Former Kansas City players continue to find their ways onto rosters in the US ahead of the 2017 season in MLS, USL, and NASL, one of those looks like it could be former designated player, Omar Bravo. Bravo is currently linked with a move to USL side Phoenix Rising, the former Mexican international spent last fall with the Carolina Railhawks of the NASL on loan from Chivas. The Mexican club, where Bravo is the club's all time leading scorer deemed Bravo surplus goods and that he would play no part in the club's Clasura season in Liga MX. Unable to find another club in Mexico, Bravo looks like he may return to the US again to play in the USL with Phoenix.
Elsewhere, other former players have new clubs too, one of those with a new club is Toni Dovale, who has signed with Rayo Vallecano in Spain after having his contract with Leganes terminated. Also, Peterson Joseph is apparently still playing, currently captaining Sudeva Moonlight in the Indian second division, and finally today it was announced that 2017 draft pick, David Greczek has signed with the Swope Park Rangers ahead of the 2017 season.
Here's the rest of this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Emmanuel Appiah
Vicente Arze
Omar Bravo
Amadou Dia
Pablo Escobar
Tomas Granitto
Connor Hallisey
Jeferson
Jon Kempin
Chris Konopka
Justin Mapp
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz
Michael Thomas
Ualefi
MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Alec Kann - Atlanta - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Chance Myers - Portland - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Portland - Offseason.
Jacob Peterson - Atlanta - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.
NASL
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - North Carolina - Offseason.
Alex Molano - North Carolina - Offseason.
USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
David Greczek - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - San Antonio - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.
Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in Cedar Rapids' 13-10 win over St. Louis.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 5-2 win over Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 4-3 win over Tacoma.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Did not play in San Diego's 9-3 win over Tacoma. Played in San Diego's 8-7 OT loss to Sonora.
International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC Eskilstuna City- Sweden - No game until 4/1.
Ever Alvarado - Olimpia - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Olimpia's 1-0 win over Social Sol. Started and played 90 minutes in Olimpia's 2-2 draw with Motagua.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Federico Bessone - AE Prat - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Prat's 4-0 win over L'Hospitalet.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/11.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Dressed but did not play in Belen's 2-1 loss to Alajuelense. Started and played 65 minutes in Belen's 3-2 loss to UCR.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 2-2 draw with Shivajians.
Jorge Claros - Real Espana - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 3-0 win over Juticalpa. Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 3-1 win over Marathon.
Nuno Coelho - GD Chaves - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Chaves' 0-0 draw with Boavista.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Did not play in W Connection's 2-0 win over Ma Pau Stars.
Toni Dovale - Rayo Vallecano - Spain - Just signed for Rayo Vallecano.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 1-1 draw with Cruz Azul.
Faik Hajderovic - Vinograder - Croatia - No game until 2/25.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 2-1 Suomen Cup win.
Peterson Joseph - Sudeva Moonlight - India - Started and played 41 minutes in Sudeva's 4-3 win over Real Kashmir.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Offseason.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Game this week postponed.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 2-1 Suomen Cup win.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Did not dress in Al Gharafa's 0-0 draw with Al Wakrah.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Defeated IA 2-0.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 0-0 draw with Tondela.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/18.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 1-0 win over Cambridge United.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not dress in Deveronvale's 2-1 loss to Fraserburgh.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game until 2/20.
Milos Stojcev - Veria - Greece - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Veria's 6-0 loss to AEK Athens.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - No game until 2/18.
Showing posts with label Peterson Joseph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peterson Joseph. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 08, 2017
Monday, August 11, 2014
Sporting and Joseph Mutually Agree to End His Contract
In a move that's been anticipated for a while now, Sporting KC and midfielder, Peterson Joseph parted ways today as the club and player mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club. Joseph had not appeared or practiced with the club since he collapsed during practice during the playoffs last year. Since then he'd had a number of tests done all over the country to try and figure out exactly what had caused him to collapse.
Joseph, the Haitian Xavi had joined the club in September of 2011. For KC he played in 34 league games, two playoff games, three CONCACAF Champions League games, and three US Open Cup games in his short career. There were plenty of flashes of the type of player he could be for KC, his assist with the outside of the foot to set up a goal by Jacob Peterson against Columbus was one of my favorite plays of the 2012 season. Then there's the 2012 playoff win over Houston at home where Joseph and Oriol Rosell dominated the center of midfield and it looked like the midfield pairing of the future for the club had arrived. Unfortunately, both are now gone from the club.
My initial reaction to this is that this is a good move for both parties. KC gets an international slot opened up, and I assumed Joseph would move on with his life. I thought he'd just go ahead and retire because of whatever the condition was that is keeping him from playing for KC. That doesn't look to be the case though. It would appear that Joseph has made his way to Africa where he is training and has played a training game with Azam FC in Tanzania. Maybe his condition isn't as bad as it seemed, or maybe he's not ready to give up playing and he's going to try to make it in a place that may not take as much of a precaution with his condition.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Career Ending Injury for Sporting KC
The news surrounding KC today has been specifically focused on the quotes from Peter Vermes last night related to Jermaine Jones and the potential in him coming to MLS. And while the potential of Jones coming to MLS and possibly Kansas City is something fun to think about, the potential of him coming to KC is unlikely.
The interesting bit dropped is when Vermes is talking about all the issues KC has gone through this season that has led them into looking to be active this summer during the window. Vermes said "we’re banged up. We have three players, two of which are season-ending injuries, probably even a little into next year. We have another guy that has a career-ending injury..." The two season ending injuries we knew about, Chance Myers and Ike Opara are both out with injuries that ended their season. And while he doesn't come out and say it, I think it's quite easy to figure out who KC's player is with a career ending injury, Peterson Joseph.
Joseph hasn't practiced with the team since apparently suffering a medical issue at practice during the playoffs. He's had a number of tests run to help confirm what the issue is, they apparently have not given conclusive results, it's not surprising that Joseph's playing career may be done.
It'd be a disappointing finish to a career for a player that had at times looked impressive for KC. A little aggressive at times (see his red card vs Houston) but was a decent talent for KC. I do like the fact that if it is a career ending injury, that Sporting hasn't just thrown him out to free up the spot on the roster. It shows the concern that the team really has for him.
The interesting bit dropped is when Vermes is talking about all the issues KC has gone through this season that has led them into looking to be active this summer during the window. Vermes said "we’re banged up. We have three players, two of which are season-ending injuries, probably even a little into next year. We have another guy that has a career-ending injury..." The two season ending injuries we knew about, Chance Myers and Ike Opara are both out with injuries that ended their season. And while he doesn't come out and say it, I think it's quite easy to figure out who KC's player is with a career ending injury, Peterson Joseph.
Joseph hasn't practiced with the team since apparently suffering a medical issue at practice during the playoffs. He's had a number of tests run to help confirm what the issue is, they apparently have not given conclusive results, it's not surprising that Joseph's playing career may be done.
It'd be a disappointing finish to a career for a player that had at times looked impressive for KC. A little aggressive at times (see his red card vs Houston) but was a decent talent for KC. I do like the fact that if it is a career ending injury, that Sporting hasn't just thrown him out to free up the spot on the roster. It shows the concern that the team really has for him.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Gardner Waived, Joseph to Injured Reserve
Sporting today announced that the club had waived defender, Josh Gardner along with placing Peterson Joseph on injured reserve. The two moves allow KC to free up two roster spots, leaving KC with one on budget spot (for players 1-20 on the roster) and one off budget spot (21-30).
The timing of the moves is interesting, and already I've seen people ask about potential signings coming in to take that one on budget spot.
The Gardner move is a little surprising, but not shocking. He's not gotten too many fans in KC from his performances in games like last year's US Open Cup loss to Orlando or against Cruz Azul in Mexico City when he was subbed out early with an injury. And with the recent emergence of Kevin Ellis and the signing of Toni Dovale, KC looks like they now have enough cover at the left back spot to make Gardner's spot expendable. He appeared in nine MLS games, three CCL games, and two Open Cup games, recording one assist in his KC career.
Joseph going onto the injured reserve was much less surprising; in fact most people have been expecting it for a while. The Haitian international hasn't practiced since collapsing in practice late in the 2013 season. Since then he's had a number of tests done but the cause has still not been found. The only surprise is that it took KC this long for it to be officially mentioned that he was going on IR.
UPDATE:
In quotes about the waiving of Gardner, Peter Vermes has said that the move was done in order to make room for an international defender that they hope to announce this week. Could that be a reference to Brazilian right back, Igor Julião, who the club was linked with earlier this month?
UPDATE:
In quotes about the waiving of Gardner, Peter Vermes has said that the move was done in order to make room for an international defender that they hope to announce this week. Could that be a reference to Brazilian right back, Igor Julião, who the club was linked with earlier this month?
Thursday, January 09, 2014
Most Capped as Kansas City Players
Updating more stats, this time it is players who were capped for their national team while representing Kansas City as well. This year, Sporting had five new players earn caps with national teams, led by Matt Besler, who along with Graham Zusi made the second most appearances in a calender year for a national team while members of Sporting KC, with 12. Their caps are only topped by Preki's 14 that he had for the US in 1998. Also joining the list this year was Mechack Jerome with Haiti (6), Soony Saad with Lebanon (2), Benny Feilhaber with the US (1), and Oriol Rosell with Catalonia (1). I am counting Rosell's friendly appearance because I've also counted Stephane Auvray's appearances with Guadeloupe. Here is the full list.
Josh Wolff - USA - 38 - 6
Jimmy Conrad - USA - 28 - 1
Preki - USA - 26 - 4
Roger Espinoza - Honduras - 25 - 3
Kerry Zavagnin - USA - 21 - 0
Eddie Johnson - USA - 20 - 3
Shavar Thomas - Jamaica - 19 - 0
Graham Zusi - USA - 18 - 3
Chris Klein - USA - 17 - 3
Gary Glasgow - Trinidad & Tobago - 16 - 1
Khari Stephenson - Jamaica - 15 - 3
Scott Sealy - Trinidad & Tobago - 14 - 1
Matt Besler - USA - 12- 0
Kei Kamara - Sierra Leone - 12 - 3
Tony Meola - USA - 12 - 0
Peterson Joseph - 11 - 0
Craig Rocastle - Grenada - 9 - 0
Sunil Chhetri - India - 9 - 5
Stephane Auvray - Guadeloupe - 8 - 1
Davy Arnaud - USA - 7 - 1
Mechack Jerome - 6 - 0
Nick Garcia - USA - 6 - 0
Uche Okafor - Nigeria - 6 - 0
Teal Bunbury - USA - 4 - 1
Onandi Lowe - Jamaica - 3 - 2
Mike Sorber - USA - 3 - 0
Miklos Molnar - Denmark - 3 - 0
Soony Saad - Lebanon - 2 - 1
CJ Sapong - USA - 2 - 0
Mark Chung - USA - 2 - 0
Jermaine Hue - Jamaica - 2 - 0
Benny Feilhaber - USA - 1 - 0
Oriol Rosell - Catalonia - 1 - 0
Chris Henderson - USA - 1 - 0
Steve Pittman - USA - 1 - 0
Digital Takawira - Zimbabwe - Unknown
Still lacking Takawira's appearances for Zimbabwe while playing for KC. One day I hopefully will get that list. KC could have two more players join this list in early February with Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic currently with the US national team for their World Cup preparation camp in LA.
Josh Wolff - USA - 38 - 6
Jimmy Conrad - USA - 28 - 1
Preki - USA - 26 - 4
Roger Espinoza - Honduras - 25 - 3
Kerry Zavagnin - USA - 21 - 0
Eddie Johnson - USA - 20 - 3
Shavar Thomas - Jamaica - 19 - 0
Graham Zusi - USA - 18 - 3
Chris Klein - USA - 17 - 3
Gary Glasgow - Trinidad & Tobago - 16 - 1
Khari Stephenson - Jamaica - 15 - 3
Scott Sealy - Trinidad & Tobago - 14 - 1
Matt Besler - USA - 12- 0
Kei Kamara - Sierra Leone - 12 - 3
Tony Meola - USA - 12 - 0
Peterson Joseph - 11 - 0
Craig Rocastle - Grenada - 9 - 0
Sunil Chhetri - India - 9 - 5
Stephane Auvray - Guadeloupe - 8 - 1
Davy Arnaud - USA - 7 - 1
Mechack Jerome - 6 - 0
Nick Garcia - USA - 6 - 0
Uche Okafor - Nigeria - 6 - 0
Teal Bunbury - USA - 4 - 1
Onandi Lowe - Jamaica - 3 - 2
Mike Sorber - USA - 3 - 0
Miklos Molnar - Denmark - 3 - 0
Soony Saad - Lebanon - 2 - 1
CJ Sapong - USA - 2 - 0
Mark Chung - USA - 2 - 0
Jermaine Hue - Jamaica - 2 - 0
Benny Feilhaber - USA - 1 - 0
Oriol Rosell - Catalonia - 1 - 0
Chris Henderson - USA - 1 - 0
Steve Pittman - USA - 1 - 0
Digital Takawira - Zimbabwe - Unknown
Still lacking Takawira's appearances for Zimbabwe while playing for KC. One day I hopefully will get that list. KC could have two more players join this list in early February with Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic currently with the US national team for their World Cup preparation camp in LA.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Collin, Joseph, and Other News
I've been sick much of this week so I haven't gotten to post a lot. Here's some information from this week that I would have touched on at the time if I had been feeling better.
Collin says he has no interest in Europe.
Last week in an interview with France Football, Aurelien Collin said that he was interested in returning to Europe. At the time when the article was brought to his attention, Collin said that it was a "bad translation." He spoke with Steve Brisendine and reiterated his interest in staying with KC, but that it is also up to the owners and the coach.
Joseph passes out at practice
Last week before the second leg of KC's series against New England we found out that both Lawrence Olum and Peterson Joseph were out due to injuries. We found that Olum was out due to a broken bone in his leg. Joseph's issue had not been disclosed. Later we found that Joseph was out because he passed out at practice last week. He's currently having tests done to figure out what caused him to collapse. In the mean time Peter Vermes is not going to let Joseph practice until they are sure of what caused him to collapse.
Besler and Zusi not called up
Jurgen Klinsmann called up his roster for friendlies against Scotland and Austria. Last week in a Q&A with US Soccer he'd dropped hints that he would be selecting players in the MLS Cup playoffs. When the official announcement was made though, none of the players still involved in the playoffs were called up. That included Sporting KC's Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. They'll now get time to rest and train with Sporting ahead of next week's playoff game against Houston.
Collin says he has no interest in Europe.
Last week in an interview with France Football, Aurelien Collin said that he was interested in returning to Europe. At the time when the article was brought to his attention, Collin said that it was a "bad translation." He spoke with Steve Brisendine and reiterated his interest in staying with KC, but that it is also up to the owners and the coach.
Joseph passes out at practice
Last week before the second leg of KC's series against New England we found out that both Lawrence Olum and Peterson Joseph were out due to injuries. We found that Olum was out due to a broken bone in his leg. Joseph's issue had not been disclosed. Later we found that Joseph was out because he passed out at practice last week. He's currently having tests done to figure out what caused him to collapse. In the mean time Peter Vermes is not going to let Joseph practice until they are sure of what caused him to collapse.
Besler and Zusi not called up
Jurgen Klinsmann called up his roster for friendlies against Scotland and Austria. Last week in a Q&A with US Soccer he'd dropped hints that he would be selecting players in the MLS Cup playoffs. When the official announcement was made though, none of the players still involved in the playoffs were called up. That included Sporting KC's Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. They'll now get time to rest and train with Sporting ahead of next week's playoff game against Houston.
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Olum Done for the Year
Sporting Kansas City are getting ready to play their biggest game of the year tomorrow in their second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They'll be down two players for the game in Lawrence Olum and Peterson Joseph. While Joseph hasn't played much of a role the last few games, Olum has, starting the last two games and scoring the game winning goal in KC's 2-1 win over Philadelphia.
Olum's season is done though after it was reported today that Olum had a fracture in his shin that will end his season. The break apparently occurred in stoppage time on a foul by Chad Barrett that resulted in a yellow card for the New England forward.
Watching the video I have to say I don't see how the break occurred, but I've seen injuries happen with less contact on the field before. It's a blow to KC because of Olum's role lately. With Joseph out tomorrow as well, KC's midfield depth takes a hit. With Paulo Nagamura still uncertain, that leaves KC with three regular midfielders that regularly play, Oriol Rosell, Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi.
Olum's season is done though after it was reported today that Olum had a fracture in his shin that will end his season. The break apparently occurred in stoppage time on a foul by Chad Barrett that resulted in a yellow card for the New England forward.
Watching the video I have to say I don't see how the break occurred, but I've seen injuries happen with less contact on the field before. It's a blow to KC because of Olum's role lately. With Joseph out tomorrow as well, KC's midfield depth takes a hit. With Paulo Nagamura still uncertain, that leaves KC with three regular midfielders that regularly play, Oriol Rosell, Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Jerome and Joseph Called Up for Haiti
We're coming up upon another international break with another round of World Cup qualifiers coming up. Sporting looks set for a few players for qualifiers, but the first two announced players are for a friendly. Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph have been called up for Haiti for their friendly against Korea on September 6th. The two will miss Sporting's game on September 7th against Columbus at Sporting Park.
That means that Joseph will miss the next two league games for Sporting KC. He's already missing KC's game this weekend against Colorado due to yellow card suspension. So his next potential match for the club will be KC's next Champions' League game against Real Esteli on the 17th of September.
These though are the first of a few call ups for Sporting KC in the September FIFA date. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi both seem likely to be called up for the US team for games against Costa Rica and Mexico. Meanwhile Sierra Leone has a World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea that could seem Kei Kamara called up, but the Leone Stars are eliminated from World Cup qualifying so maybe he stays with KC. The other potential call up is Soony Saad who could be called up for a pair of friendlies for Lebanon against Syria and Qatar. The game against Columbus could certainly contain a number of reserves if all are called up and accept the calls.
That means that Joseph will miss the next two league games for Sporting KC. He's already missing KC's game this weekend against Colorado due to yellow card suspension. So his next potential match for the club will be KC's next Champions' League game against Real Esteli on the 17th of September.
These though are the first of a few call ups for Sporting KC in the September FIFA date. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi both seem likely to be called up for the US team for games against Costa Rica and Mexico. Meanwhile Sierra Leone has a World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea that could seem Kei Kamara called up, but the Leone Stars are eliminated from World Cup qualifying so maybe he stays with KC. The other potential call up is Soony Saad who could be called up for a pair of friendlies for Lebanon against Syria and Qatar. The game against Columbus could certainly contain a number of reserves if all are called up and accept the calls.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Gold Cup Over for Jerome and Joseph
The Gold Cup run for Mechack Jerome, Peterson Joseph, and Haiti ended tonight in Houston. A 1-0 loss to El Salvador on an iffy penalty call, and a 2-0 win by Trinidad and Tobago over 10 man Honduras saw Haiti go out of the tournament with a 1-2 record.
Haiti lost their first game of the tournament 2-0 to Honduras. They came back in the second game, beating Trinidad 2-0 before the loss tonight to El Salvador. Jerome started all three games for Haiti in the tournament. Joseph started the team's first game and came on as a substitute in the team's final two games.
Jerome and Joseph will now returning to Sporting KC and should probably be available for the team's game this weekend in Salt Lake. Jerome will give KC back some wingback depth that forced them to quickly recall Kevin Ellis from his loan to Orlando ahead of this past weekend's game against Toronto. Joseph will give KC some more midfield depth with Paulo Nagamura still struggling with ankle issues.
Haiti lost their first game of the tournament 2-0 to Honduras. They came back in the second game, beating Trinidad 2-0 before the loss tonight to El Salvador. Jerome started all three games for Haiti in the tournament. Joseph started the team's first game and came on as a substitute in the team's final two games.
Jerome and Joseph will now returning to Sporting KC and should probably be available for the team's game this weekend in Salt Lake. Jerome will give KC back some wingback depth that forced them to quickly recall Kevin Ellis from his loan to Orlando ahead of this past weekend's game against Toronto. Joseph will give KC some more midfield depth with Paulo Nagamura still struggling with ankle issues.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Jerome and Joseph Called Up for Gold Cup
The Haitian national team has named their roster for the upcoming Gold Cup. Sporting KC's Haitian duo, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph will both on the team. The two left Kansas City on Tuesday to join their national team in Canada where they are training and playing friendlies ahead of the tournament. Haiti is in group B in the Gold Cup, with Honduras (who they play July 8th), Trinidad and Tobago (July 12th), and El Salvador (July 15th).
During the tournament Jerome and Joseph will miss at least four games, Saturday against the Crew, July 3rd against Vancouver, July 7th in Chicago, and July 13th in Toronto. If Haiti advances, the duo would miss KC's game in Salt Lake on the 20th. The only other game they could miss is if Haiti were to make the final and that'd be KC's trip to Montreal on the 27th.
During the tournament Jerome and Joseph will miss at least four games, Saturday against the Crew, July 3rd against Vancouver, July 7th in Chicago, and July 13th in Toronto. If Haiti advances, the duo would miss KC's game in Salt Lake on the 20th. The only other game they could miss is if Haiti were to make the final and that'd be KC's trip to Montreal on the 27th.
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Sporting KC Internationals Busy this Weekend
Sporting KC has recently had 7 of their players on international duty, representing their country, and this past weekend was busy for all of them.
On Friday it was announced that Sporting KC's first round pick in the super draft this year, Mikey Lopez had been selected to the roster for this summer's U20 World Cup in Turkey. He's flown straight from France, competing in the Toulon tournament with the U20 team to Portugal, where the team is holding their training preparing for the World Cup.
The news wasn't as good for Soony Saad though. Saad, who scored on his debut for Lebanon had been asked to stay on ahead of Lebanon's 2 World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Iran. Saad was set to play a role in those games, but because of paper work issues with his one time FIFA switch, he was unable to play in Lebanon's 1-1 draw with South Korea that eliminated Lebanon from World Cup qualifying. Saad has returned to Sporting KC at this time because the paper work issue will not be resolved by the time of Lebanon's other qualifier against Iran.
Friday night, Sporting's two full US internationals were both in the starting lineup as the US took on Jamaica in Jamaica. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi both started for the US in their 2-1 win at "The Office." Both players handled the situation well, Besler remains undefeated when starting for the US now with a 2-0-1 record. Handled the Jamaican attack quite well throughout the game. Zusi also had himself a strong game and was a danger throughout. He set up the first goal of the game doing very well on the right wing before playing in a perfect cross to Jozy Altidore who headed the ball in to give the US a 1-0 lead in the first half. On the opposite side though he gave away the foul that led to the Jamaica goal. And on that play Zusi picked up his second yellow of the Hex, meaning he has to sit out the game this coming Tuesday against Panama in Seattle.
On Saturday, Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone took the field in a virtual must win qualifier in Freetown against Tunisia. A loss would have eliminated Sierra Leone from World Cup qualification. Kamara scored his 3rd international goal of his career as the Leone Stars grabbed a 1-0 lead. They kept the lead until a 44th minute penalty from Tunisia tied the game. Sierra Leone regained the lead in the 72nd though and looked to be on their way to a big win. Unfortunately Tunisia equalized again in stoppage time again to make it 2-2. With that result, Sierra Leone remain 5 points behind Tunisia with only 2 games left to play. This means Sierra Leone needs to win out and Tunisia needs to lose out for the Leone Stars to advance in World Cup qualifying.
Also on Saturday, Haiti took on the world champs, Spain in a friendly in Miami, Florida. Peterson Joseph started the game for Haiti. Joseph ended up being subbed out just before the hour mark, being replaced by his Sporting teammate, Mechack Jerome. Haiti surprisingly kept the result close as they only fell to Spain 2-1.
Things remain busy for Sporting's internationals this week as well. Besler and Zusi have the qualifier against Panama. Sierra Leone face a must win qualifier on the road against Cape Verde. Joseph and Jerome will make their way to Brazil where they will take on the previous World Cup champs, Italy.
On Friday it was announced that Sporting KC's first round pick in the super draft this year, Mikey Lopez had been selected to the roster for this summer's U20 World Cup in Turkey. He's flown straight from France, competing in the Toulon tournament with the U20 team to Portugal, where the team is holding their training preparing for the World Cup.
The news wasn't as good for Soony Saad though. Saad, who scored on his debut for Lebanon had been asked to stay on ahead of Lebanon's 2 World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Iran. Saad was set to play a role in those games, but because of paper work issues with his one time FIFA switch, he was unable to play in Lebanon's 1-1 draw with South Korea that eliminated Lebanon from World Cup qualifying. Saad has returned to Sporting KC at this time because the paper work issue will not be resolved by the time of Lebanon's other qualifier against Iran.
Friday night, Sporting's two full US internationals were both in the starting lineup as the US took on Jamaica in Jamaica. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi both started for the US in their 2-1 win at "The Office." Both players handled the situation well, Besler remains undefeated when starting for the US now with a 2-0-1 record. Handled the Jamaican attack quite well throughout the game. Zusi also had himself a strong game and was a danger throughout. He set up the first goal of the game doing very well on the right wing before playing in a perfect cross to Jozy Altidore who headed the ball in to give the US a 1-0 lead in the first half. On the opposite side though he gave away the foul that led to the Jamaica goal. And on that play Zusi picked up his second yellow of the Hex, meaning he has to sit out the game this coming Tuesday against Panama in Seattle.
On Saturday, Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone took the field in a virtual must win qualifier in Freetown against Tunisia. A loss would have eliminated Sierra Leone from World Cup qualification. Kamara scored his 3rd international goal of his career as the Leone Stars grabbed a 1-0 lead. They kept the lead until a 44th minute penalty from Tunisia tied the game. Sierra Leone regained the lead in the 72nd though and looked to be on their way to a big win. Unfortunately Tunisia equalized again in stoppage time again to make it 2-2. With that result, Sierra Leone remain 5 points behind Tunisia with only 2 games left to play. This means Sierra Leone needs to win out and Tunisia needs to lose out for the Leone Stars to advance in World Cup qualifying.
Also on Saturday, Haiti took on the world champs, Spain in a friendly in Miami, Florida. Peterson Joseph started the game for Haiti. Joseph ended up being subbed out just before the hour mark, being replaced by his Sporting teammate, Mechack Jerome. Haiti surprisingly kept the result close as they only fell to Spain 2-1.
Things remain busy for Sporting's internationals this week as well. Besler and Zusi have the qualifier against Panama. Sierra Leone face a must win qualifier on the road against Cape Verde. Joseph and Jerome will make their way to Brazil where they will take on the previous World Cup champs, Italy.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Five Sporting Players Named to Preliminary Gold Cup Roster
The 35 man preliminary rosters were announced today for this summer's Gold Cup for all 12 teams competing in the tournament. Among the players are five Sporting KC players who could be called up for the final 23 man rosters for two of the teams competing in the tournament.
There were three players named to the US roster that could be called up. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, who are currently with the national team were named to the team. The third player is a bit of a surprise considering his lack of playing time lately. Benny Feilhaber is the third US player that has been called up. Feilhaber hasn't played a lot lately for Sporting, but will look to represent the US for a second time while a member of Sporting KC.
The other two that have been named to the provisional squad are Sporting's two Haitians, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph. The two have already been called up for Haiti's friendlies against Spain and Italy this month.
The Gold Cup runs from July 7th through the 28th throughout the US. The group stage runs from the 7th through the 16th with knockout rounds after that. Should any of the 5 make the final 23, they'd miss up to 5 league games if they make the finals. An elimination during the group stage would see players miss 3 games.
Here's KC's 5 games that take place during the Gold Cup, or just before, after players would have reported.
7/3 vs Vancouver.
7/7 at Chicago
7/13 vs Toronto
7/20 at Salt Lake
7/27 at Montreal
There were three players named to the US roster that could be called up. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, who are currently with the national team were named to the team. The third player is a bit of a surprise considering his lack of playing time lately. Benny Feilhaber is the third US player that has been called up. Feilhaber hasn't played a lot lately for Sporting, but will look to represent the US for a second time while a member of Sporting KC.
The other two that have been named to the provisional squad are Sporting's two Haitians, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph. The two have already been called up for Haiti's friendlies against Spain and Italy this month.
The Gold Cup runs from July 7th through the 28th throughout the US. The group stage runs from the 7th through the 16th with knockout rounds after that. Should any of the 5 make the final 23, they'd miss up to 5 league games if they make the finals. An elimination during the group stage would see players miss 3 games.
Here's KC's 5 games that take place during the Gold Cup, or just before, after players would have reported.
7/3 vs Vancouver.
7/7 at Chicago
7/13 vs Toronto
7/20 at Salt Lake
7/27 at Montreal
Monday, May 20, 2013
More Call Ups for KC, and its Affect
Sporting Kansas City today announced three more players had been called up to represent their national team today. Mikey Lopez, Kansas City's first round draft pick this year has been called up to the US U20 team for the upcoming Toulon Tournament in France. The tournament in France goes from May 28th through June 8th and is a warm up for the U20 World Cup this summer in Turkey. For the Toulon tournament, the USA is grouped with Colombia, Congo, South Korea, and France. The US will France on the 28th, Colombia on the 30th, Congo on the 1st, before closing out group play on the 5th vs South Korea. If the US finishes in the top two in their group they'll advance to play in either the finals or the third place match on the 8th. With travel, Lopez is likely to miss the league games vs Houston and Montreal as well as KC's first US Open Cup match on the 28th. The last is probably the most disappointing as Lopez likely would have made his debut if he'd stayed with the team.
The other two call ups are KC's Haitian contingent, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph. Both are back with the national team for two games against the previous two World Cup champions. Haiti will play Spain at Sun Life Stadium down in Miami on June 8th. Haiti will then travel to Brazil where they will take on the 2006 World Cup champions Italy on the 12th in the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro as Italy prepares for the Confederations Cup. The pair would not miss any league games, but the two would miss a potential 4th round US Open Cup match on the 12th should Sporting win their first game.
The win puts Kansas City in an interesting position team wise. That gives KC a total of 7 players currently on the roster that will be traveling with their national team over the next month or so, with Matt Besler, Kei Kamara, Soony Saad, and Graham Zusi being the other four. If those 7 were all to be gone at the same time, KC would only have 17 available players in Kansas City when you don't count the 4 players on loan in Orlando and Teal Bunbury recovering from his ACL tear still.
There is some good news in this though. First, there is no time during this stretch that Kansas City that all seven of those players will be gone. For Houston only Saad and Lopez are likely to be unavailable. For the US Open Cup game on Tuesday the 28th those two plus Besler and Zusi will not be available. The June 1st game against Montreal will see three, Lopez, Besler, and Zusi. Should KC win their third round US Open Cup match, they'll be missing five for the fourth round match on the 12th as Besler and Zusi will be joined by Mechack Jerome, Peterson Joseph, and Kei Kamara for that match. The other good news is that KC's schedule during this run is fairly light. KC only has two league games and potentially two Open Cup games affected by these call ups. It could certainly have been a lot worse for Kansas City.
To see the break down of about when players will be gone check out the below graph I crudely drew up. (Click to see full size.)
The other two call ups are KC's Haitian contingent, Mechack Jerome and Peterson Joseph. Both are back with the national team for two games against the previous two World Cup champions. Haiti will play Spain at Sun Life Stadium down in Miami on June 8th. Haiti will then travel to Brazil where they will take on the 2006 World Cup champions Italy on the 12th in the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro as Italy prepares for the Confederations Cup. The pair would not miss any league games, but the two would miss a potential 4th round US Open Cup match on the 12th should Sporting win their first game.
The win puts Kansas City in an interesting position team wise. That gives KC a total of 7 players currently on the roster that will be traveling with their national team over the next month or so, with Matt Besler, Kei Kamara, Soony Saad, and Graham Zusi being the other four. If those 7 were all to be gone at the same time, KC would only have 17 available players in Kansas City when you don't count the 4 players on loan in Orlando and Teal Bunbury recovering from his ACL tear still.
There is some good news in this though. First, there is no time during this stretch that Kansas City that all seven of those players will be gone. For Houston only Saad and Lopez are likely to be unavailable. For the US Open Cup game on Tuesday the 28th those two plus Besler and Zusi will not be available. The June 1st game against Montreal will see three, Lopez, Besler, and Zusi. Should KC win their third round US Open Cup match, they'll be missing five for the fourth round match on the 12th as Besler and Zusi will be joined by Mechack Jerome, Peterson Joseph, and Kei Kamara for that match. The other good news is that KC's schedule during this run is fairly light. KC only has two league games and potentially two Open Cup games affected by these call ups. It could certainly have been a lot worse for Kansas City.
To see the break down of about when players will be gone check out the below graph I crudely drew up. (Click to see full size.)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Who is Going to "Replace" Kamara?
With Kei Kamara's departure for Norwich for at least the first 10 games of the MLS season, there's a hole to fill not only on the right wing, but offensively.
First, let's just get it out of the way, you can't just replace Kamara. No one on KC's roster at this time plays the same style and the same way that Kamara does. We're not just going to be straight up replacing him on the field. There will likely be changes in the way things are done to compensate for his loss.
In the 2012 season, Sporting went 7-3 in the first 10 games of the season. Kamara scored 4 goals and added 2 more assists during that stretch. He also missed a penalty kick against FC Dallas in the 3rd game of the season.
On the surface that doesn't seem like a lot, but outside Kamara, only 4 players scored 4 goals in league play last year all season. CJ Sapong had 9, Teal Bunbury and Graham Zusi had 5 and Jacob Peterson had 4. It's certainly easy to say that Claudio Bieler will be able to make up those 4 goals lost from Kamara and Benny Feilhaber should easily be able to make up the 2 assists in that stretch that KC is losing.
The thing with that line of thinking though is that Bieler and Feilhaber weren't brought in just to make up for the goals KC is now losing from Kamara. They were brought in to add to KC's goal total by either putting the ball in the net or setting up others.
Another worry is that if Norwich does pick up the option to buy Kamara. Then you have to replace a player who had either a goal or an assist in 45% of KC's goals in the 2012 season. And in the past 3 years, he's contributed to 38% of KC's goals with 30 goals and 18 assists. That's quite a bit of offense that will need to be replaced. As mentioned above Beiler and Feilhaber were brought in to help supplement Kamara's goals, not straight replace them. Replacing the goals will certainly be one thing that will need to happen for KC's success this year.
Along with the offensive production, there's a hole now on KC's right wing in attack. A lot of KC's attack in the last two seasons has gone down KC's right hand side, especially after Bobby Convey's injury last year. Kamara and right back, Chance Myers, did a fantastic job of combining down the right side the past two years for KC.
As I stated above, KC isn't going to be able to just straight replace Kamara and they're not just going to be able to replace that attack. The first thing that will hopefully help to fill the hole left by Kamara is going to be the health of Convey. When Convey was healthy, KC was able to attack more down both sides of the field. If Convey can remain healthy for the 2013 season, he'll take some of the pressure off of whoever fills in Kamara's role in the right wing position. Not putting as much pressure on that position to produce the same numbers as Kamara did will help.
There's also who will replace him on the field. During his Twitter chat on the way back from Tucson, Robb Heineman was asked who he thought Peter Vermes would play in Kamara's spot. Heineman's response was that CJ Sapong was probably at the top of the list. Last night in the team's friendly against FC Tucson, that's exactly where Sapong played, in the right forward role. And while it was a minor league team, Sapong and Myers combined well down the right and Myers got off plenty of crosses. The other end of the crosses was the problem last night.
While Sapong is probably the leader to start on the right, there are other options. Graham Zusi, who was away with the national team last night, is another option to start on the right. He spent time as a wide forward last season after Teal Bunbury and Jacob Peterson went down and Convey remained injured. Zusi did a strong job on the wing, and that's a position he's played for the USA when they've run a 4-3-3, so he isn't out of his element on the right hand side. The argument against that is that you miss his presence in the middle. But with the addition of Feilhaber that may negate that a bit.
You also have the currently injured Jacob Peterson. Peterson enjoyed a career year with KC last year that was cut short by injury. He equaled a career high for league goals last year with 4 and was one of KC's most consistent players in the middle of the season when they were struggling at times to get results. Peterson spent time out wide on the left wing last season, but KC's system last year saw him spending time on the right side as well as he and Kamara flowed from one side to the other. The question with Peterson is going to be how long he's going to be out still recovering from the shoulder surgery. He's already set to miss the season opener because of it.
Teal Bunbury is an outside option of the forwards that could play on the right side. He's probably the least likely of those listed so far. So far with Sporting he's not shown a great ability out wide. He's played out there occasionally, his first professional goal for example, came from him playing out wide against the Colorado Rapids in the US Open Cup. The big issue with Bunbury, like with Peterson, is his current injury. He's out until at least the summer probably, which means he'd likely only be seen as a replacement for Kamara if the move to Norwich becomes permanent. Still I'd prefer Sapong, Peterson, or Zusi to start on the right wing over Bunbury, and see him in the middle either as a starter or spelling Bieler.
You also have a few wild cards that could play out wide as well. Guys like Benny Feilhaber or Peterson Joseph could move up from midfield and potentially play out as a wide forward. Both are more suited for the midfield, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Another two wild cards are KC's other two forwards, Dom Dwyer and Soony Saad. Dwyer was close to going on loan to St. Mirren earlier this transfer window, but had the loan called off at the last minute, was the Norwich interest in Kamara the reason for that? If you want to connect dots it certainly looks like it. Dwyer has spent some time on the wing for KC, specifically in his run out against Orlando in the US Open Cup. Much of the rest of his time has been spent in the center of the forward line. Like Dwyer, Saad isn't really a wide forward, but has spent time there for KC since he joined the club. Saad though seems more likely to drop further back, into the midfield than move wide. He didn't spend much time at all out wide last night in the friendly against Tucson, instead staying more centrally.
So there are options to replace Kamara at the right wing position for the short term. Baring injuries in the rest of preseason, I expect the forward line on March 2nd in Philadelphia to be Convey on the left, Bieler in the middle, and Sapong on the right side. Once Peterson is healthy I could see him getting more starts on the right, allowing Sapong to come in off the bench for Bieler, especially if Bieler's fitness issues don't get resolved quickly (he finished second to last on the beep test after Jimmy Nielsen).
At this time, I don't believe that we're going to see Sporting jump back into the market looking for a forward to replace Kamara on the right hand side, instead I think they're likely to stick with who they have, at least for the short term. Overall, while Kansas City won't be able to get a straight swap for Kamara on the wing, the team does have options that can at least fill in adequately until he returns in May or it's apparent he won't return and KC starts shopping for someone who plays right wing as their primary position.
First, let's just get it out of the way, you can't just replace Kamara. No one on KC's roster at this time plays the same style and the same way that Kamara does. We're not just going to be straight up replacing him on the field. There will likely be changes in the way things are done to compensate for his loss.
In the 2012 season, Sporting went 7-3 in the first 10 games of the season. Kamara scored 4 goals and added 2 more assists during that stretch. He also missed a penalty kick against FC Dallas in the 3rd game of the season.
On the surface that doesn't seem like a lot, but outside Kamara, only 4 players scored 4 goals in league play last year all season. CJ Sapong had 9, Teal Bunbury and Graham Zusi had 5 and Jacob Peterson had 4. It's certainly easy to say that Claudio Bieler will be able to make up those 4 goals lost from Kamara and Benny Feilhaber should easily be able to make up the 2 assists in that stretch that KC is losing.
The thing with that line of thinking though is that Bieler and Feilhaber weren't brought in just to make up for the goals KC is now losing from Kamara. They were brought in to add to KC's goal total by either putting the ball in the net or setting up others.
Another worry is that if Norwich does pick up the option to buy Kamara. Then you have to replace a player who had either a goal or an assist in 45% of KC's goals in the 2012 season. And in the past 3 years, he's contributed to 38% of KC's goals with 30 goals and 18 assists. That's quite a bit of offense that will need to be replaced. As mentioned above Beiler and Feilhaber were brought in to help supplement Kamara's goals, not straight replace them. Replacing the goals will certainly be one thing that will need to happen for KC's success this year.
Along with the offensive production, there's a hole now on KC's right wing in attack. A lot of KC's attack in the last two seasons has gone down KC's right hand side, especially after Bobby Convey's injury last year. Kamara and right back, Chance Myers, did a fantastic job of combining down the right side the past two years for KC.
As I stated above, KC isn't going to be able to just straight replace Kamara and they're not just going to be able to replace that attack. The first thing that will hopefully help to fill the hole left by Kamara is going to be the health of Convey. When Convey was healthy, KC was able to attack more down both sides of the field. If Convey can remain healthy for the 2013 season, he'll take some of the pressure off of whoever fills in Kamara's role in the right wing position. Not putting as much pressure on that position to produce the same numbers as Kamara did will help.
There's also who will replace him on the field. During his Twitter chat on the way back from Tucson, Robb Heineman was asked who he thought Peter Vermes would play in Kamara's spot. Heineman's response was that CJ Sapong was probably at the top of the list. Last night in the team's friendly against FC Tucson, that's exactly where Sapong played, in the right forward role. And while it was a minor league team, Sapong and Myers combined well down the right and Myers got off plenty of crosses. The other end of the crosses was the problem last night.
While Sapong is probably the leader to start on the right, there are other options. Graham Zusi, who was away with the national team last night, is another option to start on the right. He spent time as a wide forward last season after Teal Bunbury and Jacob Peterson went down and Convey remained injured. Zusi did a strong job on the wing, and that's a position he's played for the USA when they've run a 4-3-3, so he isn't out of his element on the right hand side. The argument against that is that you miss his presence in the middle. But with the addition of Feilhaber that may negate that a bit.
You also have the currently injured Jacob Peterson. Peterson enjoyed a career year with KC last year that was cut short by injury. He equaled a career high for league goals last year with 4 and was one of KC's most consistent players in the middle of the season when they were struggling at times to get results. Peterson spent time out wide on the left wing last season, but KC's system last year saw him spending time on the right side as well as he and Kamara flowed from one side to the other. The question with Peterson is going to be how long he's going to be out still recovering from the shoulder surgery. He's already set to miss the season opener because of it.
Teal Bunbury is an outside option of the forwards that could play on the right side. He's probably the least likely of those listed so far. So far with Sporting he's not shown a great ability out wide. He's played out there occasionally, his first professional goal for example, came from him playing out wide against the Colorado Rapids in the US Open Cup. The big issue with Bunbury, like with Peterson, is his current injury. He's out until at least the summer probably, which means he'd likely only be seen as a replacement for Kamara if the move to Norwich becomes permanent. Still I'd prefer Sapong, Peterson, or Zusi to start on the right wing over Bunbury, and see him in the middle either as a starter or spelling Bieler.
You also have a few wild cards that could play out wide as well. Guys like Benny Feilhaber or Peterson Joseph could move up from midfield and potentially play out as a wide forward. Both are more suited for the midfield, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Another two wild cards are KC's other two forwards, Dom Dwyer and Soony Saad. Dwyer was close to going on loan to St. Mirren earlier this transfer window, but had the loan called off at the last minute, was the Norwich interest in Kamara the reason for that? If you want to connect dots it certainly looks like it. Dwyer has spent some time on the wing for KC, specifically in his run out against Orlando in the US Open Cup. Much of the rest of his time has been spent in the center of the forward line. Like Dwyer, Saad isn't really a wide forward, but has spent time there for KC since he joined the club. Saad though seems more likely to drop further back, into the midfield than move wide. He didn't spend much time at all out wide last night in the friendly against Tucson, instead staying more centrally.
So there are options to replace Kamara at the right wing position for the short term. Baring injuries in the rest of preseason, I expect the forward line on March 2nd in Philadelphia to be Convey on the left, Bieler in the middle, and Sapong on the right side. Once Peterson is healthy I could see him getting more starts on the right, allowing Sapong to come in off the bench for Bieler, especially if Bieler's fitness issues don't get resolved quickly (he finished second to last on the beep test after Jimmy Nielsen).
At this time, I don't believe that we're going to see Sporting jump back into the market looking for a forward to replace Kamara on the right hand side, instead I think they're likely to stick with who they have, at least for the short term. Overall, while Kansas City won't be able to get a straight swap for Kamara on the wing, the team does have options that can at least fill in adequately until he returns in May or it's apparent he won't return and KC starts shopping for someone who plays right wing as their primary position.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Most Capped as Sporting KC/KC Wizards Players
Continuing my updating of stats this offseason, tonight we're going to look at the players who have been capped for their national teams as a member of Kansas City. The first number is their caps while appearing for KC, the second is goals.
Josh Wolff - USA - 38 - 6
Jimmy Conrad - USA - 28 - 1
Preki - USA - 26 - 4
Roger Espinoza - Honduras - 25 - 3
Kerry Zavagnin - USA - 21 - 0
Eddie Johnson - USA - 20 - 3
Shavar Thomas - Jamaica - 19 - 0
Chris Klein - USA - 17 - 3
Gary Glasgow - Trinidad & Tobago - 16 - 1
Khari Stephenson - Jamaica - 15 - 3
Scott Sealy - Trinidad & Tobago - 14 - 1
Tony Meola - USA - 12 - 0
Kei Kamara - Sierra Leone - 11 - 2
Craig Rocastle - Grenada - 9 - 0
Sunil Chhetri - India - 9 - 5
Stephane Auvray - Guadeloupe - 8 - 1
Davy Arnaud - USA - 7 - 1
Graham Zusi - USA - 6 - 1
Peterson Joseph - Haiti - 6 - 0
Nick Garcia - USA - 6 - 0
Uche Okafor - Nigeria - 6 - 0
Teal Bunbury - USA - 4 - 1
Onandi Lowe - Jamaica - 3 - 2
Mike Sorber - USA - 3 - 0
Miklos Molnar - Denmark - 3 - 0
CJ Sapong - USA - 2 - 0
Mark Chung - USA - 2 - 0
Jermaine Hue - Jamaica - 2 - 0
Chris Henderson - USA - 1 - 0
Steve Pittman - USA - 1 - 0
Digital Takawira - Zimbabwe - Unknown
I've still been unable to find cap numbers for Digitial Takawira while he playing for KC unfortunately. Hopefully later this month, two more players will be joining the list for Sporting KC with both Matt Besler and Benny Feilhaber being called into US camp each could get their first cap as a member of Sporting KC (and Besler's first period) later this month when the US plays Canada in Houston.
Josh Wolff - USA - 38 - 6
Jimmy Conrad - USA - 28 - 1
Preki - USA - 26 - 4
Roger Espinoza - Honduras - 25 - 3
Kerry Zavagnin - USA - 21 - 0
Eddie Johnson - USA - 20 - 3
Shavar Thomas - Jamaica - 19 - 0
Chris Klein - USA - 17 - 3
Gary Glasgow - Trinidad & Tobago - 16 - 1
Khari Stephenson - Jamaica - 15 - 3
Scott Sealy - Trinidad & Tobago - 14 - 1
Tony Meola - USA - 12 - 0
Kei Kamara - Sierra Leone - 11 - 2
Craig Rocastle - Grenada - 9 - 0
Sunil Chhetri - India - 9 - 5
Stephane Auvray - Guadeloupe - 8 - 1
Davy Arnaud - USA - 7 - 1
Graham Zusi - USA - 6 - 1
Peterson Joseph - Haiti - 6 - 0
Nick Garcia - USA - 6 - 0
Uche Okafor - Nigeria - 6 - 0
Teal Bunbury - USA - 4 - 1
Onandi Lowe - Jamaica - 3 - 2
Mike Sorber - USA - 3 - 0
Miklos Molnar - Denmark - 3 - 0
CJ Sapong - USA - 2 - 0
Mark Chung - USA - 2 - 0
Jermaine Hue - Jamaica - 2 - 0
Chris Henderson - USA - 1 - 0
Steve Pittman - USA - 1 - 0
Digital Takawira - Zimbabwe - Unknown
I've still been unable to find cap numbers for Digitial Takawira while he playing for KC unfortunately. Hopefully later this month, two more players will be joining the list for Sporting KC with both Matt Besler and Benny Feilhaber being called into US camp each could get their first cap as a member of Sporting KC (and Besler's first period) later this month when the US plays Canada in Houston.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Some Best Ofs for 2012
I don't normally do any Best Ofs here at the end of the year, but here are a few today. Some moments of the year, enjoy.
Game of the Year
8/8/12 vs Seattle Sounders
Really was their any other choice? The game itself lacked a little bit, but the atmosphere and the result combine to make this the game of the year. A goal from the spot by Kei Kamara led to the loudest cheer I've heard at any Sporting game. The equalizer from Zach Scott a minute later. A scoreless extra time period that saw Patrick Ianni sent off led to penalty kicks. Kei Kamara made the first to put KC up. Brad Evans equalized. Roger Espinoza had his attempted saved and Marc Burch gave Seattle the lead. Matt Besler leveled things and Osvaldo Alonso sent his shot over the bar. Graham Zusi tried to be cheeky but put his attempt over the bar while Christian Tiffert had his shot saved by Jimmy Nielsen. Paulo Nagamura stepped up to be the 5th shooter and his shot stopped by Michael Gspurning. The PK was forced to be retaken though as Gspurning was off his line. Nagamura buried his second attempt. Eddie Johnson skied his attempt over the bar and the celebration was on.
Goal of the Year
Julio Cesar vs Toronto FC 6/16
I'm not sure you can strike a ball better than Cesar did here, it's absolutely fantastically struck.
Assist of the year
Peterson Joseph to Jacob Peterson vs Columbus 7/14
I just love the way Joseph goes completely against the movement of the movement of the ball using the outside of his foot to play the ball through to Peterson, a fantastic ball.
Goosebump moment of the year
Roger Espinoza's standing ovation after being red carded at the Olympics
The summer Olympics in London were a coming out party of sorts for Roger Espinoza, he was a known commodity the past two years for Sporting KC in the midfield, but in the Olympics many others found out. Espinoza had played a fantastic tournament and it was highlighted by his man of the match performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals. Espinoza set up one and scored another in Honduras' 3-2 loss to the eventual silver medalists. But it was his play and passion overall that won over the crowd at St. James' Park that day. He ended the day early picking up a red card, but walked off the field to many congratulations from players and a standing ovation from the St. James' Park crowd. Many fans expected Espinoza to be leaving KC after this season, the Olympics just confirmed that and Espinoza will be plying his trade in England starting in January.
Off field moment of the year
Lance Armstrong/Livestrong Saga
With Lance Armstrong being stripped of his Tour de France titles for doping and the on going discussion over that, talk eventually turned to Livestrong Sporting Park. KC's home stadium that has the name of the foundation that Armstrong founded to help people during their fight with cancer. The debate on whether to keep the name or change it has been one that has been discussed not just by soccer fans, but by sports fans as well as casual fans, especially locally. So far, publicly Sporting Club has made statements about the separation between the Livestrong organization and Armstrong. Whether Sporting will end up keeping the name, or eventually switch to another name is something that will still have to be watched.
Low moment of the year
4-0 loss to Philadelphia 6/23
While season ending loss in the series to Houston is a downer, the low point of the year was Sporting's 4-0 dismantling that they took at the hands of the Philadelphia Union. Sporting conceded in the first minute on a Jack McInerney goal and conceded again in the 42nd. Goals in the 81st by Lionard Pajoy from the spot and from Antoine Hoppenot in the 87th sealed the rout. KC never looked into the game and desperately missed Matt Besler who was out recovering from his appendectomy. What made the loss all that much wosre was that while KC was 9-2-2 heading into that game, Philadelphia was 1-8-2 sitting on 5 points, 24 behind KC when the teams took the field.
Moment of anger that was quickly forgotten
MLS Cup 2000 trophy
As one of my wants/wishes for 2012 I wanted to get the 2000 MLS Cup trophy back from Hunt Sports' Group. James from Sporting Times started a grass roots movement to attempt to get the trophy back. Turns out the trophy was in storage and had been put there during the renovations of Arrowhead Stadium. During the process, it came out that one of the requirements for selling the team was that HSG got to keep the 2000 MLS Cup trophy. Clark Hunt was going to have the trophy put into a portion of the Hall of Fame at Arrowhead. But first, it would spend the 2012 season with Sporting KC and then the team would receive a replica to keep. I saw the MLS Cup trophy twice I believe at the stadium, both times in the Members' Club shortly after the announcement was made. The trophy was supposed to "tour" the stadium throughout the season, but I never heard anything else about it's travels. The good news is that winning the Open Cup helped people to forget the 2000 trophy a bit.
Game of the Year
8/8/12 vs Seattle Sounders
Really was their any other choice? The game itself lacked a little bit, but the atmosphere and the result combine to make this the game of the year. A goal from the spot by Kei Kamara led to the loudest cheer I've heard at any Sporting game. The equalizer from Zach Scott a minute later. A scoreless extra time period that saw Patrick Ianni sent off led to penalty kicks. Kei Kamara made the first to put KC up. Brad Evans equalized. Roger Espinoza had his attempted saved and Marc Burch gave Seattle the lead. Matt Besler leveled things and Osvaldo Alonso sent his shot over the bar. Graham Zusi tried to be cheeky but put his attempt over the bar while Christian Tiffert had his shot saved by Jimmy Nielsen. Paulo Nagamura stepped up to be the 5th shooter and his shot stopped by Michael Gspurning. The PK was forced to be retaken though as Gspurning was off his line. Nagamura buried his second attempt. Eddie Johnson skied his attempt over the bar and the celebration was on.
Goal of the Year
Julio Cesar vs Toronto FC 6/16
I'm not sure you can strike a ball better than Cesar did here, it's absolutely fantastically struck.
Assist of the year
Peterson Joseph to Jacob Peterson vs Columbus 7/14
I just love the way Joseph goes completely against the movement of the movement of the ball using the outside of his foot to play the ball through to Peterson, a fantastic ball.
Goosebump moment of the year
Roger Espinoza's standing ovation after being red carded at the Olympics
The summer Olympics in London were a coming out party of sorts for Roger Espinoza, he was a known commodity the past two years for Sporting KC in the midfield, but in the Olympics many others found out. Espinoza had played a fantastic tournament and it was highlighted by his man of the match performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals. Espinoza set up one and scored another in Honduras' 3-2 loss to the eventual silver medalists. But it was his play and passion overall that won over the crowd at St. James' Park that day. He ended the day early picking up a red card, but walked off the field to many congratulations from players and a standing ovation from the St. James' Park crowd. Many fans expected Espinoza to be leaving KC after this season, the Olympics just confirmed that and Espinoza will be plying his trade in England starting in January.
Off field moment of the year
Lance Armstrong/Livestrong Saga
With Lance Armstrong being stripped of his Tour de France titles for doping and the on going discussion over that, talk eventually turned to Livestrong Sporting Park. KC's home stadium that has the name of the foundation that Armstrong founded to help people during their fight with cancer. The debate on whether to keep the name or change it has been one that has been discussed not just by soccer fans, but by sports fans as well as casual fans, especially locally. So far, publicly Sporting Club has made statements about the separation between the Livestrong organization and Armstrong. Whether Sporting will end up keeping the name, or eventually switch to another name is something that will still have to be watched.
Low moment of the year
4-0 loss to Philadelphia 6/23
While season ending loss in the series to Houston is a downer, the low point of the year was Sporting's 4-0 dismantling that they took at the hands of the Philadelphia Union. Sporting conceded in the first minute on a Jack McInerney goal and conceded again in the 42nd. Goals in the 81st by Lionard Pajoy from the spot and from Antoine Hoppenot in the 87th sealed the rout. KC never looked into the game and desperately missed Matt Besler who was out recovering from his appendectomy. What made the loss all that much wosre was that while KC was 9-2-2 heading into that game, Philadelphia was 1-8-2 sitting on 5 points, 24 behind KC when the teams took the field.
Moment of anger that was quickly forgotten
MLS Cup 2000 trophy
As one of my wants/wishes for 2012 I wanted to get the 2000 MLS Cup trophy back from Hunt Sports' Group. James from Sporting Times started a grass roots movement to attempt to get the trophy back. Turns out the trophy was in storage and had been put there during the renovations of Arrowhead Stadium. During the process, it came out that one of the requirements for selling the team was that HSG got to keep the 2000 MLS Cup trophy. Clark Hunt was going to have the trophy put into a portion of the Hall of Fame at Arrowhead. But first, it would spend the 2012 season with Sporting KC and then the team would receive a replica to keep. I saw the MLS Cup trophy twice I believe at the stadium, both times in the Members' Club shortly after the announcement was made. The trophy was supposed to "tour" the stadium throughout the season, but I never heard anything else about it's travels. The good news is that winning the Open Cup helped people to forget the 2000 trophy a bit.
Friday, December 07, 2012
Joseph Called Up for Haiti
I had meant to post this on Wednesday, but with recording the podcast and all the news on that day, I forgot, but it works out with the tournament starting tonight as well.
Sporting KC midfielder, Peter Joseph was called up to the Haiti national team for the upcoming Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda. Joseph and Haiti have been placed in Group A after winning their qualifying group. Through both qualifying stages, Joseph played in all but one of Haiti's games to get to the tournament proper. Haiti is grouped with Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, and hosts Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti kick the tournament off tonight in the first game against former teammate, Daneil Cyrus and Trinidad. On Sunday Haiti will be back on the field taking on the country that they share their home island with, the Dominican Republic. The final group phase game is on Tuesday against the hosts Antigua.
Finishing in the top two in their group will qualify Haiti for the 2013 Gold Cup, and also see them advance to the knock out phase of the Championship where they would face a team from Group B, which features defending champs, Jamaica (which features former Wizards, Shavar Thomas and Jermaine Hue), Cuba, French Guiana, and Martinique.
Sporting KC midfielder, Peter Joseph was called up to the Haiti national team for the upcoming Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda. Joseph and Haiti have been placed in Group A after winning their qualifying group. Through both qualifying stages, Joseph played in all but one of Haiti's games to get to the tournament proper. Haiti is grouped with Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, and hosts Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti kick the tournament off tonight in the first game against former teammate, Daneil Cyrus and Trinidad. On Sunday Haiti will be back on the field taking on the country that they share their home island with, the Dominican Republic. The final group phase game is on Tuesday against the hosts Antigua.
Finishing in the top two in their group will qualify Haiti for the 2013 Gold Cup, and also see them advance to the knock out phase of the Championship where they would face a team from Group B, which features defending champs, Jamaica (which features former Wizards, Shavar Thomas and Jermaine Hue), Cuba, French Guiana, and Martinique.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Haiti Qualify for Caribbean Cup
This past weekend, Peterson Joseph and Haiti clinched themselves a spot in this December's Caribbean Championship, hosted in Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti qualified by finishing at the top of their group, that played in Grenada. Wednesday, Haiti opened the group against Guyana. Joseph played no part in the game, but Haiti was able to win 1-0, putting them in a good position after the first game as Grenada tied French Guiana 1-1. Friday was the second game day, and Haiti took on French Guiana, a win would see them clinch a spot in the tournament proper. French Guiana pulled off the win though, winning 1-0 over Haiti. Joseph came off the bench and played 19 minutes as Haiti looked for a goal. The loss with a Grenada win, put Haiti in a must win position for the final group game against the hosts, Grenada. Haiti got some help on Sunday in the first game as Guyana, already eliminated beat French Guiana 4-3. Haiti then took the field and took care of business against Grenada. Haiti won 2-0 clinching first place in the group. Joseph started and played into stoppage time when he was subbed out, probably to kill time.
Haiti as winners advance into Group B of the tournament proper. Haiti will be grouped with the hosts, Antigua, Martinique, who finished second in their qualifying group behind the Dominica Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, who finished on top of their qualifying group ahead of Cuba The other group contains defending champions, Jamaica, French Guiana, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Those games will take place in early December on the 8th, 10th, and 12th. Haiti needs to finish in the top 2 in their group to qualify for next summer's Gold Cup.
Haiti as winners advance into Group B of the tournament proper. Haiti will be grouped with the hosts, Antigua, Martinique, who finished second in their qualifying group behind the Dominica Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, who finished on top of their qualifying group ahead of Cuba The other group contains defending champions, Jamaica, French Guiana, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Those games will take place in early December on the 8th, 10th, and 12th. Haiti needs to finish in the top 2 in their group to qualify for next summer's Gold Cup.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Quiet International Date for Sporting KC
It looks like it is going to be a quiet week for Sporting KC players who represent their national team.
USA
Today the US roster came out for their friendly against Russia on Wednesday in the last international date of the year. Jurgen Klinsmann's roster does not include any Sporting KC players. Klinsmann has gone with quite a few young players on the roster along with some mainstays. There's no room on the roster this time around for Graham Zusi though as the likes of Mix Diskerud, Josh Gatt, and Joe Gyau getting looks by Klinsmann. I wouldn't take the lack of call up as anything of major importance for Zusi, Klinsmann knows what he can do and come February when the Hex kicks off I expect that Zusi will be on that roster.
The other Sporting player that many people thought would get a look in this camp is defender Matt Besler. With some of the USA's problems at center back in the last set of qualifying, people thought that Besler, a candidate for defender of the year, would be a perfect candidate for this game after KC's early playoff exit. Instead, Klinsmann has gone with the same group of center backs that he used for the last qualifying cycle. The center back position for the friendly against Russia will feature two of four of Carlos Bocanegra, Geoff Cameron, Clarence Goodson, and Maurice Edu. Two of those guys (Cameron and Edu) are not playing center back for their clubs (Cameron right back, Edu bench warmer), while Bocanegra is currently in the second division, and Goodson's club looks set to be relegated to the second division. I understand that Besler, like Zusi, has had a long club season and the game is on the other side of the world, but the US really needs to start looking for new blood at center back.
As a whole there were only 3 MLS players called in for the friendly, two goalkeepers, Sean Johnson and Nick Rimando, and Juan Agudelo at forward. A fourth player, Herculez Gomez plays in Mexico, the rest of the roster is from Europe, a much shorter trip, probably the main reason for the lack of Besler, Zusi, and other MLS players.
Honduras
Honduras is set to play Peru in an international friendly on Wednesday down at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Honduras will be doing so without Roger Espinoza, who has been left off the roster for the game. Like Zusi and Besler, Espinoza has just come off a long season, arguably longer with his trip to London for the Olympic games. Espinoza, probably more than anyone on KC's roster has earned this break and not getting a call up.
Haiti
Starting on Wednesday, Haiti will continue their campaign to qualify for the 2012 Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti is grouped with hosts Grenada, Guyana, and French Guiana in a 4 team tournament that starts Wednesday and concludes Sunday. Haiti will play Guyana on Wednesday, French Guiana on Friday, and Grenada on Sunday. The top two teams will qualify for the tournament in Antigua. The top 4 teams there will qualify for the 2013 Gold Cup in the United States.
I've been unable to find an official roster for the team for this round of the tournament, but I'd expect Peterson Joseph to be playing a role for Haiti when they take the field. He started all 3 of Haiti's games in the last group stage back in September, so expecting the same shouldn't be surprising.
EDIT: The team has officially announced that Joseph will be representing Haiti.
USA
Today the US roster came out for their friendly against Russia on Wednesday in the last international date of the year. Jurgen Klinsmann's roster does not include any Sporting KC players. Klinsmann has gone with quite a few young players on the roster along with some mainstays. There's no room on the roster this time around for Graham Zusi though as the likes of Mix Diskerud, Josh Gatt, and Joe Gyau getting looks by Klinsmann. I wouldn't take the lack of call up as anything of major importance for Zusi, Klinsmann knows what he can do and come February when the Hex kicks off I expect that Zusi will be on that roster.
The other Sporting player that many people thought would get a look in this camp is defender Matt Besler. With some of the USA's problems at center back in the last set of qualifying, people thought that Besler, a candidate for defender of the year, would be a perfect candidate for this game after KC's early playoff exit. Instead, Klinsmann has gone with the same group of center backs that he used for the last qualifying cycle. The center back position for the friendly against Russia will feature two of four of Carlos Bocanegra, Geoff Cameron, Clarence Goodson, and Maurice Edu. Two of those guys (Cameron and Edu) are not playing center back for their clubs (Cameron right back, Edu bench warmer), while Bocanegra is currently in the second division, and Goodson's club looks set to be relegated to the second division. I understand that Besler, like Zusi, has had a long club season and the game is on the other side of the world, but the US really needs to start looking for new blood at center back.
As a whole there were only 3 MLS players called in for the friendly, two goalkeepers, Sean Johnson and Nick Rimando, and Juan Agudelo at forward. A fourth player, Herculez Gomez plays in Mexico, the rest of the roster is from Europe, a much shorter trip, probably the main reason for the lack of Besler, Zusi, and other MLS players.
Honduras
Honduras is set to play Peru in an international friendly on Wednesday down at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Honduras will be doing so without Roger Espinoza, who has been left off the roster for the game. Like Zusi and Besler, Espinoza has just come off a long season, arguably longer with his trip to London for the Olympic games. Espinoza, probably more than anyone on KC's roster has earned this break and not getting a call up.
Haiti
Starting on Wednesday, Haiti will continue their campaign to qualify for the 2012 Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda. Haiti is grouped with hosts Grenada, Guyana, and French Guiana in a 4 team tournament that starts Wednesday and concludes Sunday. Haiti will play Guyana on Wednesday, French Guiana on Friday, and Grenada on Sunday. The top two teams will qualify for the tournament in Antigua. The top 4 teams there will qualify for the 2013 Gold Cup in the United States.
I've been unable to find an official roster for the team for this round of the tournament, but I'd expect Peterson Joseph to be playing a role for Haiti when they take the field. He started all 3 of Haiti's games in the last group stage back in September, so expecting the same shouldn't be surprising.
EDIT: The team has officially announced that Joseph will be representing Haiti.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Good Night for Sporting KC Internationals
It turned out to be a huge night for Sporting KC's international players as all 3 got huge results to help them in their own qualifying efforts.
First, Graham Zusi got his first start in a competitive game for the US national team as they faced a virtual must win at home against Jamaica. After the loss in Jamaica and Guatemala beating Antigua earlier tonight, the US faced the prospect of falling out of a spot in the Hex with only 2 games left. Zusi though took full advantage of his starting opportunity having a fantastic game and earning himself high praise around the US Soccer community. In the 6th minute Zusi cut outside around the corner of the box and fired a shot on goal that hit the cross bar. Zusi had two other opportunities in the first half, the first after a blocked shot by Fabian Johnson that Zusi got to on the back post by Dwayne Miller got his foot to the shot knocking it away. Also off a corner that was headed back to him by Carlos Bocanegra, Zusi hit the volley just over the bar. Even without the efforts, Zusi had a great game, combining extremely well with Steve Cherundolo, the two caused Jamaica a number of problems down the USA's right side the entire game.
It took until the second half for the US to find the winner and it came off a fantastic free kick from former Wizard, Herculez Gomez. Miller in the Jamaican net should have done better, but you can't take away from the strike from Gomez. The US now have 2 games left to clinch advancement to the Hex and would certainly appear to be in the driver's seat.
In other World Cup qualifying action, Roger Espinoza and Honduras took on Cuba in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. Honduras got their qualification hopes back on track with a 1-0 win and moved into second in the group ahead of Canada on goal difference. Espinoza set up the goal by Jerry Bengtson after some great work on the end line before sending a looping ball to the back post where Bengston headed the ball into the empty net. The goal was all Honduras needed. Honduras finish qualifying in Panama on the 12th before finishing qualifying at home vs Canada which could be the game that decides which of those two teams advances to the Hex next year.
The final Sporting international playing tonight was Peterson Joseph who finished their first qualification phase for the Caribbean Championships and Gold Cup qualification. The Haitians topped Puerto Rico 2-1 to finish atop Group 1. With the win, Haiti move into Group 6, which will be hosted October 18th through the 25th in Grenada. Haiti and Grenada will be joined by the winner of Group 2 and the second place team from either group 4 or 5.
First, Graham Zusi got his first start in a competitive game for the US national team as they faced a virtual must win at home against Jamaica. After the loss in Jamaica and Guatemala beating Antigua earlier tonight, the US faced the prospect of falling out of a spot in the Hex with only 2 games left. Zusi though took full advantage of his starting opportunity having a fantastic game and earning himself high praise around the US Soccer community. In the 6th minute Zusi cut outside around the corner of the box and fired a shot on goal that hit the cross bar. Zusi had two other opportunities in the first half, the first after a blocked shot by Fabian Johnson that Zusi got to on the back post by Dwayne Miller got his foot to the shot knocking it away. Also off a corner that was headed back to him by Carlos Bocanegra, Zusi hit the volley just over the bar. Even without the efforts, Zusi had a great game, combining extremely well with Steve Cherundolo, the two caused Jamaica a number of problems down the USA's right side the entire game.
It took until the second half for the US to find the winner and it came off a fantastic free kick from former Wizard, Herculez Gomez. Miller in the Jamaican net should have done better, but you can't take away from the strike from Gomez. The US now have 2 games left to clinch advancement to the Hex and would certainly appear to be in the driver's seat.
In other World Cup qualifying action, Roger Espinoza and Honduras took on Cuba in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. Honduras got their qualification hopes back on track with a 1-0 win and moved into second in the group ahead of Canada on goal difference. Espinoza set up the goal by Jerry Bengtson after some great work on the end line before sending a looping ball to the back post where Bengston headed the ball into the empty net. The goal was all Honduras needed. Honduras finish qualifying in Panama on the 12th before finishing qualifying at home vs Canada which could be the game that decides which of those two teams advances to the Hex next year.
The final Sporting international playing tonight was Peterson Joseph who finished their first qualification phase for the Caribbean Championships and Gold Cup qualification. The Haitians topped Puerto Rico 2-1 to finish atop Group 1. With the win, Haiti move into Group 6, which will be hosted October 18th through the 25th in Grenada. Haiti and Grenada will be joined by the winner of Group 2 and the second place team from either group 4 or 5.
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