Former SKC Wizards Update

With the MLS season winding down there are fewer former Wizards on the field playing each and every week.  It appears that after returning to Trinidad, Daneil Cyrus may be looking to go back abroad again, as this article about the failings of the Trinidad national team, discusses Cyrus going on trial with a club instead of going with the Trinidad national team for the Caribbean Championship qualifiers this week.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Eloy Colombano
Doug DeMartin
Birahim Diop
Pablo Escobar
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Tom Gray
Willy Guadarrama
Zoltan Hercegfalvi
Santiago Hirsig
Aaron Hohlbein
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Ryan McMahen
Anthony Noriega
Sergei Raad
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ivan Trujillo
Diego Walsh
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Salt Lake's 1-0 loss to Seattle.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Offseason.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Started and played 90 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 win over Salt Lake.  Came off the bench and played 25 minutes in Seattle's 3-0 loss to LA.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Offseason.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - Offseason.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Colorado - Offseason.
Josh Wolff - DC - Did not dress in DC's 3-1 loss to Houston.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Offseason
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Offseason
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Offseason
Luke Sassano - Carolina - Offseason
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Offseason
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Offseason
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Offseason

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Offseason

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Did not play in Wichita's 12-4 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored 2 goals in Baltimore's 17-9 win over Chicago.  Recorded an assist in Baltimore's 10-4 win over Syracuse.
Will John - Comets - Scored a goal in Missouri's 13-11 win over Milwaukee.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Did not play in Missouri's 13-11 win over Milwaukee.
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Did not play in Missouri's 13-11 win over Milwaukee.  Scored a goal in Grenada's 1-1 draw with French Guiana
Paul Wright - San Diego - Two goals and two assists in San Diego's 11-5 win over Phoenix.

International
Vicente Arze - R. Charleroi S.C. - Belgium - Did not dress in Charleroi's 0-0 draw with Waasland Beveren.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Cruz Azul's 1-1 draw with Monterrey.  Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Cruz Azul's 2-1 win over Leon.
Sunil Chhetri - Sporting Clube de Portugal B - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 2-2 draw with Naval 1 de Maio.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Beat T&TEC 7-0.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in North East's 2-2 draw wtih St Ann.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Santos' 2-0 loss to Morelia.  Started and played 65 minutes in the USA's 2-2 draw with Russia.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in Bahia's 3-1 loss to Cruzeiro.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Dressed but did not play in Hjorring's 2-2 draw with Skive.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Started and played 87 minutes in Tiraspol's 2-0 win over Speranta Crihana Veche.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Started and played 83 minutes in San Martin's 1-0 loss to Universitario.  Started and played 78 minutes in San Martin's 1-0 loss to Inti Gas.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Did not dress in Krasnodar's 2-0 loss to Spartak Moscow.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Did not dress in Emmen's 1-0 loss to Almere City.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Offseason
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Offseason.
Matt Taylor - Preußen Münster - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Munster's 2-0 win over Stuttgarter Kickers.

Comets Re-Sign Two and More

In a series of announcements made at a press conference today, the biggest news for Comets fans is probably the re-signing of two key parts of the team over the past two years.  The team has re-signed defender, Leo Gibson and goalkeeper Danny Waltman.  Gibson had started out as a forward for the Comets in their first season back, but dropped back to defense due to injury issues and has become one of the better defenders in the league since.  Waltman has been one of the best keepers in the league the past two years with the Comets and will be a good presence in net for them.

Also announced today was the team's promotional calender for the year, further information on the MISL Combine being hosted by the Missouri Comets this year, and an announcement that former Comet, Alan Mayer will join Gino Schiraldi in having his jersey retired by the team.  Also announced was a partnership with Cricket Wireless and the team officially introduced Craig Rocastle as well.  This weekend at the Independence Events Center is the Comets Fan Fest from 3-6pm.  A chance to meet players and get a look at the IEC before the new season.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Here's another week of former SKC Wizards updates. First, came word last week that Craig Rocastle will not be playing for the Missouri Comets. Instead he has moved to Greece where he's joined his former club, Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC, who is currently at the bottom of the second division in Greece. In other news, Ryan Smith has come out with his side of what happened when he left KC. While I'm sure that his mother's illness had plenty to do with why he left, I'm just not sure the full story is actually out there. But I'm glad he seems to be getting things squared away.

In other news, Rauwshan McKenzie and Mike Jones are going about the process of finding new clubs. McKenzie is trialing with Chivas during preseason, while Jones appears on his way to Denmark for trialing. I'm sure other players will be showing up in team camps soon as well. Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Mike Jones
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Amir Lowry
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Scott Sealy
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Taylor Graham - Seattle - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Had an assist in Wichita's 10-9 win over Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Did not play in Kansas' 9-4 loss to Cincinnati. Did not play in Kansas' 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Played in Baltimore's 17-12 loss to Norfolk.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Had 2 goals in Louisville's 15-4 win over Ohio. Scored 2 goals in Louisville's 10-7 loss to Detroit.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Played in Norfolk's 17-12 win over Baltimore. Played in Norfolk's 12-11 win over Syracuse.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Did not play in Anaheim's 28-7 loss to Tijuana.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Started and played 81 minutes, setting up the PK and recording an assist in Cruz Azul's 2-0 win over Atlas.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 3-2 win over Churchill Brothers.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - No game this week.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Santos' 2-1 win over Atlante.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Tied Alagoinhas Atletico Clube 3-3
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Started and played 84 minutes in Thrasyvoulos' 2-1 win over Panserraikos.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - No game this week.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates, some extra news this week as well. By now you've heard about Craig Rocastle signing with the Missouri Comets, but there's other news as well. Eddie Johnson's club career continues to spiral down for him, as he's already out at Puebla in Mexico. Apparently the forward failed his physical and was not fit and was released basically 2 days after showing up in Mexico. Not the direction you want your club career to be going in. Another former Wizard though moving in the other way, is Yura Movsisyan could be moving on again. The latest rumor has Movsisyan linked with a move to England and 3rd place side Tottenham. Finally, former player and interim head coach, Brian Bliss has picked up a second job along with being Crew GM. Bliss has also been named as an assistant coach on the US U-20 team. He will server as an assistant under Tab Ramos. There aren't a lot of other players playing right now, mainly it's those that are playing indoor. Here's the update.

Active without a club or unknown
Stephane Auvray
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Michael Kraus
Jonathan Leathers
Rauwshan McKenzie
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
Anthony Noriega
Ryan Pore
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Milos Stojcev
Shavar Thomas
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Season is over.
Adam Cristman - LA - Season is over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season is over.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Season is over.
Frankie Hejduk - LA - Season is over.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Season is over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Season is over.
Mike Jones - New York - Season is over.
Chris Konopka - MLS Pool keeper - Season is over.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Season is over.
Scott Sealy - San Jose - Season is over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season is over.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Season is over.
Josh Wolff - DC - Season is over.

NASL
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Season is over.
Aaron Hohlbein - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.
Amir Lowery - Montreal - Season is over.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Season is over.

USL
Stephen Armstrong - Charleston - Out of season.
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Out of season.
Tom Gray - Pittsburgh - Out of season.
Neal Kitson - Rochester - Out of season.
Akeem Priestley - LA - Out of season.
Yomby William - Richmond - Out of season.
John Wilson - Charleston - Out of season.

PDL
Byron Carmichael - Ocean City - Out of season.
Sergei Raad - FC Jax Destroyers - Out of season.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Out of season.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Scored a goal in Wichita's 12-10 win over Missouri.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - No game this week.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Scored a goal in Baltimore's 9-4 win over Milwaukee.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Scored 2 goals in Louisville's 9-3 loss to Cincinnati.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Placed on IR for the Comets
Craig Rocastle - Comets - Just signed with the team.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Scored a goal in Norfolk's 18-16 win over Rochster. Played in Norfolk's 23-13 loss to Syracuse. Played in Norfolk's 24-11 loss to Rochester.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - No game this week.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - On winter break
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Clausura has not started.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Did not play in Bagan's 2-1 loss to Pune FC.
Eloy Colombano - Ferro Carril Sud - Argentina - Season over.
Pablo Escobar - Deportivo Cali - Colombia - Did not play for Deportivo Cali.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Clausura has not started.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Honved - Hungary - On winter break.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - No game this week
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - On break.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - on winter break.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - on winter break.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - On winter break.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - On winter break.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - No game this week.

Comets Sign Former SKC Player Rocastle

News started to leak out last night on through Thad, and today it was officially announced that the Missouri Comets have added to their roster by signing former Sporting KC midfielder, Craig Rocastle. Rocastle had been waived by Sporting at the end of this past season after two years with the club. Rocastle should be available for Friday's match up against Milwaukee and then in Wichita to take on the Wings on Saturday.

Rocastle certainly gives the Comets an interesting addition. Rocastle gives the Comets a calm and composed midfielder. But indoor isn't always a calm and composed game, it's a very fast paced game. It'll be interesting to see how Rocastle adjusts to the change in style the indoor game provides. The other question would probably have to do with Rocastle's knees, but the big thing he does provide is a large amount of experience and a big imposing body to help man up on some of the bigger players in the league.

Sporting KC Waive Four

photo courtesy Jarred Donalson

Sporting KC made 4 more roster moves today, waiving four players before today's waiver draft. KC waived Jeferson, Craig Rocastle, Milos Stojcev, and Scott Lorenz. Jeferson Rocastle, and Stojcev all three take up international spots that are now open to be used next year. Those 3 also are the only 3 that count against the salary cap, Lorenz was an off budget player making around $32,000. Those 3 though make about $550,000 against the cap (Jeferson $350,000, Rocastle $110,000, Stojcev $90,000). It certainly gives Kansas City some cap space to work with this offseason to sign potential players. In today's waiver draft none of the four were selected, in fact, only 1 player, Nizar Khalfan of Vancouver, was selected today in the draft by Philadelphia (he's best known to KC fans as the guy that had two assists in the 3-3 draw with the Whitecaps this year).

Jeferson played in 9 games, starting 8 of them since arriving in the summer. He looked really impressive in the first few games, specifically against Newcastle and then Toronto in league play. His pass to Omar Bravo for his first goal was what we expected to see plenty of throughout the season. Unfortunately that was the only instance of that we got from the Brazilian DP. This move was not at all surprising, in fact was really expected by most.

Rocastle appeared in 29 games over his two seasons with the team, but only 6 times this year after suffering an injury during the Gold Cup with Grenada. That combined with the emergence of Julio Cesar and Roger Espinoza in the midfield left Rocastle on the outside looking in. In 2010 though, Rocastle played in 23 games and helped to settle the midfield with Stephane Auvray and looked set to contribute a lot to KC this year. In the end though he had a skill set similar to Cesar and as a whole Cesar was just the better player.

Stojcev came in and started 6 of the first 7 games for KC, but appeared only sparingly the rest of the way. His last appearance for KC in a real game was in August against Portland. He did had 2 assists in league play, both in the draw with Vancouver, and a goal in KC's 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire PDL in the Open Cup. Unfortunately though Stojcev proved to be incredibly one footed. And not good enough to bring back visions of Preki.

Lorenz made one league appearance for Sporting KC, starting the team's 3-2 loss in Chicago in the second game of the season. He did appear in both of KC's Open Cup games this year as well, starting both of them. Lorenz, who was signed this offseason after spending the previous season with Minnesota. Lorenz returned to Minnesota during the season on loan, appeared in a number of Minnesota's games before returning back early from his loan.

At this point Jeferson is on his way back to Vasco where he will likely be loaned out again, or sold to another Brazilian club. Rocastle I expect to go back to England, possibly catching on with a League 2 side over there. Stojcev I expect will find his way back to Serbia or another Eastern European country to play. Lorenz can probably make it in the NASL or USL-Pro if he can't catch on with another MLS club. Good luck to each of them.

International Break

It appears that two Sporting KC players will be playing this weekend. Roger Espinoza was apparently called up by Honduras for their friendly on Monday against Serbia. The call up was made before KC's season ended and I've been unable to find any updates since the initial roster was released on the 2nd of November stating whether Espinoza was still participating or not.

The other call up is Craig Rocastle who it appears will play for Grenada against Guatemala in what has become a meaningless qualifier. Grenada is already eliminated from advancing out of their group, while Guatemala has already clinched the group. The two teams play today and again on Tuesday in the final two qualifiers of the group. Based on my research, it appears that Peterson Joseph will miss Haiti's two crucial qualifiers against Antigua on the same days due to his recovery from surgery.

Rocastle, Grenada Elminiated from World Cup Qualifying

While Sporting KC was busy qualifying for the playoffs, another Sporting KC player was busy with his national team trying to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive. Craig Rocastle and Grenada were playing St. Vincent and Grenadines in a must win game for both countries to keep alive in Group E. Rocastle went 90 minutes for the Spice Boyz, but unfortunately the two teams drew 1-1 with Grenada grabbing an equalizer in second half stoppage time. The result puts Guatemala through to the next round. Meanwhile Grenada have two more qualifiers coming up in November before their qualifying cycle comes to an end.

Good Day for Sporting KC Internationals

Yesterday was a good day for the two Sporting KC internationals involved in World Cup qualifying during this international window. Peterson Joseph an Haiti got things started off well with a 7-0 win over the US Virgin Islands. After being up 2-0 at the half, Haiti made all 3 substitutions, including sending on Joseph. Haiti exploded for 5 second half goals to cruise to victory. The win keeps Haiti undefeated in Group F, even with Antigua and Barbuda at 3-0. Qualification for the next round will come down to their two matches vs Antigua and Barbuda during the November international date. Before that, Haiti will play Curaçao at home on Tuesday.

Craig Rocastle and Grenada also got a win yesterday, defeating Belize 4-1 in Belize. I've been unable so far to find reports on the match giving lineups for the teams but I would assume that Rocastle played in the game. The win throws Grenada a life line for qualifying in the next round, but just barely. Guatemala is still undefeated in Group E and can clinch advancement with a win over Belize at home on the match day on Tuesday. Meanwhile Grenada will take on St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

More International Call Ups for KC

To go along with Roger Espinoza's call up for Honduras, four more Wizards players have been called up to represent their respective national teams. Teal Bunbury, Peterson Joseph, Craig Rocastle, and Shavar Thomas have all been called up to the US, Haiti, Grenada, and Jamaica respectively.

The biggest games of the international break are for Joseph and Rocastle whose national teams have two World Cup qualifiers. Joseph and Haiti go on the road to play the US Virgin Islands on the 7th then return to Port-au-Prince to take on Curaçao. Haiti is currently second in group F behind Antigua, but both teams are 2-0 in group play having both beat up on the two other teams in their group in the first two games.

For Rocastle, he'll likely get his first action since the Gold Cup when Grenada go to Belize on the 7th and then go home to take on St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Grenada really need to get results from those as they currently are at the bottom of group E with 0 points as Guatemala leads the group currently.

Bunbury and the United States have two friendlies during the window. They start with a game against Honduras in Miami before playing Ecuador at Red Bull Arena. Meanwhile, Thomas and Jamaica appear to only have one game during this window, the game against Honduras.

The five players will miss no competitive games for Kansas City during the time. The 5 though are likely to miss the friendly on October 12th against Chivas Guadalajara due to their national team commitments though.

The one name missing from the list this time is Kei Kamara, whose national team, Sierra Leone have a must win qualifier for the African Cup of Nations against South Africa. According to Kamara's Twitter he did receive an invitation to join the national team but then said "oh oh wait but that also mean "AM SUSPENDED SMH"". Not sure what exactly the meaning of the second half of his Tweet but it doesn't look like Kamara will be traveling for the game.

Injury Crisis?

The injuries for Sporting Kansas City seem to continue to mount up, with news on two more players coming out today. First for some good news, the team posted on Twitter today that captain, Davy Arnaud had returned to training. Combine that with the return of Craig Rocastle to game play yesterday in the reserve game. The two of them will help boost the midfield that has suffered some injuries and suspensions lately.

Still, though there are plenty of injury issues going around. Aurelien Collin is still out with his back injury. Best case scenario could see him back probably in early to mid-September. But if recovery goes slowly, Collin could miss longer. Back injuries are something that can take a long time to heal depending on the person. Hopefully he's on the short side. Especially since today word came out that KC is down another central defender. Newly signed, Daneil Cyrus has broken the 5th metatarsal in his left foot. The injury will require surgery and will see him miss the rest of the 2011 season. Combine those two and it's a blow to KC. Now KC only has 3 central defenders on it's roster, Matt Besler, Julio Cesar, and Shavar Thomas. Thomas had likely been on the trade block and transfer list up until the injury to Cyrus. Now KC can't afford to get rid of the Jamaican, as he's the only back up KC has if Besler or Cesar gets injured. I'd said that previously I wanted KC to get another center back. There's 6 days left in the MLS transfer window to go shopping outside the league, but the trade deadline is still about a month away so KC could get someone within the league. But everyone knows Cyrus is now up and the price for KC to get a defender just went up. The other possibility is that KC signs a free agent, for example, a guy like Nick Cardenas who the Wizards drafted in 2010 and played 90 minutes for KC in the reserve game yesterday. It'll be interesting to see if KC makes a move.

The other new injury is the rumor that Andrew Wiebe posted today about Luke Sassano. Sassano limped through the last 2 minutes plus stoppage time of the game on the weekend against the Sounders after a collision with Lamar Neagle. Wiebe has heard that Sassano has a sprained MCL and will miss the next 4-6 weeks recovering from the injury. The injury looked a lot worse watching it on replay after the game. With Arnaud and Rocastle on their way back, this injury may not hurt as much, but until they're able to go KC is going to have some depth issues at midfield. Especially when you factor in that we haven't heard anything with regards to the status to Jeferson, who limped off to be replaced by Sassano against the Sounders. Hopefully with the extra time off, Jeferson will be ready to go in about a week against Portland. But if he can't the injury crisis could continue.

Rangers Defeat Rapids

The Swope Park Rangers, Sporting KC's reserve side, moved their record in the reserve league this year to 2-2-2 with a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids today at the Swope Park training complex. An early goal by Soony Saad was the lone tally in the game. Both teams had some good chances, in a game that was delayed for a period of time due to lightning. But Saad's finish held up as Eric Kronberg recorded the shutout.

There was some more interesting news out of the game. First, was the return of Craig Rocastle to game play. Rocastle started and played the first half for KC in his first action since he picked up a knee injury in the Gold Cup with Grenada. Rocastle was replaced at half time by the ever intriguing, trialist 1. Always intriguing when there are unknown trialists in camp. Two other trialists today went the full 90 minutes, the first, Peterson Joseph has been with the team since before the Newcastle game. The Haitian continues to hang around, it'll be interesting to see if KC eventually make a move to sign him. The other trialist is a former Wizard, Nick Cardenas. The Wizards drafted Cardenas in the 3rd round of the 2010 draft, spent some time earlier this year playing for Sevilla Puerto Rico in the USL before the team went under.

Check out the highlights below.

Practice and Press Conference Thoughts

With one of my precious days off today from my job that pays the bills, I made my way to Swope for Sporting KC's practice today and the press conference with Peter Vermes and Soony Saad. The one thing that was most surprising about practice today was that it was more laid back than I thought it was. With yesterday being more of a recovery day for the guys and tomorrow likely being a light day before departing for Houston I figured today would be more of an intense day. It was still a hard work out for the guys overall, but not as intense as I thought it would be.

Stephane Auvray is still no where to be found, and actually seeing Vermes reaction to questions about him just reinforces what I'd believed for a while and what people had told me, that Auvray is gone. While Vermes comments in the press conference were non-committal on the Guadeloupe captain, his mannerisms when asked about it just drove the point home for me.

On the Richmond game, Vermes didn't want to touch on that much more, stating again that the team did not play well and that there was a lack of effort and a lack of recognition of things that were not taken advantage of. He also talked about how players didn't do themselves favors in terms of getting more playing time after they failed to impress in the opportunity that was given to them. He also said that some players either didn't respect the Kickers, or their teammates during the game on Tuesday. Vermes said that the players now have to change that perception. It'll be interesting to see which of those players get bumped back down a little bit because of the poor performance against Richmond. Some of these comments when I think about the game would seem to be directed towards Teal Bunbury and his poor performance.

On Ryan Smith, Vermes emphasized that Smith is not a free agent, he's free to sign for teams over there, but there would have to be some sort of compensation in some form from any team that signed him to MLS and Sporting. He's not a "free agent" as reports out of England have suggested.

He talked about Matt Besler's all star selection, really talking up the local product, talking about how he's improved from year to year, saying this year he's become a "man at the position". Vermes did tip Besler for eventually being called up to the US national team, saying that if he continues the way he has he will get a call up to the US team. A lot of good things to say about Besler.

Vermes did tip his hat towards Saturday a little bit towards Saturday. After talking Soony Saad up for a little bit, including talking about how Saad has a different mentality than many guys as he is really pushing to scrape together goals. But Vermes did say that Saad is on the travel roster for this weekend in Houston. Saad was the player involved in today's press conference, and the kid looks extremely excited to be playing here. He lite up when asked about LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and talked up the crowd atmosphere in the stadium and how we was looking forward to contributing and becoming a fan favorite. He came across as a kid with a lot of drive to become a star and a kid who literally is living his dream of being a professional player.

Craig Rocastle continues his recovery from injury, running and some agility work, and is still on schedule. Vermes said some time in mid to late August Rocastle would hopefully be back.

With regards to Jeferson Vermes says that he's not going to comment on things at this time. Vermes said he loves that Robb will tip his hand, but he's not going to show his. But the team is looking to be active in the transfer window that opens tomorrow, within and outside the league.

For next week with the busy schedule of game Saturday, reserve game (that Vermes says that he is battling with the league over moving), Newcastle, and Toronto the following Saturday, Vermes said it's going to be a difficult thing to do. He expected trialists and Juniors to play a major role in the reserve game against the Fire.

Rocastle Out 2 Months

So it sounds like the injury that Craig Rocastle suffered with the Grenada national team in their first Gold Cup game is kind of serious. Andrew Wiebe, Sporting KC's beat writer for MLSsoccer.com posted on Twitter today that Rocastle was at training with a wrap on his leg. He also said that Rocastle has a torn PCL and meniscus. The injury will keep him out about 2 months. The team is hoping to schedule surgery for early next week.

It's a big blow to the Wizards as Rocastle had helped to turn the midfield and defense around after the issues early in the season. The injury would seem to mean more playing time for Luke Sassano or Stephane Auvray (when he returns from the Gold Cup).

SKC at the Gold Cup (Rocastle Hurt!)

Only one of Sporting Kansas City's Gold Cup call ups made the field tonight. Shavar Thomas started and played the full game for Jamaica as they took out Guatemala 2-0 thanks to two goals by Demar Phillips. The Jamaicans now sit on top of their group as the only team to win both of their games with a plus 6 goal difference. Jamaica closes out their group on Monday when they'll take on Honduras.

Speaking of Honduras, Roger Espinoza was on the bench for tonight's game against Grenada, but didn't see the field as Honduras cruised 7-1 over Grenada. A hattrick by one time Wizards target, Carlo Costly, a brace by Jerry Bengtson, and goals by Walter Martinez and Alfredo Mejia finished off Grenada who actually took the lead through Clive Murray before surrendering 7 unanswered.

The worst news those of the night was that Wizards defensive midfielder, Craig Rocastle didn't even dress for the game. After doing some looking, I found that Rocastle apparently has some ligament damage, that he is having a scan done on to find out the extent of the injury. On the low side it could just end his Gold Cup, on the other side this could be a disaster for the Wizards as Rocastle's presence in the center of midfield had calmed the team after their rough start. Luke Sassano filled in well last night but I'm not sure he's the long term solution there. So hopefully this ligament damage is minor and Rocastle will be back quickly.

Thomas, Jamaica Roll Rocastle, Grenada, Espinoza Doesn't Dress

Shavar Thomas and Jamaica got their Gold Cup campaign off to a good start last night with a 4-0 win of Craig Rocastle and Grenada. Both players started their game for their respective teams. Thomas helped anchor the Jamaican defense which completely shut down Grenada. Rocastle on the other hand was subbed at half time after getting injured in a collision in the first half of the game. Rocastle and Grenada missed the presence in the midfield of Sharlie Joseph who ended up turning down the call up. Although I Joseph wouldn't have provided enough to overturn the 4 goal difference.

In the other group B game, Honduras saw their opponents, Guatemala, earn 2 red cards, but were unable to find the net as they drew 0-0. Sporting KC defender Roger Espinoza did not dress for the game for the Hondurans. The next games for the teams are on Friday when Jamaica plays Guatemala and Honduras takes on Grenada.

May Player of the Month

Another month of the season is in the books for Sporting KC. In the month of May, KC went 0-2-1 in league play, and added a win against New England in the US Open Cup qualifier. KC scored 2 league goals in the 3 games, with Ryan Smith and an Omar Gonzalez own goal accounting for those goals. CJ Sapong and Chance Myers added a brace in the Open Cup game, with Aurelien Collin adding a goal as well.

For me there's really not a contest this month for who wins the award. For me the award goes to Craig Rocastle. Rocastle played in 3 of the 4 games this month, and in those three games, KC's performance has improved. The one game that Rocastle didn't play in was the 4-1 loss to LA. Rocastle's performance has calmed the midfield, he's helped to give KC some semblance of a midfield the past few games as well. It looks like KC will at least have Rocastle around for one more game before leaving to join Grenada for the Gold Cup.

4 to the Gold Cup, Plus Kamara Called Up

Last week Peter Vermes said that 5 Sporting KC players would be called up for this summer's Gold Cup. Today we found out that only 4 were actually called up. Roger Espinoza and Craig Rocastle we'd heard about last week. Today we learned the other two official call ups. Stephane Auvray and Shavar Thomas were the other two called up. Those two are not incredibly surprising, Auvray has captained Guadeloupe for the last few years, and Thomas captained Jamaica to the Digicel Caribbean Championship over the winter. The four are set to miss at least 3-4 matches depending when they leave. Grenada has a friendly against Antigua and Barbuda on Friday the 27th, and Honduras plays El Salvador on the 29th. I believe Jamaica also has a friendly before the Gold Cup starts. So at least 3 of the players appear set to miss the Colorado, Toronto, Chicago home opener, and Dallas games while at the Gold Cup. Players could miss more if they advance past the group stage.

The one player of Vermes' five that didn't make it, was Teal Bunbury. Bunbury was left off of the USA roster when it was announced today. The US brought in three forwards, Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, and Chris Wondolowski. The surprises along with Wondolowski were Freddy Adu and Robbie Rogers getting calls up. In response to why Bunbury wasn't called up, Bob Bradley said "he hasn't been as sharp as we would like so far in the season."

You can't argue with that logic, as since his brace against Vancouver Bunbury has been virtually invisible in many of the games since. He's struggled in the target forward role that Vermes has wanted him to play. He's certainly not out of the picture, but hopefully this will be the motivation to get him to get back to a competitive level.

Last week I also mentioned Kei Kamara's potential call-up for Sierra Leone and the potential issues for the country with the FA and the sports ministry at odds over who is the coach. It appears that Kamara has been officially called up based on his comments on Twitter today. Now whether that's a change from the announcement last week or not I don't know. But if Kamara truly is called up, he'll miss game in Toronto on the 4th of June.

It's a Cruel Game

The defense was much better last night, and the overall game play was good on the road for the most part, but for the second year in a row KC left Seattle with nothing after conceding a late winner off a corner. Putting out a lineup that saw Omar Bravo and Davy Arnaud paired in midfield with Craig Rocastle, I think many fans were worried about the way the defense would handle Seattle. But the defense stepped up and did a good job of shutting down the Sounders offense after giving up 4 last week in LA.

KC actually had the best chance early, when Ryan Smith got played in on goal against Kasey Keller. Keller saved Smith's effort and then collected the rebound after a shot from Omar Bravo. Seattle controlled much of the possession, but KC were able to ping the ball around themselves, keeping possession for good portions of the first and second half. The Sounders best chance of the first half came in the 20th minute when Alvaro Fernandez chipped a ball into the box for Mauro Rosales, whose header went just over the bar landing on the top of the net. Throughout the rest of the half, KC held out defensively, keeping Seattle from getting many looks at all on goal.

In the second half, KC dontinued to get forward on occasions, many of these came from Roger Espinoza and Michael Harrington racing down the wings (as they should have been doing all season in the 4-3-3 KC runs. In the 51st minute, Espinoza was almost free down the wing in what would have been a nice 2v2 situation for KC, but Servando Carrasco committed a tactical foul, pulling back on Espinoza as he was pulling away, drawing a yellow, but killing the scoring opportunity. Jimmy Nielsen found himself busier in the second half, having to come off his line a few times to punch the ball away. One such incident was in the 58th off a free kick. Nielsen punched the first effort, but not far enough and the ball came back into the box where Nielsen beat Fredy Montero to the ball, punching it further this time and catching Montero in the process. The rebound was then deflected out for a corner. Seattle continued to be the aggressive side, but KC had their attacks, but really failed to put Keller under much pressure. A nice tackle by Matt Besler in the 83rd on last year's hero, Michael Fucito helped keep the shutout. By this point I think most fans were thinking and hoping that the team would be able to hang on and get out of town with a point, ending the team's 4 game losing streak. Unfortunately, KC's defense finally broke in second half stoppage time off a corner from Tyson Wahl. Jeff Parke got up and headed the ball into the back of the net at Nielsen's back post. Espinoza was Parke's mark, but got "picked" while trying to get around Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and never recovered. CJ Sapong, who was in a free role on the corner was unable to get to the ball before Parke did. And unfortunately Nielsen did not have anyone standing on the back post, or else they'd probably had been able to clear it off the line. KC had one late opportunity off of another corner, but at the back post all KC could do was head the ball up into the air where it was easy pickings for Keller.

KC falls to another loss, now 1-6-1 on the season. This is probably the most gut wrenching one, especially since KC had play so stout defensively shutting down the Sounders attacks, forcing Neilsen to only have to make 1 save. But as has been happening lately, the offense is starting to sputter, they haven't scored a goal themselves since Kei Kamara's PK in New England, and haven't scored in the run of play since Kamara's first goal in that game. Teal Bunbury was virtually invisible for much of the game, Bravo didn't have near as many touches in the offensive third as he needed to have, and Smith seemed to dribble into trouble too often. For the way the attack has played earlier this season, it is starting to get very worrisome. They now have a short week, flying back to KC today before playing New England in a US Open Cup qualifier on Wednesday and heading out to Colorado for a game next Saturday.

I do want to post one last thing about last night's game. Myself and many others have been very critical of the referees in MLS, but I want to give credit to Geoff Gamble, who reffed his first MLS game last night. I thought Gamble did a very good job of controlling the game and letting the players play. He let the players decide the game and didn't let it get out of hand.

Wizards Man of the Match - Craig Rocastle - When I saw the lineup I was worried Rocastle would be left out to dry the way our defensive midfielder has been for most of this season. But Rocastle did a good job of shutting down the middle of the field and supporting the central defenders.

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Harrington 5, Collin 5, Besler 5, Espinoza 6, Rocastle 7, Arnaud 5, Bravo 4, Smith 4, Bunbury 3, Kamara 4. Subs Sapong 4, Zusi 4, Myers NR.

More Call Ups for KC

During today's weekly press conference, Peter Vermes confirmed that all 5 of the players that Sporting KC fans thought would be called up for this year's Gold Cup have in fact been called up. We'd heard that Craig Rocastle was called up yesterday, and that Roger Espinoza was available for selection. Vermes today confirmed that Rocastle and Espinoza would be joined by Stephane Auvray, Teal Bunbury, and Shavar Thomas for Guadeloupe, the US, and Jamaica respectively. The rosters won't officially be announced until probably next Monday. The tournament kicks off on June 5th, so the question will become how long those 5 remain with the team. My guess is that all 5 will depart after the game against Colorado on the 28th and the reserve game on the 29th. From that point KC will be playing with 21 rostered players.

Bunbury and Espinoza have been the only guaranteed starters when healthy this season. Rocastle and Auvray have traded time with Birahim Diop in midfield. Thomas has been a bench forward and at this time appears to be fourth on the depth chart at center back for KC. Still losing 5 guys off of our roster isn't going give great things for KC during the stretch of the Gold Cup.

The 5 are likely to miss at least 3 games, at Toronto on the 4th, the home opener against Chicago on the 9th, and Dallas on Sunday the 12th. Those that advance to the quarters will miss the 17th against San Jose. Semifinalists will miss the game in Philadelphia on the 22nd. And for any that make the finals, they'll miss KC's game against Vancouver. So players are going to miss anywhere from 3 to 6 games for KC during the Gold Cup.