Palmer-Brown Called Up for U20 World Cup

Sporting Kansas City home grown defender, Erik Palmer-Brown will be headed to New Zealand this summer. The 18 year old center back was today named to Tab Ramos' roster for this summer's U20 World Cup. The US is grouped with Myanmar, hosts New Zealand, and the Ukraine for the tournament which will kick off on May 30th for the USA against Myanmar. Second on June 2nd the US will play New Zealand before closing out the group stage on June 5th against the Ukraine. The tournament runs all the way through June 20th.

The US team will open camp in Carson, California on May 14th ahead of their departure for New Zealand. With that reporting date, Palmer-Brown will miss five games for KC (May 16th vs Colorado, May 20th vs New England, May 23rd at Seattle, May 29th vs Dallas, and June 6th vs Seattle). He also has the potential to miss KC's entrance into the US Open Cup this year with that game occurring on June 16th or 17th. Palmer-Brown has made one appearance for Kansas City this season, coming on for the last five minutes of the season opener against New York.

Palmer-Brown will become the third KC player to go to the U20 World Cup as a member of Sporting KC/KC Wizards. Francisco Gomez played for the team at the 1999 competition in Nigeria where the US fell in the round of 16 to eventual champions, Spain. More recently, Mikey Lopez was part of the team that qualified for the 2013 version of the tournament in Turkey. Grouped with Spain, France, and Ghana the US was only able to manage one point and went out in the group stage. Four other current KC players have played in the U20 World Cup as well. In 2005 Benny Feilhaber and Jacob Peterson (who even scored in the 1-0 win over Egypt) were teammates on the US team that topped their group ahead of the likes of Germany and Argentina (who won the tournament) before falling in the round of 16 to Italy. At the same tournament, Canadian, Marcel de Jong played, but the Canadians picked up only one point in a group containing Syria, Italy, and Colombia. De Jong did score in Canada's 4-1 loss to Italy. In 2009, Ike Opara was part of the US squad that went 1-2 but failed to make it out of their group after 3-0 loses to Germany and South Korea offset a 4-1 win over Cameroon.

Palmer-Brown Called into US U20 Camp

US Soccer today announced Tab Ramos' roster that had been called in for a US U20 camp in Linz, Austria ahead of this summer's U20 World Cup in New Zealand. Sporting Kansas City center back, Erik Palmer-Brown was named to the 20 man roster that will train in the central European country from April 18th through the 26th. During that time the US team will face off against the U20 teams from Qatar and Croatia at Red Bull Arena in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria.

Palmer-Brown will miss the next two Kansas City games, both on the road, against LA this weekend and Houston next weekend. The call up does leave KC even more shorthanded defensively heading into this weekend's game though. Along with Palmer-Brown missing out, the team will be with Ike Opara and likely Seth Sinovic due to injury. This along with the loan of Saad Abdul-Salaam to San Antonio will leave KC with just five healthy defenders for tomorrow's game, and that's assuming that Matt Besler has fully recovered from the stomach bug that caused him to his the mid-week friendly against Mexico. Along with Besler the only other defenders available for KC are left back Marcel de Jong, center backs/right backs, Kevin Ellis and Jalil Anibaba, and outside back Amadou Dia. The team could get help from further up the field defensively, specifically in the form of Jacob Peterson who spent time at outside back for KC last season during their injury crisis. In a pinch, Bernardo Anor could also sit deeper on the wing. But this weekend will certainly be a test of KC's depth.

Along with Palmer-Brown, KC had two academy players called up to US youth national teams as Cameron Duke was called into U14 camp and Jaylin Lindsey was called into the U15 team for a tournament in Europe in late April/early May.

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.

Lopez Called Up for U20 World Cup

Tab Ramos announced the US U20 team that will represent the US in the U20 World Cup coming up in Turkey. Sporting KC's Mikey Lopez has been named to the roster for the tournament that starts June 21st. Lopez, who had been playing in the Toulan Tournament with the team has moved with the team to Portugal for their final preparations.

The US is in Group A with France, Ghana, and Spain. The US open the tournament on the 21st against Spain, play France on the 24th before closing out group play against Ghana on the 27th. If the US finishes in the top 2 in their group they'll advance to the round of 16 on July 2nd. The US can also advance if they are one of the top 4 (of 6) 3rd place teams. The final and 3rd place match takes place on the 13th of July.

If the US are eliminated in group play, Lopez will likely miss two league games against Dallas on the 22nd and probably Columbus on the 29th. He could also miss two US Open Cup games, against Orlando on the 12th, and on the 26th against Chicago or Columbus if KC win. Depending on how far the US progress he could miss league games against Vancouver (7/3), Chicago (7/7), and Toronto (713).

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.)

Two KC Players Called Up to US Youth Teams

Two US Youth teams named rosters today for upcoming camps/tournaments.  The US U20 team and U15 team made call ups official today, and both teams had Sporting KC players on it. 

Called up to the U20 team for a camp in California was Kansas City's first round draft pick Mikey Lopez. The camp will go through April 29th and is in preparation for this summer's U20 World Cup that the US qualified for earlier this year. Lopez has yet to make his debut for KC but has made the bench a few times already this season.

The other call up is from Sporting KC's academy. Defender Erik Palmer-Brown has been called up to the team.  The US U15 team will be playing in the Tournament Delle Nazioni in Grandisca, Italy.  The tournament takes place April 26th through May 6th.  Palmer-Brown is currently in the Bradenton residential academy.

Grandisca

Grandisca

U20's Fall to Mexico in Finals

In the finals of the CONCACAF U20 qualifying tournament, the US met up with Mexico down in Puebla, Mexico.  Both teams were coming off a pair of 2-0 wins in the semifinals. 

The US fell behind very early in the game, but equalized shortly after from the penalty spot.  The two teams traded blows throughout the game and the US had another penalty shout turned away late in the second half.  The two teams went to extra time, where the United States depth problems did them in.  Due to injuries and players returning to their clubs, the US was down to about 15 rostered players.  In extra time Mexico scored twice, including 1 from the spot to win the game 3-1.

Sporting KC's Mikey Lopez had a solid game for the US in midfield as he did in the USA's win over Mexico in the semifinals.  Lopez will now return to Sporting KC to for the MLS season hoping that he makes the cut for the US team for the U20 World Cup this summer in Turkey.

U20's Qualify for the World Cup

The US men's U20 team took care of business tonight down in Mexico against Canada and booked themselves a spot in this summer's U20 World Cup in Turkey.  After falling behind early after some poor defending and a nice finish, the US took over the game.  The US equalized after a nice move by Daniel Cuevas.  Cuevas played the ball into the middle for Luis Gil who took a nice touch and then put the ball into the corner leveling the game. Then in the last 5 minutes of the half the US put the game to bed.  They took the lead when Jose Villarreal got on the end of a Mario Rodriguez shot and turned it in to make it 2-1. Then in first half stoppage time the US made it 3-1. A corner by the US was poorly punched clear by the Canadian keeper.  Will Trapp hit the cleared ball on the volley.  The ball took a deflection on the way in that wrong footed the keeper.

In the 54th minute the US made it 4.  Benji Joya collected a ball in the box but then laid it back to Villarreal, who cut in on his defender and then scored to make it 4-1. Ten minutes later the Canadians pulled a goal back from a shot from distance, but they couldn't get any closer as the US advanced.

The US will now play Cuba on Friday the first at 5pm for a spot in the finals.  Sporting KC midfielder, Mikey Lopez will be eligible to play again after sitting out today's game due to yellow accumulation.

Lopez and U20's Win Their Group

Mikey Lopez got his first start of the U20 qualifying tournament tonight as the US took on Costa Rica.  Both teams had clinched a spot in the quarterfinals after both defeated the other team in their group, Haiti. 

The first half was not the best half of soccer you'll see, neither side looked good going forward, but Mikey Lopez had a solid half although he did pick up a yellow card.  In the second half the US finally got the lead off a Luis Gil corner, Jose Villarreal rose above the Costa Rican defenders to head the ball home and give the US the 1-0 lead.  Costa Rica picked up the game a little bit after that forcing a good save from Cody Cropper. The US was able to hold on and win 1-0.  Again a lackluster game for the US where they didn't impress but their first objective was done to advance out of the group.  Now they'll need to take care of business on Tuesday against Canada who finished second in group B with a 5-1 win over Nicaragua. Lopez actually looked quite good for the US helping to control the midfield.  With Costa Rica not providing a lot going forward, Lopez was able to help the US offensively.

US U20's Win Opener

The US Under 20 national team got their qualification campaign for the 2013 U20 World Cup off to a winning start as they defeated Haiti 2-1 in Puebla, Mexico.  The US got goals from Luis Gil and Daniel Cuevas in the first half.  The first goal came from the penalty spot after Cuevas was brought down in the box.  Gil stepped up and buried the PK to make it 1-0.  A short while later Cuevas received a cross from Gil and buried a shot in the far post and the US looked to be cruising.  But while the US looked decent in attack, the defense, which was missing a few of their starting center backs, looked poor.  Haiti found plenty of space throughout the defense and midfield and were able to control the game, especially after the US went up 2-0.

Early in the second half Haiti found 1 goal that got them back into the game.  From there the US was able to absorb the pressure and eventually held off long enough to get the win.  They held on and now top their 3 team group.  Costa Rica and Haiti play on Wednesday and should Costa Rica win, the US will be through to the quarterfinals before they even take the field against Costa Rica. 

Sporting KC draft pick, Mikey Lopez came on in the 65th minute as a substitute to try to help and compose and control the midfield.  He certainly helped with some of the problems that the US had, but the way the game had gone there wasn't a lot he could do.  The US will need to improve their performance to make it to the semifinals and qualify for the summer's World Cup in Turkey.

Lopez Called into US U20 Team

Sporting KC's first round draft pick, Mikey Lopez, will miss the rest of Sporting's preseason and possibly the start of the regular season.  Today, Lopez was named to the 18 man US U20 roster ahead of CONCACAF qualifying for the U20 World Cup. Lopez is one of five MLS players that is named to the roster.

The tournament runs from February 18th through March 3rd in Puebla, Mexico. The US will train in Toluca ahead of the tournament.  The US is in group A with Costa Rica and Haiti.  The US open against Haiti on the 18th and against Costa Rica on the 22nd.  Should the US advance they'll play on the 26th in the quarterfinals.  The semifinals are set for the 1st of March and the finals on March 3rd. The US will need to advance to the semifinals to book themselves a trip to Turkey this summer for the World Cup.

Sporting KC Select Mikey Lopez

Sporting KC only had 1 Superdraft pick, but they certainly made the most of it.  Sporting selected Generation Adidas midfielder, Mikey Lopez from the University of North Carolina. 

This in my opinion is a great pick for KC.  Lopez wasn't really expected to fall anywhere close to KC at the 14th spot.  He's a central midfielder that fits a need that I felt KC needed to fill this offseason adding depth there, so from that regard it's very good.  Lopez is 19 years old currently, turning 20 next month.  He's also a member of the US U-20 team and is currently part of the same camp that Jon Kempin is currently attending down in Mexico.  He's a defensive minded midfielder that may in the long run be able to help fill the void left by Roger Espinoza and Julio Cesar.

With Lopez being a Generation Adidas player he won't count against the salary cap for Sporting KC which is a big bonus for KC this season.  And while he might miss time while being with the U20's he'll be competitive games that way which will be a bonus for KC.

Last weekend at the Combine, Lopez had said that he wanted to go to Chivas, because "from what I have heard of Chivas USA, I like what they want to do."

But I really don't think he'll hate the idea of coming to KC, with the style of play that Peter Vermes employees.

Here's a video of his goal at the Combine.

Kempin and All Star Game Update

Kempin Called into U20 Camp

The US U-20 team is preparing for qualifying for the 2013 U-20 World Cup.  The CONCACAF qualifying tournament takes place February 18th through March 3rd in Mexico.  The US will be holding it's last camp with domestic players starting on the 14th in Puebla, Mexico, where the CONCACAF tournament is being held.  Sporting KC goalkeeper, Jon Kempin is one of two goalkeepers called up for the camp.  During the camp the US will play two closed door games against Panama, on the 19th and the 21st.

Kempin will miss the beginning of preseason with the call up, not joining Sporting until January 23rd in Tucson, Arizona.  Kempin will be hoping to impress enough to earn his way onto the US roster for the CONCACAF tournament.

All-Star Game Selling Well Early

Without an opponent known and only a presale for season ticket holders having taken place, KC has apparently sold 50% of the tickets for the game.  That's the word today from Robb Heineman about 6 hours after tickets went on sale for the game.

It certainly hasn't been the most well run situation for season ticket holders though.  This morning at 10am the tickets went on sale to season ticket holders.  Unlike what occurs for most Sporting run events, where STH can only purchase the number of tickets they have on their account, STH were able to purchase up to 4 tickets to the game.  Needless to say this has caused problems, especially in the "hot ticket" section of the Cauldron.  The Cauldron has sold out of it's season ticket holder allotment for the game.  Word is that the Cauldron will get some tickets to sell themselves, but a number of season ticket holders, especially long term ones are being left without Cauldron tickets. 

It's a frustrating thing for those people, especially when given only a 1 day heads up of the presale (3 if you read this blog) to make sure they had the funds and set aside time to purchase the tickets. I've seen a lot of the frustration on the Cauldron Facebook page.  Plenty of it though seems to be directed towards the team which is a little unfair.  The All Star game is basically run by the league, which means they're controlling much of what will go on with the venue for that date, including the ticket process.  Hopefully those people that couldn't get tickets through the presale can get them another way and enjoy the game.

Kempin, Rocastle Appear for National Teams

The busy Thanksgiving weekend for SKC Wizards players with their respective national teams and it continued today for Jon Kempin and Craig Rocastle. Kempin once again started in goal for the US under 20 team in the second game of the Torneo de las Americas against Mexico. I followed along a play by play thread on Bigsoccer and by he sounds of it, the US played a very good game, controlling much of the possession. Mexico grabbed the lead in the second half after a shot hit the post and the rebound was put away. The USA equalized later in the second half through Gale Agbossoumonde off a corner from Alex Zahavi. The match again went to penalty kicks as the neither team could find a winner. Mexico completed all their penalties while the US only converted 2 and loss 4-2 on penalties for the second game in a row.

Rocastle and Grenada continued their quest to qualify for the Gold Cup in the Digicel Caribbean Cup today as they took on Trinidad and Tobago in their second group play game. Grenada got the win on a goal by Kitson Bain and were able to hold on to go to 4 points. Rocastle went 75 minutes for the Spice Boys in the 1-0 win. They currently sit second in the group after Cuba won their game against Martinique and clinched a place in semifinals. Cuba did it with 9 men as well. Those two factors (clinching and 2 red cards) could lead to Cuba fielding a bit of a weakened side on Tuesday for their final group game. A point for Grenada in their final match will see them qualify. The two results also mean that Trinidad is eliminated from the tournament with one game to play.

Kempin and US U-20's Fall in PKs

In the first game of the Torneo de las Americas today in Atlanta, the US Under 20 team fell on penalty kicks to the Colombian team. Sporting KC goalkeeper, Jon Kempin started in goal for the US. Based off of first hand reports, Kempin had some good saves in the game to keep the US in the game and retain the lead. Alex Zahavi scored the USA's goal 2 minutes before half time as a cross from Tristan Bowen was headed down by Sebastain Lleget for Zahavi to poke home. The USA held on with Kempin making a few big saves and some good defense. In the 86th minute though, Colombia found the equalizer which Kempin could do little about. The game went to penalty kicks, where the US only converted once of 4 while Colombia converted 3 of their 4. Kempin got his hands on one of the kicks but could not keep it out. The team will play Mexico later this weekend.

Kempin Called Up to U-20 Team

Jon Kempin is making a return to the national team level. A pool keeper for the US U-18 team, Kempin has been called up as an injury replace for the US Under-20 national team for the team's upcoming two games against Colombia and Mexico in the Toreno de las Americas. Kempin was called in to replace Cody Copper due to Copper's commitments to his club, Ipswich Town. Kempin keeps the number of professional players on the roster at 12. The other goalkeeper is a member of Real Salt Lake's Arizona academy. The US starts the tournament on the 26th against Colombia and will play Mexico on the 28th. Good luck to Jon.