Melia Wins Award, Trialists Coming to Town

MLS continues to slowly announce their end of season awards for players. Today they announced the winner of this year's Comeback Player of the Year award. Sporting KC's Tim Melia was given the award after "coming back" from basically being out of the game. Last year Melia had started the season with Chivas USA before being waived and becoming a league goalkeeper. Melia became a league goalkeeper and spent time with Kansas City during their goalkeeping issues in 2014. Signed to KC during the offseason, Melia started the season as KC's back up to Luis Marin. After Marin's issues adjusting to MLS Melia took over the starting job and played 23 of the final 26 games for Kansas City.

Melia beat out Diego Valeri and Will Trapp who were the other two finalists. Of the three, Melia finished third in the player vote with Trapp and Valeri tying for first. The media vote is where Melia ran away with things, getting over 30% of the vote there. In front office voting, Melia finished second behind Valeri in the top three.

Melia becomes the fourth KC player to win the award, and the fifth time KC has brought the award home. Tony Meola won the award in 2000, Chris Klein won it in both 2002 and 2005, while Eddie Johnson won it in 2007.

Trialists coming to town

Peter Vermes makes a habit of regularly bringing in trialists to look at. More often than not those players come in with no one knowing and leave the same way. Some times though the names of players get out, like this time where Guyanese player Daniel Wilson and Dominican player Julian Wade are apparently coming on a trial.

Both players currently play in Guyana, Wilson for Alpha United, a club that regularly has won the league championship in recent years and has participated in the CONCACAF Champions League. Wilson according to the article is the club's captain at only 22 and has already appeared 12 times for his country, scoring a goal in 2018 World Cup qualifying against St. Vincent and Grenadines.

Wade plays for Slingerz FC in Guyana, and has spent his entire career in the Caribbean. Before moving to Slingerz, the 25 year old played for Caledonia AIA in Trinidad. He has also appeared three times for Dominica, scoring twice in that time.

The article says that the pair were invited to an "invite only" three day trial November 21 through 23 at the suggestion of former Kansas City forward, and Guyana native, Alex Bunbury. Two of those three days are also the tryout dates for Sporting's USL side, the Swope Park Rangers. So while the pair may be getting a bit of a closer look, this feels more like the two will be trying out more so for the Rangers.

Sporting KC Update List of Trialists

Today, Sporting Kansas City announced the trialists that are still in camp with the team as they begin the second leg of their preseason in Arizona. The team has cut the number of trialists still in camp at this time to just five players.

Gone from camp is goalkeeper, Kevin Corby, the St. Louis Ambush keeper who did not play in either of KC's preseason games. Also gone are defenders Brent Griffiths and Daniel Rodriguez. Both got time in the team's 2-0 loss to the Portland Timbers in the preseason opener, with Griffiths, the 24 year old English center back who has played his professional career in Australia, playing an hour before being replaced by Rodriguez, a Chilean back, for the final 30 minutes. Also gone are midfielders Santiago Otero, from Argentina, Felipe Hernandez, from Sporting's academy, and fourth round draft pick, Tony Rocha, who has landed on his feet, playing with the Austin Aztex in the ATX Pro Classic this past weekend. Finally, former Houston Dynamo home grown player, Alex Dixon is also gone from the club. Like the center backs, the other four released players all played against the Timbers in KC's first preseason game. All playing 30 minutes except Dixon who played an hour.

The four trialists left over from the first leg of preseason:  former RSL academy goalkeeper, Matt Bersano, defender Amadou Dia, the club's third first round pick this year, the club's third round draft pick, James Rogers, and former player, Chrisitan Duke.

Joining those four is Canadian international, Marcel De Jong. De Jong is a 28 year old left sided player who predominately plays left back. De Jong was last with FC Augsburg of the Bundesliga, but left the club this past January when Augsburg terminated his contract. De Jong had been frustrated with his lack of playing time recently with the club, which likely played a role in his departure. De Jong would be an interesting addition if Sporting were to keep him, but the main question may be whether he'd get the playing time he apparently wants here. KC's two starters on the left side are two of the team's better and more consistent players in Seth Sinovic and Graham Zusi. De Jong may be the better left back than Sinovic, but would Peter Vermes look to replace him that quickly? Would De Jong be that much of an upgrade for Vermes, especially at a potential higher price tag? As for the left wing, Vermes could push Zusi into the midfield, where he's had some success, but with the number of midfielders KC has already brought in this offseason, that doesn't seem extremely likely.

Three Friendlies

It was a day full of friendlies for Sporting KC and it's players. Counting an international appearance for Soony Saad, there were three for Sporting KC today.

The first game of the day was Saad's friendly with Lebanon against Pakistan in Beirut. Saad started for his country, his third time appearing for Lebanon. Lebanon jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 14 minutes. Pakistan pulled one back in the 16th before Lebanon scored a late goal to win 3-1. Lebanon will now begin to prepare for their March 5th game against Thailand. A game that Lebanon must win, and then get help from China in hopes of qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.

The second game of the day saw a team made up of Sporting's reserves take on Eastern Florida State College. A 60 minute game saw Sporting not score until the final 10 minutes. Second round draft pick, Adnan Gabeljic scored on a header from a corner kick by fellow draft pick, Alex Martinez. A short time later, Martinez set up a second goal as trialist Carlos Sanchez scored to make it 2-0, the way the game ended.

In the final game of the day, Sporting opened the Disney Pro Soccer Classic with a 1-0 win over conference rival New York. The first half saw both teams put out close to their first XI lineup, minus a few pieces (Matt Besler, Thierry Henry, and Graham Zusi as a few examples). Both teams had chances in the first half, KC's best probably coming when a failed clearance fell to Dom Dwyer but he couldn't get a good shot off. New York on the other hand, had a goal called back after Loyd Sam was ruled to have been offside.

In the second half, New York made a number of changes while KC stuck with the same team until the 60th minute. With the new lineup out there, their high pressure paid off in the 64th. Claudio Bieler forced an errant clearance up field that got knocked into the path of Christian Duke. Duke tried to played the through to Jacob Peterson, but a Red Bulls' defender cut it out. The touch was poor though and a sliding Peterson was able to connect with the ball and put it in to give KC the 1-0 lead. Shortly after that, Kevin Ellis almost set up another goal. A great cross found Bieler in the middle, but his volley was blocked and Gabeljic couldn't turn in the rebound.

Check out the full highlights.

New Trialists in Orlando

Sporting KC today released an updated preseason roster ahead of their beginning training in Orlando for the final phase of preseason and the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.  Two new trialists are in camp, while two are no longer with the team.

Not joining the team in Orlando is second round supplemental draft pick, Mitchell Cardenas.  As long as he's not claimed off waivers, Sporting will retain his MLS rights as he'll go onto their "College Protected List." (And this just leads me again to question the trade Sporting had to make to get Michael Thomas... but I digress.)

Other other player not joining the team in Orlando is Sporting Juniors player, David Leichty.  I wouldn't read too much into that one, I have a feeling Leichty was just getting an extended look by the coaching staff.

On the other side of things, joining Sporting in camp now is Nick Zimmerman and Adama Mbengue.  Zimmerman spent two years in MLS in 2009 and 2010 with the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union.  Zimmerman has spent the last two years in the NASL, playing with the Carolina Railhawks where the forward has scored 20 goals in 53 regular season matches.  Not a horrible strike rate for him.

Mbengue is an Orlando City midfielder, the second Orlando City player KC has brought in this preseason along with Mechack Jerome.  He's a 19 year old Senegalese player who appeared in 11 games with the club in his first season as a professional.

Sporting's first preseason game in Orlando will be this Saturday against Montreal.

Let the Rumors of New Players Begin

When Sporting is out of season it seems like there's always more news out there than during the season, specifically with rumors of players coming in or possibly leaving.  Today the rumor is of a trialist out of South Africa that is going to be coming to KC.  Word is that South African international, Elrio van Heerden is going to come to KC on trial.  The 29 year old van Heerden has spent the majority of his career in Europe, playing in Denmark, Belgium, and Turkey before most recently playing with Lamontville Golden Arrows of the South African league.  The midfielder has appeared 37 times for his country, scoring 3 goals, including playing in two African Cup of Nations and the Confederations Cup in 2009.

Honestly I'd never heard of this guy before, which is usually par for the course on players that KC is bringing in to trial with the team.  Below are some highlights I found online of van Heerden.

Rosell Released by Barcelona B, KC Next Stop?

Today in Spain, word came out that Barcelona B player, Oriol Rosell, has requested and received his release from his contract with the club.  Some of the articles have mentioned that Rosell has offers from other clubs, including MLS.  Sporting KC would seem a favorite for Rosell, mainly because of the fact that earlier this summer, Rosell trialed with Sporting KC along with Johan Ramirez Neesken.  The fact that Rosell was here on trial would lead people (myself included) that Kansas City could be the location for Rosell should he choose to come to KC. 

It is a little questionable in the fact that KC just signed center back/left back Neven Markovic, but with Rosell being only 20 he is a guy that could develop for the future.

Transfer Window Set to Reopen

It's almost that time of the summer again, when silly season kicks off again for MLS teams.  The MLS window reopens on Wednesday the 27th of June and stays open for a month.  Rumors and news has already started to come out Andriy Shevchenko has been linked with a move to DC United specifically within MLS, and the Philadelphia Union have made a move to get Bakary Soumare who is returning to MLS after a stint in Germany.

Kansas City could potentially be busy during this current window as well.  In an informal poll that I posted on Twitter today, the majority of people wanted center back depth, while a pure goal scorer and #10 midfielder also got votes.  All are areas where KC could definitely improve on the field. 

And after my informal poll that I put out today, news came of two trialists in camp training with Sporting KC.  The first trialist, Johan Ramirez Neeskens is an 18 year old US born midfielder who appears that he plays on the left side.  He's the son of former Dutch international and Barcelona player, Johan Neeskens.  Twice the elder Neeskens played in World Cup finals for the Dutch.  Neeskens also has a link to KC already, having played with the original KC Comets back in the 80's.  The younger Neeskens appears to have spent time with the Barcelona youth system.  Based on comments it sounds like Neeskens was born in the US, which would technically make him eligible to be American and not take up an international spot should KC be interested.

The other trialist would be a guy to potentially fill one of the needs above, although more likely for the future.  Oriol Rosell is a central defender who has spent the last few years with Barcelona B, the reserve side for Barcelona.  Last year, Rosell played in 6 games for the reserves as they finished 8th in the Spanish second division.  The two trailists may not make the team, but they at least causing some excitement to come out.

Gyorio Turns Down Offer from Sporting KC

For a while it looked like Canadian trialist, Mozzi Gyorio was going to become a Sporting KC player. He'd spent plenty of the preseason with KC, getting time in the tournament in Orlando. He'd come back to KC with the team, but then headed off to join the Canadian U23 camp ahead of Olympic qualifying. Gyorio didn't make the final roster for qualifying for Canada and so thoughts turned back to whether he would sign with KC. Word out of Canada is that KC did offer Gyorio a contract, but the Canadian has turned down the offer. Gyorio is still looking for a new club, but is apparently also hoping to get an improved offer from Sporting KC. It'll be interesting to see if he does get one, it'll be a sign about how highly Peter Vermes thinks of the 22 year old.

Auvray Returning to KC on Trial (or Not)

The season is less than a week away from kicking off for Sporting KC, but today a new player in on trial popped up on MLS's website in an article regarding the Crew's return from the Carolina Challenge Cup. The last game of the cup was canceled due to in climate weather, so the Crew didn't get a chance to look at some of their trialists. Specifically, they mention Stephane Auvray the former SKC Wizard who spent a season and a half with Sporting KC before being traded to New York late last year. The article mentions that the Crew won't get more of a look at Auvray because he is apparently heading to Kansas City to trial with Sporting.

The thought of Auvray returning to KC is an odd one. It didn't seem like he left under the best circumstances last year, there were rumors flying about perceived lack of playing time for the Guadeloupe international. The question is why we'd be looking to bring in another defensive midfielder. The one question that ran through my head as I read the article, was wondering if the injury to Julio Cesar and Paulo Nagamura was more serious than we've all been led to believe.

Of course, now with all that stated, Robb Heineman on Twitter has seemed to squash that rumor fairly quickly, saying that it's not happening. And I'll trust Robb's word on SKC matters over the Crew's MLS beat writer.

New Trialist and Dear Mr Hunt Letter Campaign

Sporting KC has a new trialist in camp according to reports. Sacir Hot, the former New York Red Bulls home grown player, was waived by the Red Bulls last week. Hot was signed by the Red Bulls last January as a home grown and appeared in two US Open Cup games for the Red Bulls, his only 2 first team appearances for the Red Bulls.

The 20 year old Hot was also a part of the US U20 team that traveled to Guatemala for World Cup qualifying. the 6'1" center back looks set to compete with Stefan Antonijevic for a spot on the roster.

Dear Mr. Hunt Campaign

Also today, the campaign to get the 2000 MLS Cup trophy back to Kansas City started getting some attention from some more major media today as Nick Wright discussed the topic today on his show. He took a bit of a different angle than many fans would hope. Wright said that he'd love to have the trophy back in Kansas City, but said that he understands Hunt wanting to keep the trophy as well. Fair enough to Wright he said he'd feel the same way if Hunt sold the Chiefs and kept the Lombardi Trophy.

Although I doubt that very much so. I think if Hunt were to sell the team and keep the trophy, this city (and the media by extension) would be up in arms over the trophy not staying in KC, which is the point that Sporting KC fans are trying to make in regards to the 2000 MLS Cup and wanting it back.

New Trialist

Not only today did quite a few of KC's rookies and trialists finally get a good run out in one of the preseason games, there was also a new trialist that started at the forward position, replacing Bobby Convey for the last 30 minutes. KC hasn't really had many known trialists other than the 3 that stayed with the team after their week of training in KC, so it's interesting to see that we're looking at what trialists we've brought in. The trialist, John Owoeri, appears like he's already spent some time trialing in the United States. If it's the same Owoeri, he spent time last year trialing with the Columbus Crew. The Crew though did not pick up the Nigerian. And although they apparently had to expose him in the expansion draft for some reason. An article out of Nigeria made it sound like his Egyptian club, Ismaily wanted compensation if he signed another contract, although Owoeri had apparently not been getting paid by the club.

The 25 year old Owoeri has been capped by the Nigerian national team and also appeared for Nigeria in the FIFA World Youth Championships. It'll be interesting to see if KC look to add another forward to their roster.

Three Trialists Heading to Arizona

Three of Sporting KC's trialists are heading to Arizona with the Sporting KC team. Goalkeepers Steve Spangler and Scott Angevine will be joined by former Michigan State midfielder, Cyrus Saydee in Arizona. The team departs tomorrow.

Sadly for Irving Garcia, Matt Kuhn, Myron Samuel, and Kevin Struck the attempts to make the Sporting KC roster end after a few days.

It's interesting that KC is taking two goalkeepers with them to Arizona as trialists. With Jimmy Nielsen signing a new contract in the offseason, and Jon Kempin being an off-budget home-grown player, Spangler and Angevine are battling for a roster spot against Eric Kronberg. In reality I see that as an extremely difficult uphill battle for both of them to make this roster.

Saydee is the third trialist making the trip, he's still fairly young, but like Spangler and Angevine, he still has a big uphill challenge to make the roster.

No mention has been made of the teams draft picks yet, so one would assume that they are all headed down to Arizona. No mention was made of Shawn Singh or Pablo Punyed who were both not at training today. So we'll see what's going on soon enough.

Training Thoughts

Today was Sporting KC's last training session in Kansas City before heading off to Arizona for a few weeks. A fairly light session for the most part, that involved two teams scrimmaging, and a third team working off to the side.

First game:

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Blue team - Kronberg, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Joseph, Convey, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

Only one goal in this one, a Joseph Peterson and Luke Sassano worked a very nice 1-2 together finishing with Joseph flicking the ball past Nielsen and into the net. Shortly after that though, Joseph went off with an injury that he was icing later.

Second Game

Blue team - Kempin, Myers, Cesar, Besler, Sinovic, Sassano, Convey, Saad

Green team - Sangler, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Ellis

Neutral - Warzycha

This game ended 1-1. The green team, full of trialists certainly came out the hungrier of the two teams to start, really pushing the blue team. The green team got rewarded with a goal as Konrad Warzycha played a 1-2 with Matt Kuhn and Warzycha buried his shot past Kempin. The goal seemed to wake the blue team up as much of the rest of the game was controlled by them. Warzycha got their goal as well finishing off a cross from Soony Saad. Later on, Kevin Ellis suffered what appeared to be a sprained ankle as he went for a long cross. Ellis went down and seemed to be in a lot of pain, but was helped off and left with ice on his ankle.

Third game

Orange team - Nielsen, Collin, Olum, Harrington, Warzycha, Thomas, Aiyegbusi, Dwyer, Kamara

Green team - Angevine, Strunk, Hedrick, Antonijevic, Miller, Kuhn, Saydee, Garcia, Saad

Neutral - Zavagnin

This game ended 0-0 with Saad forcing a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen at the end of the game to keep it scoreless. The orange team though was the better of play throughout this one. Saydee had to clear one chance off the line for the green team, but other than that both teams struggled to create real opportunities during this game.

Jacob Peterson, Roger Espinoza, and Paulo Nagamura were all running on the side of the field. Birahim Diop and Daneil Cyrus are both taking care of family issues (although rumors abound that Diop is going to go to Colombia to join Octavio Zambrano).

So who was impressive during the short scrimmages this morning?

The player that impressed me the most today was Konrad Warzycha. He looked incredibly comfortable on the ball. In the second game where he was on offense only he showed a good ability at being able to settle the game and pick out players on his team. Both of his finishes were well taken as well.

Matt Besler continues to step his game up. I thought he was at a different level last year, but just in the training today it seems like he's taken it to another level. Yes it was only a practice, but Besler looked intense out on the field. He also did a very good job of getting forward (although I doubt he'll be doing a ton of that in real games).

Really other than that it was hard to pick out guys who really stood out. The games were short field (they played between the 15's on the Chiefs practice field). But overall compared to last year when I attended the same practice, the level of the practice was a totally different level than it was last year. There seems to be a different level of intensity going on this year. More focus and more centered on certain things. That could come from the fact that Peter Vermes and players have driven home this week, that they've all come in, in better shape and better prepared. That means that Vermes doesn't have to spend as much time on certain things and instead can build quicker.

Finally some quick thoughts on the trialists and draft picks. Remember that these are based on just my one training session of viewing.

Scott Angevine - Goalkeeper that is trialing with the team. He's going to have trouble making the team I think though, but based off his tweets is heading to Arizona with the team.

Stefan Antonijevic - The kid is definitely big. He plays simple which is good for a defender, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he got shouldered off the ball by Soony Saad.

Dom Dwyer - Lots of movement teamed with Kei Kamara on his team, didn't get a ton of touches in either game though.

Cyrpian Hedrick - Hedrick did a decent job for the green team in the center of defense, did well with his distribution.

Irving Garcia - The guy was active on the field with a lot of movement off the ball, but really didn't do a whole lot when he did get the ball.

Matt Kuhn - Not going to say a lot here to avoid bias claims, (although I may be more harsh on him since I've seen him play a lot more). Kuhn had some decent play, did a good job of on Warzycha's goal for the green team. Did well getting his head up and with his passing, but could be a step quicker with decision making.

Kyle Miller - Partnered well with Kuhn in the midfield for the green team, did well getting forward and hanging back when needing to.

Pablo Punyed - Wasn't there, hasn't been there all week apparently. Looking at options overseas it appears.

Myron Samuel - Was not out there today. Didn't get any confirmation, but it seems he may already be gone.

Cyrus Saydee - The guy is small like his bio shows, Aiyegbusi size. He did a decent job down the wing, but his size is going to work against him.

Shawn Singh - Didn't realize until I was typing this up, but I didn't see KC's first round supplemental draft pick today.

Steve Spangler - Didn't make any mistakes in goal, nothing he really could have done on the goal he allowed, but he has his work cut out for him trying to make this team with KC already having 3 goalkeepers on the roster. The team isn't going to get rid of Jimmy Nielsen or Jon Kempin, so Spangler is going to have to beat out Kronberg to make this team, and I don't see it.

Kevin Struck - In these short games it's easier for the backs to get forward, and Struck did a good job of getting forward when he could.

Preseason Trialists

Sporting KC released the names today of their currently trialists that are in camp as the team prepares for preseason training out at the Chiefs indoor training facility. There looks to be some decent talent out there trialing right now, it'll be interesting to see who, if any, travel to Arizona, and which ones potentially make the team.

Here are the trialists.

Irving Garcia an attacking midfielder/right winger who is also a former draft pick by the New York Red Bulls in 2010. He appeared in 4 Open Cup games for the Red Bulls in the 2010 season before being waived. Since that time he's played with FC Tucson and Antigua GFC out of Guatemala.

Matt Kuhn. The DC United 4th round supplemental draft pick had been released before DC headed down to Florida. I hope in KC that my brother gets a better shake of things under Peter Vermes than he appeared to get from Ben Olsen and United. Kuhn spent time in college playing different positions in the midfielder as well as a forward when at Drake. He's also a former Junior's player, bringing the total in camp up to 4 with Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Kyle Miller.

Myron Samuel. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines international is only 19 years old and has already appeared 18 times for his country. He was found at Sporting KC's Caribbean combine last year. The forward's current club is based out of his home country, playing for Avenues United.

Cyrus Saydee. The former Michigan State midfielder is only 19, but has already finished his college eligibility. He was a first team all Big Ten honoree this past year. He is on the short side though, standing only 5'6", and that's without taking into any exaggeration.

Steve Spangler. The Oregon State grad is the only goalkeeper among the trialists. He's got decent size at 6'3", but his problem is that KC already seems set at goalkeeper with Jimmy Nielsen, Eric Kronberg, and Jon Kempin. So it would seem the odds of Spangler making the roster are probably slim.

Kevin Struck. Another recent college grad, this time from Lehigh University. Struck is a center back who was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. While the Patriot League isn't the greatest conference in college soccer, that's still a feat to win it two years in a row.

Those trialists are currently training in a separate session from the veterans, and I'm sure there are a few other trialists the team hasn't mentioned, including the infamous Trialist 1.

Reserves Fall to Dallas

In the final game of the year for Sporting KC, the Swope Park Rangers finished out the reserve league season today at Swope Park against FC Dallas. The Rangers fell 5-3 to Dallas as Ruben Luna scored 4 goals to help Dallas to the win. Luna opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Jeferson equalized for the reserves in the 37th from the penalty spot after Soony Saad was fouled in the box. KC grabbed the lead at the end of the first half on a goal from the ever present Trialist 1 who put away a rebound on a shot by Jeferson. Dallas came out in the second half and equalized only 5 minutes in with Luna again getting on the score board. Luna completed his hattrick in the 60th minute. He added a fourth in the 73rd minute. In the 80th, Saad put KC within one goal, but then in second half stoppage time, Daniel Garcia finished the scoring to make it 5-3.

Rangers Defeat Rapids

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

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

Check out the highlights below.

Rangers Fall to Fire

The Swope Park Rangers fell in a reserve league game today out at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park to the Chicago Fire. With Sporting KC set to take on Newcastle tomorrow, and a game against Toronto this weekend, KC's lineup saw them field only six players that are actually on KC's roster. The other 5 starters, and all 5 substitutions were either trialists or Juniors players. One of the trialists looks like it could be Haitian international Joseph Peterson. Doing an image search of him he looks like a guy that was out at training last week when I was there. Chicago grabbed the lead through Orr Barouch in the 13th minute. Trialist, Dwayne James got the equalizer in the 20th minute off an assist from new signing, Daneil Cyrus. Chicago grabbed the winner in the 77th through academy player, Manny Guzman.

Rangers Fall to Brass

In the first preseason game of the season for the Swope Park Rangers, the SKC reserves fell 3-2 to the KC Brass, the local PDL side. The big attraction of the game was the inclusion of trialist Chad Ochocinco in the game. Ochocinco came on as a substitute in the second 30 minute session and then played the entire third session for the Rangers. Twice the Rangers rallied from a goal down to equalize, but each time the Brass came back to retake the lead. The Brass scored twice in the first session. After the first goal by the Brass, the Rangers found an equalizer through a Kevin Ellis diving header. Shortly after Ellis' goal though the Brass would retake the lead. In the third session, the Rangers finally grabbed an equalizer again, this time through Juniors player, Derek Schrick. Schrick was one of six Juniors players to participate in the game. Also competing today was MISL MVP and Missouri Comets' player, Byron Alvarez who is on trial with Sporting KC after a good season indoors.

The Trial Begins

So today was the first day of Chad Ochocinco's 4 day trial with Sporting Kansas City, and the media circus that was destined to follow was in tow. And after one day I think there's two words that Wizards fans are going to be hearing a lot of over the rest of this week, humble pie. After his first training session with the team, Ochocinco used the word humble in one form or another more times than I think anyone would care to count. Based off of a few reports Ochocinco was fairly unimpressive during his first session, with him getting plenty of scorn and ridicule for his performance. Personally it looks like he showed exactly what I expected, he had a little bit of knowledge of the game but was extremely below the level of the players on the field.

I've gone from both ends of the spectrum on my feelings about this trial. Part of me is excited about the media attention that this has brought to the team, I mean when else is Sporting KC going to be one of the top stories in the sporting world in the United States? It's a great chance to showcase the team and for the league to get a little bit of the spotlight. On the other hand I still can't shake the feeling that this is all a media sideshow meant to just bring attention to the team. The good news is that the first day has kind of taken away one of the concerns some people had about him coming in and being good enough that talk of "anyone can play soccer" comes up. Still I'm worried about the perception of the team through this, hoping that the team doesn't come off as just trying to get media attention. We'll see what the rest of the week brings.

Cyrus Gone From Camp, Not Being Signed

Trinidad and Tobago youth international, Daneil Cyrus is now gone from camp with Kansas City. Cyrus did not play in the team's double header against Portland and Montreal last weekend and was again not in the lineup last night when KC took on the Arizona Sahuaros. There'd been no word on what had happened to him but some were speculating that he was gone. Now we have confirmation of that as he's now back in his home country playing in the local league.

According to the article it looks like the move fell through when it came to discuss salary according to 1st Santa Rosa's coach, Keith Look Loy; "...the offer from the club was not accepted. They liked the player very much and agreed that he could be a big asset to them this season, but the numbers (were not) adding up."

With Cyrus gone from camp, that leaves Matt Besler, Mike Jones, Shavar Thomas and trialists Omar Colley and Julio Cesar Santos Correa. Santos Correa though did not play last weekend either and is apparently back in Spain at this time, but is still being looked at for a roster spot. Should KC lose out on Santos Correa as well, it's another blow for KC. Already fans are questioning the additions on defense as not being enough to upgrade from the problems that plagued the central of defense last year, and if Santos Correa isn't signed I don't think many fans are going to feel comfortable with Besler-Thomas partnership. Even if Santos Correa is signed there are still going to be a lot of questions asked of the upgrades the team has done.