes' quotes from the weekend loom large over tomorrow's game. The big question is who sits? Plenty of fan speculation has centered around the likes of Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi as both players have struggled at times during this winless run. The question though, if you see one or both of those players is where does the offense come from? Not that Kansas City's offense has been lighting the world on fire, but if you remove two of the top 10 goal providers in team history, where does your chance creation come from? Jimmy Medranda has played well this year and easy arguments can be made for him to start the game tomorrow, but he's not exactly been providing a ton to the offense when he's in. He's providing a spark and energy, but even that hasn't really helped to contribute to goals. In the end it'll be interesting tomorrow to see just how many changes Vermes makes to his team.

Davis - Rubio - Medranda

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Olum

Dia - Besler - Coelho - SAS

Melia

Number to Remember - 7 - Sporting Kansas City have not gone seven games without a win since their 10 game winless run in 2011. Nine of those 10 games were on the road in that stretch before then Livestrong Sporting Park opened.

Key Match Up - Roger Espinoza vs Jermaine Jones - The American international has made himself a big goal scoring threat for the Rapids since his suspension ended earlier this year. In the four games that he's played, he's scored three goals and had two assists with the Rapids have gone 3-0-1 in that stretch. He'll still play his defensive role, but when the Rapids get the ball he's going to go forward, and Espinoza is likely the one that will need to do the tracking.

PREDICTION - There could really not be two teams further apart in terms of form at this early point of the season, the Rapids have 13 points in the last five games, while Kansas City has two in the last six games. Both streaks started when the two teams last met in Kansas City back in April. In MLS terms, this is the classic trap game for Colorado, a team on a nice winning streak, at home against an opponent who just played very poor on the road, and on short rest. In those terms you'd put your money on Kansas City, especially since you can't expect a Peter Vermes coached team to play as badly as SKC did against Houston again. But I just don't have enough faith in the Kansas City offense right now to find the goal for shots, let alone goals, I think KC's winless streak will be extending to seven.

SKC - 0
COL - 1 (Jones)

Match Day 6: A Day 20 Years in the Making

Tomorrow Sporting Kansas City will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first game on the exact date the game took place. In fact they'll take on the same opponent, the Colorado Rapids at Children's Mercy Park tomorrow. The two teams are current separated by five points in the standings at this early stage with Kansas City on 12 points and Colorado on seven through five games.

The Rapids come into the game having lost their last match up 1-0 against Real Salt Lake on the road after a major miscommunication between their back line and goalkeeper Zac MacMath. The confusion ended with Joao Plata having an easy finish for the game's lone goal as Salt Lake won 1-0. The Rapids are 2-2-1 on the season at this point, and have scored just three goals in those five games. Of course they have only conceded three goals as well as their defensive showing last year has continued to the 2016 season. Their defense has once again been their strong point, and as the season goes on they will add more as the season progresses. New midfielder, Jermaine Jones will serve the last of his six game suspension from last season tomorrow night and will return. Then this summer, Tim Howard will come to join the Rapids and take over in goal for them. Tomorrow though the Rapids will have neither and will hope that designated player, Shkelzen Gashi can finally get going.

Kansas City is welcoming back a couple players that have returned to practice from concussion with Matt Besler and Brad Davis both being involved in practice this week. That'll be a boost for the team, although I'm not sure that either starts tomorrow. KC has other injury issues though as Chance Myers and Kevin Ellis both look set to miss tomorrow's game due to injuries they picked up against New York. Soni Mustivar also looks set to miss another game as well meaning Lawrence Olum would likely fill in again. I wouldn't expect much in the way of changes from last week's game in New York, other than the injuries suffered.

Zusi - Dwyer - Hallisey

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Olum

Dia - Opara - Coelho - SAS

Melia

Number to Remember - 4 - Through 20 years of games between the two teams, Kansas City has lost just four times against the Rapids. Last year's 2-0 loss in a make up game from earlier in the season was the first loss in KC to the Rapids in league play since 2002.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Axel Sjoberg - Sjoberg at 6'7" makes tall forwards look small, he's going to match up very strongly against Dwyer. KC can't rely on the long ball to Dwyer, at least long ones over the top. In their last home game against Salt Lake, Dwyer Island was in full effect because KC couldn't get him the ball. If they plan on a lot of route one balls tomorrow Dwyer Island will return.

PREDICTION - KC is the better of the two teams based on what I've seen of Colorado this year. Their offense struggles to put away the chances that they create, and is really carried by their defense. Kansas City has shown an ability to play a much more balanced style, although their defense is probably still the stronger of the two. Twenty years ago KC won this game by a scoreline of 3-0. Honestly I don't expect that score tomorrow night, I expect a 1-0 win for KC, but it's the anniversary of the first game and there's only one way this game should end.

SKC - 3 (Dwyer, Feilhaber, Dwyer)
COL - 0

Sporting Full Backs Beat Colorado, Rangers Get Late Draw

Both Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers have continued their undefeated run in the Desert Diamond Cup as Sporting defeated the Colorado Rapids 4-1 while the Rangers got a goal in the 90th minute to get a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew.

The Rangers were the first of the field on the night, taking on the MLS Cup finalists, the Crew. The Rangers though held their own in the early going creating some chances of their own, but the Crew took the lead in the 35th minute when Federico Higuain put away a rebound after a save by Jon Kempin. The Rangers though quickly responded with Tomas Granitto finding the back of the net. The Rangers were able to keep the Crew's starting lineup at bay. 

In the second half the Crew retook the lead on a goal by Ethan Finlay. The Rangers had their chances to tie again, but it wasn't until second half stoppage time. Off a corner by Alex Molano, the ball ended up in the net. Original reports gave the goal to Oumar Ballo, but later was given to Mark Anthony Gonzalez. The Rangers will close out play at the Desert Diamond Cup against FC Tucson on Saturday.

After the Rangers were done, Sporting took the field against the Rapids, a team the Rangers had defeated 3-1 last week in the competition. The Rapids came out and were the stronger side to start the game, putting pressure one what would be considered Sporting's second team for the most part. On KC's first real push forward into the Rapids' end though Sporting won a penalty kick as Saad Abdul-Salaam was knocked over in the box by Dominique Badji. Paulo Nagamura stepped up and sent Zac MacMath the wrong way to put Sporting up 1-0 in the 16th minute. Only three minutes later, KC had won themselves a second penalty. This time it was on the opposite side of the box and KC's left back, Amadou Dia that was brought down, leading to another penalty. This time MacMath guessed right, but like Nagamura has regularly done in shootouts, he put the ball into the side netting putting KC up 2-0. Shortly after that the Rapids started to gain control back and pressure Alec Kann in the KC net. Kann though was up to the task making some fine saves. The first half wasn't all good news for KC though as defender Ike Opara went down with another injury in his own box. This time he was clutching his hamstring and had to be helped off the field and was immediately replaced. An unfortunate injury in a long string of unfortunate injuries for the defender.

KC started the second half the same way they finished it except for Benny Feilhaber entering the game for Kenny Cooper. Sporting was the stronger side as the second half rolled on. Just after the hour mark KC made more changes, bringing on what would be considered more of the first team lineup. Shortly after the changes, KC won their third penalty kick of the game as this time it was Chance Myers getting fouled in the box. Dom Dwyer stepped up this time and fired his penalty into the roof of the net to make it 3-0. Sporting wasn't done there, and neither were their full backs as four minutes after Dwyer's goal, Myers played a cross to the back post where Seth Sinovic was unmarked and he calmly one timed a shot back across the goal and just inside the far post to make it 4-0 Kansas City. Colorado was able to find themselves one goal as Dennis Castillo got around Sinovic and laid a ball back to Zach Pfeffer who slotted a ball inside Tim Melia's near post as he was shuffling back towards the middle of the goal. Sporting will close out the Desert Diamond Cup against Houston on Saturday, the first time Brad Davis will meet up against his former team.

Rangers Win, Sporting Draw in Desert Diamond Cup Openers

The Swope Park Rangers and Sporting KC kicked off the final leg of their preseason in Tucson with the start of this year's Desert Diamond Cup. The Rangers kicked things off about 30 minutes before Sporting did, taking on the Colorado Rapids at the Kino Sports Complex North Stadium. KC's USL team featured two Sporting KC players in their starting 11, with both Jon Kempin and Jimmy Medranda getting starts for the Rangers against the Rapids. From the kick off, the Rangers wasted no time and a quick move down their left side found Dane Kelly with some space to cross the ball into the middle where Kris Tyrpak one timed an effort past Colorado's Zac MacMath and into the net giving the Rangers the 1-0 inside the first minute. The Rapids controlled a good portion of the first half and found an equalizer in the 19th minute when Dominique Badji headed home a free kick from Dillon Powers.

Half time saw nine changes to the starting lineup with only Medranda and Christian Duke starting the second half. The second half was more even with neither side really creating a number of chances, until a little after the hour mark when Sporting KC academy player, Will Little, who had recently entered the game for Medranda was able to beat his defender to the end line and cross a ball into the middle for former Sporting KC academy player Alberto Sanchez who flicked the ball with his heal and into the far corner to put the Rangers on top again at 2-1. The Rapids pushed for an equalizer, but it was the Rangers who were able to grab a third goal in the 90th minute as Little fired a blast from 25 yards out that found the upper corner giving the Rangers a 3-1 win.

Meanwhile on Kino's Grand Stand Field, Sporting KC kicked off against the Columbus Crew. Playing a predominately first team in the first half, minus Dom Dwyer who sat out the game, KC controlled play and from listening to the game sounded like they should have gone ahead in the first half when Jacob Peterson missed a great chance early on. Instead KC's play in the first half was not rewarded as the two teams went into the break tied at 0-0.

Sporting made full scale changes at half time, sending out a whole new 11 for the second half. KC's inability to capitalize on their chances in the first half came back to bite them almost immediately as former KC forward Kei Kamara slotted a shot past goalkeeper Alec Kann to put the Crew up 1-0. The lead would last until the 52nd minute when the Crew failed to clear a corner. Saad Abdul-Salaam kept the ball in play and in a scramble in front of goal Soni Mustivar stabbed the ball home to level the game at 1-1. Both teams had their chances as the game progressed, and in the 73rd minute the Crew won themselves a penalty after Kamara was fouled while trying to round Kann after winning the ball off of Kevin Ellis and dribbling into the box. Kann though came up with a save on Kamara's ensuing penalty kick, but Kamara pounced on the rebound putting the Crew up 2-1. Sporting pushed forward trying to find the equalizer again, and it came in the 88th minute when Connor Hallisey set up fourth round draft pick Faik Hajderovic. Hallisey beat his man down the wing and played a ball across the box for Hajderovic to tap home to tie the game at 2-2.



The two teams will be back on the field Saturday when the Rangers take on fellow USL side, Arizona United while Sporting takes on the New England Revolution.

S.A.S. Thursday After Stats

 Here are the stats from last night's game. There wasn't much so the less said about the game the better.

Chance Myers started his 107th league game for KC, tying him with Uche Okafor for 20th on that list.

The win was Colorado's first in Kansas City in league play since 2002, a span of 15 games.

It was Colorado's fourth league win ever in KC, the fewest of any of the original MLS teams.

Sporting Back Themselves Into a Corner

With a chance to once again clinch a playoff berth and to give them a good shot at finishing second, Sporting KC again came out with a flat performance and continued their late season slide as they lost 2-0 at Sporting Park to the Colorado Rapids. Kansas City controlled play for much of the game but couldn't put Colorado away, and letting the Rapids hang around they got hit twice on the counter late in the game to take all three points.

KC had the better of play and a lot of their attacks in the first half came down their left side through Krisztian Nemeth. The Hungarian was getting the better of Colorado right back, Marlon Hairston. Their best chances of the first half both came through mistakes by Hairston in controlling the ball. Both times the ball eventually came to Benny Feilhaber near the top of the box, but both times he fired the ball over the cross bar.

The second half saw Kansas City continue to control the play but fail to really create dangerous chances. The game as a whole felt like a return to the past few seasons when Sporting would get a lot of shots but very few on goal. Last night KC had 18 shots but were only able to put three of those shots on goal. KC's best chances of the second half came through Graham Zusi and Chance Myers. Zusi had a good chance that he put off the top of the cross bar after a smart run into the box and Myers hit the side netting after another run into the box. The inability to capitalize on the possession came back to bit KC in the 78th minute. Kevin Ellis had brought the ball up into the KC attacking third before giving the ball away. The Rapids quickly countered with Sporting only having Matt Belser back on defense. The Rapids were able to work around him, getting the ball to Dillon Powers. The Rapids midfielder got into the box and chipped the ball over Tim Melia as he came out and the ball rolled into the net to put the Rapids up 1-0. KC continued to attack after that and got some help in the 84th from the referee when Sam Cronin was sent off for picking up his second yellow card, putting the Rapids down to 10 men. Two minutes after the red card though KC found themselves down 2-0, again on the counter. After the Rapids cleared a short corner Colorado raced down the other way, getting the ball to Juan Ramirez who played the ball across the field to Marcelo Sarvas who dribbled into the box and fired a shot on goal that Melia got a hand on but couldn't keep it out. Sporting couldn't get anything out of their attack and fell for the seventh time in their last 11 games. They'll now head into the final game of the season against the LA Galaxy needing a win to guarantee themselves a playoff berth.

Wizards Man of the Match - Tim Melia - Got completely hung out to dry by his defense on both goals last night. There was little he could do on either of the goals and once again kept KC in the game.

Player Ratings - Melia 5, Abdul-Salaam 4, Ellis 3, Besler 4, Myers 4, Mustivar 4, Nagamura 4, Feilhaber 4, Nemeth 4, Dwyer 3, Zusi 3. Subs: Quintilla NR.

Match Day 33: Time for a Make Up Game

Sporting Kansas City have another chance to clinch a playoff berth tomorrow night at Sporting Park as they close out the season with the first of two home games this week. Tomorrow it is the Colorado Rapids that head into Sporting Park in the make up game from May 16th that was postponed due to weather. Sporting is in desperate need of a win at this point, not just for their playoff run, but for their confidence as a whole. Sporting has picked up just eight of the last 30 points available to them heading into this game. The only team with fewer points in their last 10 games is the Chicago Fire, who have picked up just seven of the last 30 available. They'll try to get their playoff berth secured against a Colorado Rapids team already eliminated from the playoff race.

The Rapids come into this game set at the bottom of the Western Conference with 34 points, seven behind ninth place Real Salt Lake. At this point the Rapids are in the role of the spoiler with two games against Western Conference foes who have yet to clinch a playoff berth. Both of those games are on the road, with them traveling to Portland to play on Sunday. The Rapids haven't played since their home finale back on October 10th against the Montreal Impact. Colorado played a few reserves in the game with Zac MacMath and Marlon Hairston making their first appearances of the season. So Colorado's lineup for tomorrow's game will be a big question mark. Do they continue to give some of their younger players more game experience or do they put out more of the regulars?

While KC needs a win to secure a playoff berth, they also need it for a confidence boost. The team's recent troubles late in the season is a big concern for the club heading into the playoffs. And injuries don't seem to have gotten better. While Sporting welcomed back Kevin Ellis and Soni Mustivar to training this week, Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic have both sat out while recovering from injuries they picked up against San Jose. Their absence combined with a return of Ellis and Mustivar could see Amadou Dia or Saad Abdul-Salaam at left back and Erik Palmer-Brown getting another opportunity at center back for KC.

Number to Remember - 3 - That's the number of points that Kansas City needs to clinch a playoff berth this year.

Key Match Up - KC attack vs Colorado defense - Sporting's attack has really struggled during the majority of this slide. They've been shutout in four of their last 10 and scored more than one goal just twice. Heading into the playoffs KC needs their attack to step up. KC's three top scorers, Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber, and Krisztian Nemeth have scored KC's last seven goals. The last goals not scored by one of those three was Graham Zusi and Marcel de Jong in the 3-2 loss against Columbus on August 22nd. But while Colorado hasn't won much, they don't allow many goals, their 39 is fewer than KC has allowed, the sixth lowest in the league, and fewer than all 10 teams in the East have allowed this year. So it's not going to be easy for KC to break them down.

PREDICTION - Even with LA's poor form away from home this is the easier of KC's two final games. The Rapids have nothing but spoiler to play for and while that could almost have more danger, this is a game KC should win. While a loss doesn't end the season for KC it puts a lot more pressure on Sporting to get a result. Better to get the win here, clinch and playoff berth and move from there.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Feilhaber)
CO - 0

Sporting Fall for the Third Time in a Row

For the second straight week, Sporting KC lost a lead in the second half and ended up leaving the game with no points at all. Kansas City saw a 1-0 lead in the second half turn into a 2-1 deficit as the Colorado Rapids picked up their first win in six years against Kansas City in league play.

The first half left plenty to be desired from both teams as neither team really got much in the way of offense going. The only real chance that either side created really should have been a goal for the Rapids though. In the 12th minute, Vicente Sanchez collected a long ball in the corner before dropping it off to Drew Moor who played a ball to the back post where Juan Ramirez was completely unmarked, but the Rapids midfielder put his diving header high and wide of the goal in an effort he really should have done better.

For what the first half lacked, the second started with a flurry. KC found some space down the left side with Krisztian Nemeth working some good interplay down the wing before going it alone, cutting inside his defender into the box. Nemeth then laid the ball off to Dom Dwyer who one timed his effort inside the near post and KC was up 1-0 inside the first minute and a half of the second half. The lead lasted for only six minutes as the Rapids found an equalizer in the 53rd minute. After Mikey Lopez appeared to get knocked off the ball with no foul called, Sanchez turned Seth Sinovic around and dribbled into the box. Sanchez played a ball through the box to the back post where Maynor Figueroa settled the ball and fired a shot that deflected off of Graham Zusi and into the net to tie the game at 1-1. After the game, Peter Vermes would complain about the referee being the one that beat them tonight, and it's hard to argue with that particular case, cause I do feel that Lopez was fouled on the play. That said I do disagree with Vermes overall on that, Sporting didn't play well enough last night.

After the Rapids equalized, they were on the front foot taking the game to Kansas City and in the 76th minute they capitalized on the attack. Sanchez again beat Sinovic down the KC left, an area that they seemed to attack all night, and played a nice cross in from the end line. Kevin Doyle out jumped Kevin Ellis and easily beat Tim Melia from close distance to put the Rapids on top 2-1. Down a goal, KC started to throw numbers forward looking for an equalizer of their own and almost found one in the 87th minute. A cross into the box by Jacob Peterson pinged around before falling free to Dwyer. With some space Dwyer ripped a shot on goal but Clint Irwin made a fantastic save. The rebound fell to Dwyer again who got a reactionary touch on it, knocking the ball back towards the net but it hit off the post and went into the hands of Irwin to preserve the lead. In the end the effort wasn't enough and KC fell for the third straight time.

Wizards Man of the Match - Krisztian Nemeth - Was KC's most dangerous player last night. With Benny Feilhaber playing as the withdrawn playmaker, Nemeth was the one that picked up more of the offensive slack for Kansas City. His run created the goal and he was a handful down the left for the Rapids all night.

Player Ratings - Melia 5, Sinovic 3, Besler 4, Ellis 3, Myers 5, Feilhaber 5, Lopez 5, Nagamura 4, Nemeth 5, Dwyer 5, Zusi 4. Subs Abdul-Salaam 5, Quintilla 4, Peterson NR.

Match Day 25: Sporting Head to the Rockies with 800 Friends

Tomorrow Sporting KC take on the Colorado Rapids and look to end their first two game losing streak, but they won't be doing it all by themselves. They'll be doing it with traveling support of over 800 for the game. Once again a large traveling Cauldron is heading to the Mile High City to support Sporting KC. The large group will certainly be helpful to the team, giving them some great support on the road.

While KC is coming in on a two game slide, the Rapids are coming in having won their last two games, winning 1-0 in Chicago last weekend and 2-1 against the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night. Those two wins though haven't improved their standing in the table though as they still sit at the bottom of the Western Conference, outside the playoffs. They also have the fewest goals in the league still, having scored just 23 goals, six fewer than the next lowest, Salt Lake and Montreal. At the same time though they're tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps for fewest goals allowed this season. So while they're not scoring much, they're not allowing much either. Their defense will take a blow this weekend though as center back Bobby Burling is suspended for the game after picking up a yellow card on Wednesday, his fifth of the season, getting him an automatic one game suspension.

KC will continue to have their own blows, although theirs are due to injury, not suspension. Along with the long term injuries, Soni Mustivar looks set to miss his third straight game with a groin strain. That means that Mikey Lopez or Amobi Okugo will step back into the deep midfield position behind Paulo Nagamura and the returning Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber's return will certainly help out, but Mustivar's absence is going to be a big loss for KC to attempt to recover from. This game will also be the last game for both Krisztian Nemeth and Marcel de Jong before they depart on international duty, just another thing to keep in mind heading into tomorrow.

Nemeth - Dwyer - Zusi

Feilhaber - Nagamura

Lopez

Dia - Besler - Ellis - Myers

Melia

Number to Remember - 13 - That's the number of games in a row that KC is unbeaten against Colorado in MLS action. The last loss was on a trip to Colorado in 2009, 2-1 when Michael Kraus scored KC's lone goal. In all competitions the Rapids haven't fared much better against KC, their last win was a 2-1 win in a US Open Cup qualifier back in 2010 when Teal Bunbury scored in KC's lone game on UMKC's campus.

Key Match Up - Kevin Ellis vs Kevin Doyle - While Ellis stands only 5'9" according to Sporting's site, more often than not it seems that Ellis is set up to mark the opposing team's key set piece target. Quite often Ellis does quite well against his bigger opposition and he'll need to do that again tomorrow against Doyle. The Irish striker can be a weapon on set pieces and Ellis will have a big job keeping him in check.

PREDICTION - Some times players and teams overstate the level that support, especially away from home has on a game. Tomorrow though I think is one of those times that the away support really can have an effect. It is hard to ignore 800+ traveling away support for a game. Especially in Colorado, where their front office issues have helped lead to plenty of division in the front office. It won't be an easy game with KC still battling injuries, but I think KC ends their winless run at 2 tomorrow night, although I don't think they stop the bleeding in goal.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Nemeth)
CO - 1 (Powers)

Sporting KC Acquire Allocation Money for Herculez Gomez's MLS Rights and International Spot

One of the great case studies of players' rights in MLS has finally reached a conclusion. Today, Sporting KC and Toronto FC announced that they'd reached a trade yesterday before the window closed that saw Kansas City send the rights of first refusal of Herculez Gomez to Toronto FC for allocation money.

Gomez, the 33 year old former US national team forward also signed with Toronto after the trade. Kansas City had held Gomez's MLS rights because they had made him a qualifying offer after his contract was up after the 2009 MLS season. Under the league's collective bargaining agreement at the time, because KC made a qualifying offer, they held onto Gomez's rights in MLS, meaning he could not play anywhere in MLS without Kansas City being compensated.

Instead, Gomez went to Mexico, where he had a successful career that saw him get back into the national team picture and earn a trip to the 2010 World Cup. He scored 37 goals over the course of 5 years with seven teams.

Gomez was never going to return to Kansas City after his departure in 2009 because of his feelings regarding Peter Vermes, Kansas City, their offer to him in 2009, and the team holding onto his MLS rights even though he was never going to return. The rights issue caused a lot of issues for Gomez, who spoke out about that fact on numerous occasions during his time in Mexico.  It seems in the end though that the league stepped in to help broker a deal between TFC and KC to get Gomez back to MLS.

Toronto and Gomez meet Kansas City tomorrow at BMO Field in league action, and while it'd certainly add to the story line if Gomez is able to play, and even more so if he were to score, I'm not sure he'd play just a day after the deal was done, but stranger things have happened.

UPDATE: Sporting KC picked up more allocation money today through a second trade. Kansas City sent one of their international spots that they were not currently using to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for allocation money. The international spot is only for this season and will return to Kansas City on 12/31/15.

Another good bit of business for KC as they weren't going to use all their international spots this season.

Sporting Take Care of Business

Sporting KC took care of business on Saturday night at Sporting Park against the Colorado Rapids 2-0. The win was an expected result for Kansas City against a Rapids team that currently sits at the bottom of the Western Conference and has won just twice in their last 31 league games.

Early on, KC was able to take the game to the Rapids and could have taken the lead in the fifth minute off a Benny Feilhaber corner, but Chance Myers wasn't able to direct the ball on goal, instead putting it over the net. The Rapids had some dangerous opportunities of their own, in the 14th Tim Melia came well off his line to punch a ball away, the rebound was struck on goal from about 35 yards out, Melia had to race back into his net to keep the ball out and then jump on the rebound before anyone else on Colorado reacted to the loose ball. They had another opportunity in the 21st as Luis Solignac got the ball down the wing before playing it back into the middle for Lucas Pittinari. Pittinari's shot deflected off of Kevin Ellis, but unlike last week, this deflected shot went just around the far post keeping the game scoreless. KC was able to break the deadlock in the 32nd minute thanks to Krisztian Nemeth. Benny Feilhaber got the ball played wide to Chance Myers who had made a good run down the line. Myers continued into the Rapids' defensive third before firing a cross to the top of the box where Nemeth hit it first time sending it into the corner to put KC up 1-0. KC had some more half chances, but couldn't find the net for a second.

In the second half, KC continued to control the game, but still struggled to create chances. In the 53rd they did test Clint Irwin from distance with Dom Dwyer striking a free kick on goal, but the Colorado keeper knocked the ball away. Almost immediately at the other end Solignac had a chance to level things after a nice through ball, but he put his shot just wide of Melia's post. In the 64th minute though KC was able to double their lead. Off a short corner played between Feilhaber, Nemeth, and Graham Zusi, the ball eventually found its way back to Feilhaber who beat his man and fired a cross into the box towards Kevin Ellis. Rapids midfielder, Sam Cronin beat Ellis to the ball, but was unable to control the ball as it deflected off of him and into the net to make it 2-0. With the 2-0 lead, Colorado started putting more numbers into their attack, but while they created some half chances they never overly threatened KC's goal. The numbers forward also left Colorado suseptable to the counter. In the 79th Dwyer almost capitalized as he got played in behind the Colorado defense, but as he dribbled into the box to get a shot the defense recovered and his shot was deflected wide. KC was able to cruise to the win and continue their unbeaten home form.

Wizards Man of the Match - Chance Myers - In his return to MLS play last night, Myers looked like he'd not missed any time at all. Had some good crosses, including the assist on the opener. Also was strong defensively in shutting down the Rapids attack.

Player Ratings - Melia 8, Myers 8, Ellis 7, Besler 7, de Jong 7, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 6, Feilhaber 7, Zusi 6, Dwyer 6, Nemeth 8. Subs Peterson 5, Abdul-Salaam 5, Dia NR.

Match Day 16 - Maybe We'll Play Colorado this Time

Sporting KC welcome the Colorado Rapids for the second time this season, and hopefully for the first time this season, the two teams will actually play the game. The last time these two teams were scheduled to meet, the game was canceled and scheduled to be made up at the end of the season. The forecast for this weekend's match up looks better and the two teams should actually take the field this time.

Colorado comes into the game after a midweek game in Orlando on Wednesday that was delayed due to weather. The game is the second of three straight road games for Colorado as they'll travel to Houston for a US Open Cup game on Wednesday of next week as well. While the Rapids haven't been getting a lot of wins this year, they have only two, they also haven't been losing a lot, they're tied for the second fewest losses in the league, with five. They do lead the league in ties though with nine, two more than the LA Galaxy who have played three more games than Colorado has this season. The Rapids are also the lowest scoring team in the league with just 12 goals on the season, and four of those came in one game. They've welcomed new designated player Kevin Doyle into the team but he was subbed out before the hour in Orlando on Wednesday night.

KC is the only team in the league with fewer losses than Colorado, having lost just three times on the year. None of those three losses have come at home, where the club is still undefeated on the season, they'll try to continue that unbeaten run tomorrow night. While the Rapids are the lowest scoring team in the league, KC is the second highest scoring team, behind LA who have scored three more, but have played five more at this time. For probably the last time until after the Gold Cup, KC will have as close to their full first team as they can get. They'll see the departure of Graham Zusi and Marcel de Jong after tomorrow's game. The other worry is that Zusi and Benny Feilhaber are both questionable at this time, although both players participated in practice today, I'd think both will play tomorrow.

Melia

Anibaba - Ellis - Besler - Dia

Mustivar

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Zusi - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 2 - Outside Colorado's win 4-0 in Dallas, Colorado has scored just two goals in their seven other road games this year. The Rapids are 0-2-5 in those other seven games and have scored just twice. On the positive side for the Rapids, they've allowed just five goals in their eight road games this year.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Clint Irwin - Dwyer's scored in two straight league games for Kansas City and seems like he may be rounding into some form. Irwin is allowing less than a goal a game for the Rapids, even though they're averaging less than a point a game.

 PREDICTION - The way the two teams are playing right now, this should be a win for KC. But Colorado is stubborn team on the road and will be extremely organized defensively and difficult to break down. It's going to be a tough task for KC to get all three points even with Colorado's busy schedule right now, but with the way that Sporting can knock in goals, they should be able to top the Rapids at Sporting Park, but a draw tomorrow night wouldn't surprise me at all.

SKC - 2 (Dwyer, Nemeth)
CO - 0

Sporting KC to Make-Up Rapids Game in October

Sporting Kansas City announced the make-up date for last Saturday's scheduled game against the Colorado Rapids. The game, which had been canceled due to weather on Saturday night, will now be made up on Wednesday October 21st at 7:30pm.

The game now falls between Sporting KC's last road trip of the season and their last home game. Sporting will be on the road Friday, October 16th in San Jose to take on the Earthquakes. After traveling back home and playing the Rapids on the 21st, KC ends the season at home on Sunday the 25th against the LA Galaxy.

The Rapids meanwhile are off the weekend before the game, playing October 10th at home against the Montreal Impact in their last game before the trip to KC. They end their season on the road on the 25th as well with a trip to Portland.

One question after the cancellation of the game would be the roster that had been handed in for the game. Since the game had not officially started but rosters had been handed in, there were questions on whether KC and Colorado would be forced to use the same 18 they had submitted for the game on Saturday. There was confirmation today that the teams will be able to choose a new 18 man roster for the game. That's good news for KC which should be able to count on the list of Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza being back and available for that game.

Sporting KC and Colorado Postponed Due to Weather

After an hour delay to the start of last night's game, and a forecast that saw more storms move in later in the evening, last night's Sporting KC game against the Colorado Rapids was postponed to a later date.

MLS rules on game postponements state that games that are delayed have to be restarted before 12am local time and must finish before 1am. With the fact that the game hadn't started and more storms moving into the area, there was no way the team would have been able to kick off before 11:15pm or so to get the full game plus stoppage time in before the 1am deadline.

League rules also state that the game should be replayed today, 5/17. That though was ruled out as an option last night because of Sporting KC's upcoming schedule. The team already has a league game scheduled for Wednesday at home against New England and a game next Saturday scheduled against Seattle so Peter Vermes was probably very adamant about not playing the game today.

The game is actually the third postponement due to weather in KC's history, the second at home. Back in 1998 a game between the Wizards and DC United at Arrowhead on June 20th was canceled in the 53rd minute and was made up in full over two months later on August 26th. KC also had a game against the Chicago Fire in the US Open Cup on August 2nd of 2006 delayed for two weeks until the 14th after thunderstorms postponed the game.

As for the potential make up game, KC and Colorado have two weekends where both teams are off, June 13-14 and September 5-6. If the two teams can't agree to play on either of those dates, the likely date will be some time in the middle of the week.

Match Day 11: A Game KC Should Have

Sporting KC welcome the Colorado Rapids to Kansas City for the first time in two years this weekend when the two renew a rivalry that is the most played across all competitions for Kansas City. Tomorrow's game will be the 67th time in all competitions that KC and Colorado have faced off against each other.

The Rapids come into the game having gone five games without a win, they've drawn their last four games, all by a 1-1 score line, and before that, fell 3-1 to Colorado. The last year or so for the Rapids has been a struggle though for Pablo Mastroeni, as they've won just one of their last 24 league matches, a 4-0 over Dallas earlier this year. Before that, the Rapids had not won a game since July of 2014 when they beat Chivas USA. They are 1-14-9 in that stretch, with seven of those draws coming in their 10 games this season. Even with that record though, Dillon Powers could cause plenty of trouble for KC's midfield and Gabriel Torres and recently acquired forward, Luis Solignac could cause trouble for KC's back line.

For KC, they're going to have to make some lineup adjustments from last week's game against DC. The biggest of those is Graham Zusi who is out this week after suffering a concussion in last week's draw with DC. His logical replacement would be Krisztian Nemeth coming back into the starting 11 after starting the DC game on the bench. On the other wing, Jacob Peterson could keep his spot, or Peter Vermes could opt for a more offense inserting someone like Jimmy Medranda. On defense, it looks like U20 international, Erik Palmer-Brown will get another start at center back, as he delayed joining the US U20 team for training ahead of the U20 World Cup to stay in KC for this game. There is a last minute worry with a report that Roger Espinoza picked up a knock in training, if he can go, KC's midfield looks a lot thinner and Servando Carrasco would seem likely to come into the lineup with Paulo Nagamura also questionable.

Melia

Anibaba - EPB - Besler - Sinovic

Mustivar

Feilhaber - Espinoza

Peterson - Dwyer - Nemeth

Number to Remember - 1 - I already mentioned that Colorado has just one win in their last 24 MLS games. On top of that, Colorado has just one win in KC since 2002. That one win was in a US Open Cup qualifier back in 2010. KC is 10-1-5 at home against the Rapids in that stretch. It's also the number of league losses that KC has at home against the Rapids since the end of the shootout after the 1999 season, that one loss came in 2002.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Axel Sjoberg - Despite Dwyer's lack of size, KC has relied a lot on the long ball over the top to the Englishman to attempt to hold up. With the 6'7" Swede in central defense for Colorado tomorrow, that's going to be an even tougher task for Dwyer to deal with.

PREDICTION - With the schedule really picking up for Kansas City after this with games against New England, Dallas, two against Seattle, and an Open Cup game, likely against Minnesota United, this is a chance for KC to pick up points at home against an inferior opponent. While Colorado is unbeaten on the road, it's true, KC is the better team than Colorado, especially at home. The question is whether KC can find the scoring to prove it in the scoreline. Unfortunately I'm not really sure they do, and Colorado plays to their fifth straight draw.

SKC - 1 (Dwyer)
CO - 1 (Torres)

#TBT - The First Home Opener

Continuing my new Throw Back Thursday thing, I take a look back at the very first home opener for Kansas City, back on April 13th, 1996. The KC Wiz opened the inaugural MLS season at home against the Colorado Rapids at Arrowhead Stadium, in front of 21,141 people (an attendance record for KC that would stand until 2002) KC won the game 3-0 starting a strong tradition of opening the season well, as the team has gone 12-2-5 in their home openers throughout their history.

After a scoreless first half, Kansas City scored three goals in a 12 minute span last in the second half to see themselves past the Rapids. The first goal came in the 71st minute when a low cross by Tommy Reasoner was fired on goal by Mark Chung. The shot was initially saved, but the rebound fell to Digital Takawira who knocked the ball home for the first goal in KC's history and bringing out the first Digital Crawl (funny enough, even though his shot was saved, in the official stats, Chung was given an assist on that goal). Six minutes later a cross by Samuel Ekeme was not handled well by the Rapids defense and fell to US international, Frank Klopas who knocked the ball home to double KC's lead. Takawira capped off the night in the 83rd minute. Eric Eichmann received the ball out wide, dribbling into the box and cut inside his defender before firing a shot on goal that was saved. Once again though Takawira was there to put the rebound home (and like Takawira's first goal, Eichmann was given an assist).

For me personally I don't remember a ton of the details of that night as a kid, but I remember being there, and I remember the buzz of the crowd before and during the game. Unfortunately we don't have the full game highlights, but last year as part of the SKC Vantage Point series, Sporting put the goals from the team's very first game online for our viewing pleasure.



The very first KC Wiz lineup:

Pat Harrington; Samuel Ekeme, Sean Bowers, Tommy Reasoner (Scott Uderitz 83), Uche Okafor; Matt McKeon, Preki, Mark Chung, Eric Eichmann; Frank Klopas (Diego Gutierrez 83), Vitalis Takawira