Busy Schedule Coming Up

I hope you enjoy this upcoming weekend without a Sporting KC game, because it could be the last light week in a little while for KC.  Should KC make the finals of the US Open Cup, and the PSG friendly is made official, KC will play 17 games in 56 days between June 16th and August 11th.  Twelve of those games are league games, 3 could be US Open Cup games, and 2 could be friendlies.  KC will basically be playing a game every 3 days or so between next Saturday and about the middle of August.  It's a very busy stretch that will test the depth for KC quite a bit.

The schedule starts very rough for KC, as they will play on the 16th at home against Toronto and then immediately take off for Seattle where they will play on Wednesday the 20th.  On Saturday the 23rd KC is on the opposite coast playing against Philadelphia.  They'll then come home and play Dayton in the US Open Cup on the 26th and then host Chicago on the 29th.  Here's a look at all the potential games for KC over the next 56 days.

June 16th vs Toronto
June 20th at Seattle
June 23rd at Philadelphia
June 26th vs Dayton (USOC)
June 29th vs Chicago
July 4th at Montreal
July 7th vs Houston
July 10th USOC Semifinals (KC not guaranteed to play)
July 14th at Columbus
July 18th at Houston
July 21st at New England
July 25th or 26th MLS All Star game on the 25th, 26th is potential date of PSG friendly
July 28th vs Columbus
August 1st vs Stoke City friendly
August 4th at New England
August 7th or 8th USOC Final (KC not guaranteed to play)
August 11th vs DC

MLS All Star Voting List Out

Today MLS announced the players that can be voted on for the All Star game in Philadelphia this year vs Chelsea.  Each MLS team had 6 players put up.  For KC, those six are Aurelien Collin, Roger Espinoza, Kei Kamara, Jimmy Nielsen, CJ Sapong, and Graham Zusi.  Of that list, Espinoza is at the top of my list of players that I'd vote for, he's still in my opinion, KC's MVP this year.  Collin is pretty deserving of it as well.  Honestly though I want these guys to be named to the "reserves" who still earn the All Star bonus but don't play in the game.  KC is going to be busy enough without having some of their players going off to Philadelphia to play Chelsea.


Sassano Out for 2 Months

Earlier this week it was announced that Luke Sassano will miss two months after having surgery on Tuesday.  Sassano had the surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. It's a blow for Sassano who with injuries in the center of midfield looked set to get more time, but will now miss KC's busy stretch of the season.

Former SKC Wizards Update

It's another week of former SKC Wizards updates.  First, congratulations to two former Wizards.  Tony Meola was officially inducted into the US Soccer hall of fame last week before the US game vs Brazil.  Also, Alex Bunbury, father of current Wizard, Teal Bunbury, was named to Canada's all time starting XI.  Here's the rest of this week's update.

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

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - No game this week.
Adam Cristman - LA - No game this week.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - No game this week.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - No game this week.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Out recovering from surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - No game this week.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Did not play in Seattle's 5-0 win over Cal FC.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Did not play in Philadelphia's 2-1 win over DC.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Carolina.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Did not play in DC's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - No game this week.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Chivas' 2-1 win over Carolina.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Did not play in San Jose's 1-0 win over Minnesota.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - No game this week.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - No game this week.
Josh Wolff - DC - Started and played 64 minutes, scoring a goal in DC's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Did not play in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Edmonton.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 90 minutes in Minnesota's 0-0 draw with San Antonio.  Did not play in Minnesota's 1-0 loss to San Jose.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 3-1 win over Tampa.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-1 win over Puerto Rico.  Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-1 loss to Chivas.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Started and played 75 minutes, scoring a goal in Fort Lauderdale's 3-1 win over Tampa.

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 84 minues in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Harrisburg.  Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Richmond's 1-0 win over Rochester.
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Dayton's 1-0 loss to Charleston.  Did not play as Dayton beat Michigan 2-1.
Yomby William - Richmond - Did not dress in Richmond's 1-1 draw with Harrisburg.  Did not dress in Richmond's 1-0 win over Rochester.
John Wilson - Charleston - Did not play in Charleston's 3-1 win over Pittsburgh.  Did not play in Charleston's 1-0 win over Dayton.

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Started and played 90 minutes in Tucson's 1-0 win over Fresno.  Started and played 82 minutes in Tucson's 1-0 win over BYU.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Beat San Francisco 9-1.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Season is over.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Season is over.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Season is over.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Season is over.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Season is over.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Season is over.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Season is over.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Season is over.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Season is over.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Season is over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Season is over.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Season is over.
Daneil Cyrus - 1st FC Santa Rosa - Trinidad - Season is over.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Season is over.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Started and played 80 minutes in the USA's 0-0 draw with Canada.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Vasas - Hungary - Season is over.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Play Athletico Mineiro today.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - Season is over.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Not in season.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Season is over.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Scored a goal in Armenia's 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Season is over.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Fjolnir's 3-1 win over KA.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Season is over.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - No game this week.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Season is over.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

The game was Peter Vermes' 100th game in charge of KC in all competitions.

The own goal tonight was the first own goal that Colorado have conceded against KC.

With 6 goals, Teal Bunbury is the 5th leading scorer for KC against the Rapids all time.

Bunbury has scored 6 of KC's last 13 goals against the Rapids in all competitions since Bunbury came into the league.

The goal was Bunbury's 10th at home in all competitions, tying him with Eddie Johnson for 15th place on that list.

The goal was also Bunbury's 21st in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Chris Brown and Igor Simutenkov, and tying him with Mark Chung for 9th on that list.

Chance Myers made his 8th US Open Cup appearance, tying him with Matt McKeon and Eric Kronberg for 10th on that list.

Matt Besler made his 7th USOC appearance, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 13th on that list.

Graham Zusi made his 6th USOC appearance, tying him with Jonathan Leathers, Ryan Pore, Alex Aotinca, Frnacisco Gomez, Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown and Shavar Thomas for 15th place on that list.

Bunbury, Besler, and Aurelien Collin made their 5th USOC start, tying them iwth Pore, Jose Burciaga, Tony Meola, Gomez, Oshoniyi, and Vermes for 16th on that list.

The win was Sporting KC's 1st in USOC or USOC qualifiers against the Rapids, in their 5th try.

The shutout was Jimmy Nielsen's 25th in all competitions for KC, tying him with Kevin Hartman for 3rd most shutouts in team history.

The win was Nielsen's 33rd in all competitions for KC, tying him with Mike Ammann for the 3rd most in team history.

Onto the Quarters for Sporting

Sporting KC took care of business at home last night, earning themselves their fourth trip in five years to the US Open Cup quarterfinals.  Unfortunately in none of those other 3 years has KC been able to win their quarterfinal match up.  On June 26th against Dayton, KC will have the opportunity to break that cycle.

KC came out and once again looked to apply their early pressure and were successful in winning some dangerous opportunities but weren't really able to test Matt Pickens in the Colorado net.  The best of those early chances fell to Chance Myers off a Matt Besler throw.  Besler's throw bounced in the box right in front of Myers as he made his run.  Myers tried to flick the ball with his foot pass picks but was only able to knock the ball into the ground and over the bar.  The dangerous opportunities continued to fall to KC as they pushed the game but never tested Pickens, always putting their efforts high or wide of the goal.  Finally KC got the goal that they deserved for their control of play.  After a foul about 40 yards out, Graham Zusi played a lofted ball into the box.  Aurelien Collin went up and met the cross with his head firing it on goal.  Pickens did well to get down and make a nice save on the first effort.  Unfortunately, Pickens only pushed the ball onto the post.  The ball rebounded back to Pickens, hit off him and rolled into the net.  While it was a deserved lead for KC, you had to feel a little hard done for Pickens who had made the first save very well.

After KC's goal, Colorado seemed to come into the game more as they created some good chances of their own late in the half.  Wells Thompson forced a punch save from Jimmy Nielsen in the SKC net.  Then Tony Cascio fired into the side netting from close range.  The Rapids continued push continued in the start of the second half.  Colorado started to get more and more of the ball, and were unlucky to equalize when a low cross was only partially cleared to Jaime Castrillon, whose curled effort towards the corner of the goal hit the elbow of the post and cross bar and bounced away back into play.  Meanwhile, KC's best possessions were coming from the counter to Teal Bunbury, but Bunbury's finishing was lacking.  In the 72nd minute, Colorado had another good opportunity, but Collin came up very big on the ball.  A give away by Zusi in COlorado's half led to a fast break.  Collin was the only defender behind the ball at the time as Colorado went on a 2v1 break.  Matt Besler did well to recover and cover the other player, but Collin did even better with a marvelous tackle on Edu at the top of the box to come away with the ball.  In the 79th minute, KC doubled their lead.  Soony Saad played a cross into the box for CJ Sapong.  Kosuke Kimura won the first header, but on the second, Sapong headed the ball into the middle of the box for Bunbury who one timed his effort past Pickens and into the net for a 2-0 lead.  KC shut down Colorado's attack further after that and the Rapids hardly seriously threatened KC's goal lat on as Sporting advanced to the quarterfinals where they'll play the Dayton Dutch Lions of the USL-Pro division.

Wizards Man of the Match - Teal Bunbury - Bunbury looks like he's starting to find some very good form.  His first touch seems to be back and it showed some good ability to actually play the target striker at times last night as well when KC needed it.  He also did well to finish his best opportunity of the night.

Honorable Mention - Aurelien Collin

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Sinovic 7, Collin 8, Besler 7, Myers 7, Cesar 6, Joseph 6, Zusi 6, Peterson 6, Bunbury 8, Sapong 7.  Subs Olum 6, Saad 6.

Sporting Look to Continue Cup Run

Tomorrow at Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City will look to continue their run in this year's US Open Cup in their first attempt at a trophy this year.  Sporting KC welcome the Colorado Rapids to Kansas City for their second match up against the Rapids this year.  Only a few weeks ago, Sporting KC and Colorado played to a 2-2 draw.  KC jumped out to a very early lead in that game thanks to a brace by Teal Bunbury, but couldn't hold the lead in the second half.

Colorado advanced to this round of the Open Cup after defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1 last week in Tampa.  The Rapids, like Sporting were off last weekend, and it would seem likely that they'll be putting their first team out against Kansas City as a way to get them game time ahead of their next league game, which is the 16th. Both Marvell Wynne and Omar Cummings are still out, and Conor Casey is doubtful for the Rapids.  It'll be interesting to see the lineup they put out but Martin Rivero will likely be a key to their offense.

As I mentioned above, KC doesn't have a league game this weekend.  What that means is that I fully expect that KC will play as close to a first team lineup as possible.  KC has 11 days until their match up with Toronto FC on the 16th.  While Peter Vermes has liked to use the reserves a little bit in the Open Cup, I think the guys need to keep their actual game fitness up a bit.  And a win this week would allow a bit more reserve play in the team's next Open Cup game, which would be a plus after the busy week they'll have before the potential quarterfinal match up.  The one problem that KC could have is in center midfield.  Arguably KC's deepest position appears to be a little thin right now.  Already without Roger Espinoza due to international duty, Luke Sassano and Paulo Nagamura are both listed currently as being out, while Peterson Joseph is listed as questionable.  That would seem to leave a likely midfield 3 of Julio Cesar, Lawrence Olum, and Graham Zusi.  That midfield seems to be missing the bit that has been provided by Espinoza and Nagamura so far this season.  Olum seems to be more in the mold of Cesar than a midfielder that does more of the heavy lifting like Espinoza and Nagamura have done.  That loss is going to be hard to overcome for KC.

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Cesar - Olum

Zusi

Saad - Bunbury - Sapong

Number to Remember - 0 - As I mentioned on Twitter tonight, KC has never won an Open Cup game against the Rapids.  The 2 teams have met 2 times in the Open Cup proper, and 2 times in Open Cup qualifiers.  In those 4 games, KC is 0-3-1.  In the two games in the Open Cup proper, KC has lost both games (in 1996 and 2003) 3-2.  In Open Cup qualifiers KC drew the Rapids 2-2 back in 2008, which they won on penalty kicks, and lost in 2010 2-1.  Three of those games have been in Kansas City.  Tomorrow night though I wouldn't be surprised if the attendance tops all 3 of those games combined at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Key Match Up - Graham Zusi vs Jeff Larentowicz - Zusi changed the game against Orlando when he came into the game last week.  Against another MLS side, let's hope that Zusi improves his performance, which has improved since hitting a low around the time that KC played Colorado.

PREDICTION - Four games away from a trip to next year's CONCACAF Champion's League, things are lined up well for Sporting.  They are at home, where they continue to play very well.  They're off league play last weekend and this weekend, and while Colorado is as well, I think as a whole KC is the more talented team. There's no excuses in this game, call ups and injuries aside, 4 games from a trophy, you go out and you get the trophy.

SKC - 2 (Bunbury, Sapong)
CO - 1 (Akpan)

Livestrong Sporting Park to Host World Cup Qualifier

Today US Soccer announced which city will be hosting the USA's third and final home game of this round of qualifying against Guatemala.  The USA will be coming back to Kansas City and Livestrong Sporting Park for the game on October 16th.  It'll be the third time the USA has played in Kansas City, the second World Cup qualifier, and the second time at Livestrong Sporting Park. 

The game against Guatemala is the last of the 6 games in this round of qualifying that kicks off on the 8th in Tampa.  The top two finishers from the USA's group qualify for the next round, the Hex, where the top 3 automatically qualify for the World Cup and the 4th place team plays the winner of Oceania qualifying.

It's great that the USA is returning to Kansas City again after 19,000 plus saw their Gold Cup game last year vs Guadeloupe.  The one draw back in my opinion is the timing of the game.  With the game being the last one in this cycle, the USA SHOULD have already clinched qualification for the Hex.  If that's true the roster for this game could be a bit underwhelming, similar to the 2010 qualifying cycle, when the US had already clinched qualification to the Hex and had guys like Pablo Mastroeni and John Thorrington starting for the United States in the meaningless game against Guatemala that the US won 2-0.

On the opposite side of that coin though, Robb Heineman sees this game as an audition for bigger things, specifically, US-Mexico in the Hex.  Heineman said, “I think this is a good audition for the U.S.-Mexico game. Meaningful games for our national team should be played at Livestrong Sporting Park. That is how we feel about it, and we’re anxious to prove that is the case.”

Since qualification for the 2002 World Cup, US Soccer has held the US-Mexico game in the Hex at Columbus Crew Stadium, where the US has made a habit of winning 2-0 at CCS.  But there are plenty of other stadiums vying to host the big match up.  This game would be a good audition for KC fans to show that they can make another US friendly atmosphere.  Unlike Guadeloupe, Guatemalan fans travel well.  Proving that KC can bring in a pro US crowd against an opponent that travels better is the next key step if KC wants to host US-Mexico.

Sporting KC on International Duty

With MLS playing a limited schedule right now due to the international break, some of Sporting KC's players are on international duty.  Today two players were in session.  First, Kei Kamara and the Sierra Leone national team kicked off their 2014 World Cup qualifying today in Freetown, Sierra Leone when they took on Cape Verde.  The Leone Stars got goals from Medo Kamara and Sheriff Suma in the first half to take a 2-0 lead.  A late goal from Cape Verde wasn't enough, as Sierra Leone got their qualifying campaign off to the right start.  Kamara started and played 90 minutes for Sierra Leone.

The other player, was Roger Espinoza and Honduras.  Today they took on El Salvador in a friendly in DC at RFK Stadium.  With Espinoza suspended for Honduras' first World Cup qualifier coming up duty to his red card in last year's Gold Cup against Mexico, Espinoza didn't start the match for Honduras.  Instead, Espinoza came on as a sub for Wilson Palacios. Honduras ended up winning their last friendly before their qualifiers start, 3-0.

Sporting KC Could Host US Open Cup Quarterfinals

US Soccer just released the draw for the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.  If Sporting Kansas City defeat the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday in the 4th round of the US Open Cup, they will once again host in the quarterfinals.  Kansas City would host the quarterfinals on June 26th against either the Michigan Bucks or the Dayton Dutch Lions.  The Bucks, of the PDL defeated the Chicago Fire in the last round, while the Lions, or the USL-Pro division, defeated the Columbus Crew in their match up.  Those two teams meet in Rochester, Michigan this Tuesday for a chance to travel to either Kansas City or Colorado.

A quarterfinal match up would be a good match up for KC.  While you definitely don't want to underestimate the lower division side, the quarterfinal match up would come 2 days after Sporting KC completes a grueling stretch of games that see them play at home on the 16th, in Seattle on the 20th, and in Philadelphia on the 23rd.  A very congested stretch for Kansas City.

The important thing for KC though is to avoid what happened last year in the quarterfinals, when Kansas City lost to the Richmond Kickers.  The draw would also seem to set up for a semifinal match up against New York/Harrisburg/DC/Philadelphia should KC make it that far.

No Suspension, Yet, for Busch

Today, MLS' disciplinary committee made announcements regarding retroactive fines and suspensions for activities this past week.  Three players received suspensions, Mike Magee and Michael Stephens, both of LA, and Lionard Pajoy of Philadelphia for their actions last week.  One name that many Sporting KC fans expected to be on the list, but was not, was Jon Busch. 

For those that don't remember the long discussion that occurred on Sunday night, Monday, and much of Tuesday before the Open Cup game, Busch allegedly slapped one of the ball kids behind the goal, late in KC's 2-1 win over San Jose.  Multiple reports game in from people around the incident, basically describing similar situations but differing in some details.  What the story basically is, is that the ball kid was taking his time returning the ball to Busch as he was yelling for it to try to get the game restarted.  The question comes in the next part, some people have said that Busch grabbed the ball out of the kids and gave a quick slap.  A second story that has been around is that the kid dropped the ball at the same time that Busch went to grab it and slapped him as a result of the ball not being there.  A third version of the events is that the kid dropped the ball and as Busch picked it up he then slapped the kid.  After the game, the ball kid, or someone claiming to be the ball kid, called in to the post game show on Sports Radio 810.  He confirmed that he was trying to kill time to help KC late on.  He did confirm that Busch hit him in the arm. 

It's surprising still that Busch has not been given a suspension yet.  There is one thing that could be delaying the announcement though.  Since the action involved a someone that was not a player, it's possible that there may be some sort of police action that is being waited on before an announcement was made.  It's also just as possible that Busch doesn't get a suspension and the contact is seen as accidentally.  IF Busch does end up getting suspended there are two previous instances that can be looked at for examples.  The first was Colin Clarke earlier this year calling a ball kid in Seattle an F'ing Faggot.  Clarke received a 3 game fine for his actions.  The other occurred in Switzerland, where a player slapped a ball kid post game.  That player received an eight game suspension for his actions. I personally still expect some league action to be taken for Busch's actions on Sunday, but we'll have to see if that actually happens.

Hedrick Out with Surgery

Cyprian Hedrick will miss the next four months of action after he had surgery on his fractured fibula. The surgery took place today.  With the injury to Hedrick, the announcement the other day of the signing of Kyle Miller makes total sense.  I'd wondered at the time why KC had made the announcement when they did, but with Hedrick being out of the next 4 months, the signing of the local product makes more sense.

Former SKC Wizards Update

 This week's former SKC Wizards update is out.  Lots of US Open Cup games this week for former players and international play.  Here's this week's update.

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

MLS
Davy Arnaud - Montreal - Started and played 74 minutes in Montreal's 3-2 loss to Colorado.
Adam Cristman - LA - Did not dress in LA's 2-1 loss to Hosuton.  Did not play in LA's 2-1 loss to Carolina.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Started and played 70 minutes in Salt Lake's 3-2 win over Dallas.  Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Salt Lake's 3-1 loss to Minnesota.
Kevin Hartman - Dallas - Started and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 3-2 loss to Salt Lake.  Dressed but did not play in Dallas' 2-0 loss to Charlotte.
Will Hesmer - Columbus - Out recovering from surgery.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-1 draw with Vancouver.  Started and played 120 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to Cal FC.
Eddie Johnson - Seattle - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Chivas.  Started and played 45 minutes in Seattle's 5-1 win over Atlanta.
Chris Konopka - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes in Philadelphia's 1-0 loss to Toronto.  Started and played 90 minutes in Philadelphia's 3-0 win, recording the shutout over Rochester.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Chivas - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Seattle.  Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Ventura County.
Kurt Morsink - DC - Did not dress in DC's 3-2 win over New England.  Did not dress in DC's 2-1 win over Richmond.
Scott Sealy - Dallas - Dressed but did not play in Dallas' 3-2 loss to Salt Lake.  STarted and played 90 minutes in Dallas' 2-0 loss to Charlotte.
Ryan Smith - Chivas - Started and played 88 minutes in Chivas' 1-1 draw with Seattle.  STarted and played 45 minutes in Chivas' 1-0 win over Ventura County.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Started and played 90 minutes in San Jose's 2-1 loss to KC.  Did not play in San Jose's 2-1 win over Fort Lauderdale.
Shavar Thomas - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-2 loss to Colorado.
Tyson Wahl - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-2 loss to Colorado.
Josh Wolff - DC - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in DC's 3-2 win over New England.  Started and played 120 minutes in DC's 2-1 win over Richmond.

NASL
Jose Burciaga - Atlanta - Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 1-1 draw with Fort Lauderdale.  Started and played 90 minutes in Atlanta's 5-1 loss to Seattle.
Kevin Friedland - Minnesota - Started and played 86 minutes in Minnesota's 0-0 draw with Tampa.  Dressed but did not play in Minnesota's 3-1 win over Salt Lake.
Scott Lorenz - Fort Lauderdale - Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 draw with Atlanta.  Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to San Jose.
Amir Lowery - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 2-1 win over LA.
Abe Thompson - Fort Lauderdale - Did not play in Fort Lauderdale's 1-1 draw with Atlanta.  Started and played 90 minutes in Fort Lauderdale's 2-1 loss to San Jose.

USL
Edson Elcock - Richmond - Started and played 53 minutes in Richmond's 3-1 win over Wilmington.  Started and played 77 minutes in Richmond's 2-1 loss to DC.
Akeem Priestley - Dayton - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Dayton's 2-2 draw with Rochester.
Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 70 minutes in Richmond's 3-1 win over Wilmington.  Did not play in Richmond's 2-1 loss to DC.
John Wilson - Charleston - Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 1-0 win over LA.  Started and played 90 minutes in Charleston's 3-0 loss to New York.

PDL
Michael Kraus - FC Tucson - Started and played 90 minutes in Tucson's 1-0 win over Pali.

NPSL
Nelson Pizarro - San Diego Flash - Defeated Sacramento 3-1.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Wichita Wings - Season is over.
Nick Garcia - Kansas Magic - Season is over.
Pat Healey - Baltimore Blast - Season is over.
Mike Jones - Illinois Piasa - Season is over.
JT Murray - Louisville Lightning - Season is over.
Boris Pardo - Comets - Season is over.
Yomby William - Norfolk SharX - Season is over.
Paul Wright - Anaheim Bolts - Season is over.

International
Vicente Arze - Diosgyor - Hungary - Did not dress in Diosgyor's 3-2 win over Vasas.
Omar Bravo - Cruz Azul - Mexico - Season is over.
Sunil Chhetri - Mohun Bagan - India - Season is over.
Eloy Colombano - Defensores de Cambaceres - Argentina - Lost 4-1 to Midland.
Daneil Cyrus - 1st FC Santa Rosa - Trinidad - Season is over.
Gary Glasgow - North East Stars - Trinidad - Season is over.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 26 minutes in the USA's 5-1 win over Scotland.  Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in the USA's 4-1 loss to Brazil.
Zoltan Hercegfalvi - Vasas - Hungary - Did not dress in Vasas' 3-2 loss to Diosgyor.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Season is over.
Jeferson - Bahia - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Bahia's games.
Will John - Vinogradar - Croatia - Season is over.
Mike Jones - FC Hjorring - Denmark - Not in season.
Neal Kitson - Northampton Town - England - Season is over.
Igor Kostrov - FC Tiraspol - Moldova - Season is over.
Yura Movsisyan - FC Krasnodar - Russia - Season is over.
Michal Mravec - FC Emmen - Netherlands - Season is over.
Pablo Punyed - Fjolnir - Iceland - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Fjolnir's 5-0 win over IR.
Craig Rocastle - Thrasyvoulos Fylis FC - Greece - Season is over.
Milos Stojcev - FC Akzhayik - Kazakhstan - Came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Akzhayik's 3-1 loss to Irtysh.
Matt Taylor - SC Paderborn 07 - Germany - Season is over.
Diego Walsh - TOT SC - Thailand - Season is over.

Sporting KC Sign Miller

Sporting KC added another player to their roster today with the addition of Supplemental Draft pick Kyle Miller.  Miller, the 54th selection in the Supplemental Draft, is the 4th player from this year's draft class to be signed, along with Dom Dwyer, Cyprian Hedrick, and Shawn Singh. 

Since being drafted, Miller has consistently been training with the team.  As a local KC kid, it's been easy for Miller to hang around and continue to train with the team.  He's appeared in a few reserve games as a guest player for KC as well.  Miller also becomes the 6th player with local ties on the team, joining Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic, Jon Kempin, Kevin Ellis, and Michael Thomas.

S.A.S. Wednesday After Stats

Chance Myers and Aurelien Collin are the only two players to start every game in all competitions this year.

Myers, Collin, Matt Besler, and Graham Zusi are the only 4 players to appear in every game so far this season.

Three players, Jon Kempin, Konrad Warzycha, and Dom Dwyer made their professional debut.

Kempin, at 19 years, 51 days, became the second youngest player to ever start a game for Kansas City in all competitions behind Yura Movsisyan's 18 years 357 days.  He knocked Peter Byaruhanga at 20 years 364 days off the 10 ten.

Kempin also became the 4th youngest player to appear in a competitive game for Kansas City, knocking Byaruhanga's 20 years 325 days off the top 10.

Kempin is also the youngest player to have his first appearance be a start for Kansas City.

Soony Saad, at 19 years, 286 days became the 4th youngest player to start a game for Sporting KC in all competitions.  Saad knocked Nick Garcia at 20 years, 351 days off the top 10.

Paulo Nagamura's goal was his 10th in all competitions in his MLS career.

Chance Myers made his 7th US Open Cup appearance for KC, tying him with Diego Gutierrez for 12th on that list.

Myers made his 6th Open Cup start, tying him with Jonathan Leathers, Gutierrez, and Shavar Thomas

Matt Besler made his 6th USOC appearance, tying him with Leathers, Ryan Pore, Alex Zotinca, Francisco Gomez, Bo Oshoniyi, Chris Brown, and Shavar Thomas for 14th.

Sporting KC Survive Scare on Night of Upsets

Sporting KC had to hold on late, but came away with a 3-2 win over USL-Pro side, Orlando City in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup last night at Livestrong Sporting Park.  Sporting were one of the lucky MLS sides, as MLS teams struggled against many of the lower level opponents last night, 7 MLS teams went down to their lower level competition last night in Open Cup play.  With two more games tonight, MLS is currently 7-7 in this round.

Sporting started last night strong trying to find the early goal, but were unsuccessful in those attempts.  Orlando slowly started to come into the game, mainly through the efforts for forward Dennis Chin, who gave KC headaches all night with his speed.  The game was very open as both teams were able to get up and down the field.  KC was getting opportunities from crosses, but each one would seem to fall to where no KC players were.  Meanwhile with KC's wingbacks getting so far forward, Orlando looked to exploit it on the break.  If not for a fantastic tackle by Aurelien Collin on Chin, Orlando would have had a great chance to go up 1-0.  Late in the half Orlando was almost able to grab the lead.  Jamie Watson had a chance from the top of the box after another Chin run, but Jon Kempin dove to his left and at full extension knocked the ball away to keep the game scoreless.  In stoppage time KC almost grabbed the lead through Soony Saad as he was played in on goal, but as Saad tried to slot the ball back post, Miguel Gillardo made a good stop getting his hand down.  A minute later though KC had the lead.  Peterson Joseph made a square pass to Paulo Nagamura who was about 25 yards out from goal.  Nagamura took a touch and let fly with a shot from distance that beat Gillardo and gave KC the half time lead 1-0. 

In the second half, while KC controlled more of play, it was Orlando that was creating the better chances early on.  Chin again tried to set up Watson in a 1v1 situation vs Kempin, but once again the home grown goalkeeper came up with a big save.  A few minutes after that though, Orlando was level.  A cross from Erik Ustruck found Kevin Molino alone in the box and he headed it past Kempin.  No one followed Molino's run from the midfield and it was an easy finish for the midfielder.  After the goal, KC continued to really push the game.  Saad was unlucky to restore the lead on a nice play where he received the ball with his back to goal and a man on him, turned outside and fired a shot that hit the post and bounced back into play.  Peter Vermes' insertion of Graham Zusi was a point that really started to change the game.  While Joseph didn't play a bad game, Zusi just brought a different dynamic that allowed KC to really get on Orlando.  Zusi almost immediately set up Chance Myers, but Gallardo blocked his effort.  In the 63rd, KC retook the lead through Saad.  CJ Sapong collected a loose ball down the left and played a ball wide toward Saad and Nagamura near the corner of the box.  Saad let the ball run for Nagamura, who touched the ball back to Saad. From near the corner of the box, Saad took a touch and buried a shot in the far corner to restore KC's lead.  Shortly after the first goal, Saad had his brace.  A corner from Graham Zusi was punched out by Gallardo.  The punch though was only as far as Saad who teed up from 30 yards out and his low effort found the corner and KC was up 3-1. 

Things looked like they'd gotten a bit easier for KC shortly after the goal when Anthony Pulis was sent off for an intentional elbow.  While KC had a few chances after the red, including Jacob Peterson forcing a good save off Gallardo on a header, it was Orlando though that would really start to push the game though.  Down a man they made life difficult for KC and really kept the pressure up.  In the 84th minute, Orlando got back into the game when Chin scored on Kempin to make it 3-2. The final 6 minutes plus stoppage time were nervy, but the insertion of Matt Besler helped settle down the defense and KC held on for the 3-2 win.  They'll now take on Colorado next Tuesday at Livestrong.

Wizards Man of the Match - Soony Saad - The two goal hero for KC had a good game.  If not for some fine goalkeeping and the post Saad very well could have had 4 goals last night.  And funny enough it almost didn't happen as Vermes was ready to pull Saad for Teal Bunbury when an injury to Peterson Joseph forced a change to the substitution.


Player Ratings - Kempin 6, Myers 5, Collin 5, Warzycha 3, Sinovic 5, Nagamura, 6, Olum 4, Joseph 5, Peterson 6, Saad 8, Dwyer 5.  Subs Sapong 6, Zusi 7 Besler NR.

Sporting KC vs Orlando City Play by Play

Remember Richmond

Sporting KC have a quick turnaround and are back in action again tomorrow only 2 days after their 2-1 win over San Jose.  Back at Livestrong Sporting Park, KC will take on Orlando City in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup.  Last year in the 4th round of the cup, KC suffered their first loss at LSP, losing 2-0 to USL Pro side, the Richmond Kickers.  Orlando is a better USL side than Richmond is and will give Kansas City everything they can handle.

Orlando, the defending USL Pro champions, are off to a great start this season as well.  They are 7-0-2 since their season kicked off.  Orlando has plenty of experience on their roster, Kyle Davies and Jamie Watson are MLS veterans, and there's good pedigree in the team as well, with the son of Stoke City manager Tony Pulis, Anthony Pulis and the brother of Wayne Rooney, John Rooney.  OCSC made their way into the 3rd round by beating local USASA, the KC Athletics 7-0 last Tuesday.   The thing that could be working against Orlando is that they'll be on their 4 game in 8 days.  And while 3 of those games have been in Orlando, it's definitely not going to be easy to be on their 4th game in such a short period of time.

Kansas City is on shorter rest though with only 1 off day in between.  The team has given out mixed signals on the type of lineup that they'll put out tomorrow.  Last week Peter Vermes said that he'd likely use two different lineups.  But articles out today seem to point to the potential for players that went 90 minutes last night to get similar minutes tomorrow against Orlando.  It would appear that after playing only 23 minutes against San Jose, due to injury, Seth Sinovic will get a run out again with casts on both hands.  The other thing that appears to be certain is that home grown player, Jon Kempin will get his first career start in a competitive match tomorrow in goal.  The one thing to keep in mind with regards to the lineup is that per the rules for the cup, KC can only have 5 internationals on the 18 man roster for the game.  I think we will see a few players from Sunday get a start again today, but it'll mainly be reserves. 

Kempin

Ellis - Olum - Besler - Sinovic

Nagamura - Sassano

Joseph

Dwyer - Saad - Peterson

Key Match Up - Lawrence Olum vs Orlando - Olum was signed late last season from Orlando and this is an opportunity for Olum to go up against his former side.  So far I personally haven't been impressed with his play, hopefully he steps up to the occasion.

PREDICTION - This game scares me immensely.  The team is saying all the right things ahead of this game, but it's one thing to say the right thing, it's another thing for them to actually go through on it.  Orlando is a good side, better than Richmond.  KC cannot fall asleep in this game.  A loss wouldn't be the end of the world but would be a big disappointment.  I want to predict a win in this one, but I'm incredibly worried that it won't happen.

SKC - 1 (Saad)
OCSC - 2 (Rooney, Griffins)

S.A.S. Monday Edition

Lots of stats from yesterday's win over San Jose.

Seth Sinovic made his 50th league appearance in his MLS career.

KC is now 9-0-0 when CJ Sapong scores in league play.  In all competitions, KC is 12-0-0 when he scores.


CJ Sapong's goal was his 8th in all competitions at home for KC, tying him with Jose Burciaga and Chris Henderson for 19th on that list.

Kei Kamara's goal was his 19th at home in league play for KC, that breaks his tie with Scott Sealy for 6th on that list.

It was also Kamara's 20th at home in all competitions, tying him with Sealy for 6th on that list.

Kamara's goal was also his 25th league goal for KC, the 8th player to hit that mark for KC.

Kamara's assist was his 13th in league play for KC, breaking his tie with Paul Wright for 19th place on that list.

Kamara's assist was also his 13th in all competitions for KC, tying him with Wright and Chris Brown for 19th on that list.

Kamara's game winner was his 8th for KC in league play, tying him with Digital Takawira for 5th place on that list.

It was also his 8th game winner in all competitions, tying him with Sealy, Igor Simutenkov, and Takawira for 6th on that list.

Graham Zusi's assist was his 15th league assist for KC, tying him with Claudio Lopez and Henderson for 13th on that list.

Zusi's assist was his 18th in all competitions, tying him with Burciaga and Francisco Gomez for 12th on that list.

Michael Harrington's assist was his 14th in league play for KC, tying him with Gomez and Diego Gutierrez for 16th place on that list.

Harrington's assist was also his 15th in all competitions, tying him with Gutierrez and Henderson for 16th place on that list.

Jimmy Nielsen recorded his 30th league win for KC last night, that ties him with Kevin Hartman for the 4th most in team history.

Nielsen's win was his 32nd in all competitions for KC, breaking his tie with Hartman for 4th place on that list.

Back to Winning

Sporting KC finally ended their long winless run and got a win May for the first time since 2009.  KC's last win in the month of May happened on May 16th, 2009, in Utah against Real Salt Lake.  A span of 14 games in the month of May since KC last won.  It wasn't without some stress at the end again for KC as they almost losta 2 goal lead again against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Early on, the first chance fell to San Jose in the first minute as Marvin Chavez forced a good save out of Jimmy Nielsen after he'd cut inside on Chance Myers.  KC started to control after the early chance and in the 5th minute a great spell of possession by KC was capitalized on with a goal.  KC worked the ball from one side of the field, to the other, and back again looking for a way through the San Jose defense.  A deflected pass from Teal Bunbury found Graham Zusi who raced at the San Jose defense before laying the ball out wide to Kei Kamara.  Kamara one timed a cross into the box, where CJ Sapong had made a great run to the back post and knocked the ball past Jon Busch and into the net for a 1-0 lead.  With Bobby Convey out of the lineup, KC had a big athletic front line with Bunbury, Kamara, and Sapong.  And with San Jose's lack of height in the back, KC played more crosses in from each side. 

In the 20th minute, KC was dealt a cruel blow.  Seth Sinovic, who had only just returned after missing time breaking his right hand, went over the LED boards on the end line.  When he came back up he had a deep cut on his left hand.  Sinovic left the game with the injury and it was later reported that Sinovic ended up with 20 stitches in his hand from the cut.  Shortly after Sinovic's injury, Bunbury almost made it 2-0.  Kamara and Zusi combined for a 1-2 at midfield and then Kamara got past two San Jose defenders.  Kamara raced down the field and played a ball in to Bunbury.  Bunbury's first attempt was blocked, but the ball came back to him and he fired it just wide of the goal.  San Jose struggled to create chances, but did force a good save out of Nielsen in the 31st through Steven Beitashour.  After a throw from San Jose was partially cleared, Beitashour settled and volleyed from about 25 yards out.  Nielsen though made a nice diving save pushing the ball wide of the goal.  KC really should have made it 2-0 in the 36th minute.  A long throw from Matt Besler was headed back to the back side of the goal.  Kamara won the ball off of Chavez with a great sliding tackle and played a ball back into the box that made it's way through to Aurelien Collin about 3 yards out from goal.  Collin though appeared to be surprised the ball made it through to him.  He stumbled and didn't make good contact with the ball as Busch collected.

Only a few minutes later, KC did grab the 2-0 lead.  Myers collected the ball on his side of the field and while trying to find an open man started making his way into the middle.  Myers eventually played the ball to Michael Harrington, who had replaced Sinovic.  Harrington played a great ball into the box, where Kamara got in front of his man and headed the ball into the net to double the lead.

KC continued to push in the second half.  Zusi had a good opportunity early on off a Myers cross, but he put his effort wide of the goal.  The game really started to open up though as San Jose looked for a way back into the game while KC looked to strike on the counter.  After a cross was punched by Nielsen, Chavaz tried to chip Nielsen, but the Dane was able to grab the ball.  Finally in the 72nd minute, the goal that looked to be coming came.  Simon Dawkins collected a pass just outside Sporting's box and curled a shot into the corner out of the reach of Nielsen.  And all of the sudden things started to feel a lot like last week's game in Colorado. 

KC still created chances though unlike against Colorado.  It looked like KC had a free kick coming in a good position after Ike Opara appeared to shoulder Zusi down just outside the box.  Referee Baldomero Toledo appeared set to let play continue, but his linesman raised his flag for a foul.  After a discussion where it looked like KC would get a free kick, Toledo overruled his linesman and restarted play with a drop ball.  The play seemed to piss Zusi off as he played the next 5 minutes with a renewed fire and was unlucky to not make it 3-1 off a great pass from Kamara.  Kamara curled a teasing ball into the box towards Bunbury and Zusi.  Zusi reached the ball and fired on goal, but Busch saved the shot to keep it 2-1.  Sapong put the rebound over the goal.

Things got interesting in stoppage time in front of the Cauldron.  Busch was trying to get a play restarted quickly and get a ball from one of the ball boys.  From reports of people that were right behind the goal, behind the ball boy, he was taking his time giving the ball back to Busch, apparently in a bit of gamesmanship.  Busch ran up to him telling him to give him the ball, then grabbed the ball out of his hands.  Busch then apparently swatted at the ball boy, hitting him in the arm.  After the final whistle blew to end the game and give KC the win, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Greg Cotton, made his way on a jog to the goal area.  There with security and police, the ball boy was escorted to midfield.  I expect the league disciplinary committee will be contacting Busch about an upcoming fine and suspension.  Based on the history of what mistreatment of a ball kid has gotten, I'd expect at least 3 games.  But unlike the verbal abuse that got Colin Clarke a 3 game suspension, I could see Busch getting more for actually making contact with the kid.

Wizards man of the match - Kei Kamara - A goal and an assist for Kamara in his last game before departing for international duty.  Kamara was all over the place and had a fantastic game.

Honorable mention - Graham Zusi, Teal Bunbury

Player Ratings - Nielsen 6, Myers 6, Collin 5, Besler 6, Sinovic 5, Cesar 5, Espinoza 5, Zusi 7, Sapong 7, Bunbury 7, Kamara 8.  Subs Harrington 6, Olum 5, Nagamura NR.

Attendance Comparison Through 6 Home Games

Another standing room only crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park as Sporting KC pulled in just under 20,000, at 19,974 for today's game against the San Jose Earthquakes.  Sporting KC continues to push to set a new high for attendance average in a season this season.  Here's a look at attendance through 6 games throughout the seasons.

1996 - Arrowhead
9,551
Wednesday 6/5/1996 vs Tampa 1-3 loss
Average - 13,995

1997 - Arrowhead
8,151
Thursday 5/22/1997 vs Columbus 3-1 win
Average - 8,889

1998 - Arrowhead
5,027
Wednesday 5/27/1998 vs Columbus 1-1 (3-2) shootout win
Average - 7,616

1999 - Arrowhead
11,186
Saturday 5/15/1999 vs DC 3-3 (0-3) shootout loss
Average - 9,030

2000 - Arrowhead
13,484
Wednesday 5/17/2000 vs DC 2-0 win
Average - 8,482

2001 - Arrowhead
10,529
Saturday 6/30/2001 vs Tamp 3-0 win
Average - 10,245

2002 - Arrowhead
9,721
Saturday 6/15/2002 vs DC 2-0 win
Average - 11,762

2003 - Arrowhead
10,857
Saturday 6/7/2003 vs New York 2-1 win
Average - 14,815

2004 - Arrowhead
8,014
Wednesday 6/2/2004 vs New England 2-3 loss
A late Pat Noonan hattrick seals a New England comeback.
Average - 14,500

2005 - Arrowhead
6,787
Saturday 6/11/2005 vs New England 0-2 loss
Average - 9,657

2006 - Arrowhead
9,014
Saturday 6/17/2006 vs Chicago 3-2 win.
Average - 10,949

2007 - Arrowhead
9,485
Sunday 7/1/2007 vs Toronto 1-1 draw.
Average - 9,409

2008 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Saturday 6/28/2008 vs Salt Lake 1-0 win.
Average - 9,602

2009 - Community America Ballpark
10,385
Saturday 6/6/2009 vs Columbus 0-2 loss
Average - 9,590

2010 - Community America Ballpark
10,167
Thursday 6/10/2010 vs Philadelphia 2-0 win
KC's last game before the break the league took for the group stages of the World Cup.
Average - 9,894

2011 - Livestrong Sporting Park
16,382
Saturday 7/23/2011 vs Toronto 4-2 win.
Still the most goals KC has scored in a single game at home since LSP opened
Average - 17,820

2012 - Livestrong Sporting Park
19,974
Sunday 5/27/2012 vs San Jose 2-1 win.
Average - 19,177

Here's the years lined up in order.

1. 2012 - 19,177 (-)
2. 2011 - 17,820 (-)
3. 2003 - 14,815 (+1)
4. 2004 - 14,500 (-1)
5. 1996 - 13,995 (-)
6. 2002 - 11,762 (-)
7. 2006 - 10,949 (-)
8. 2001 - 10,245 (+1)
9. 2005 - 9,657 (-1)
10. 2008 - 9,602 (+1)
11. 2009 - 9,590 (+1)
12. 2010 - 9,494 (-2)
13. 2007 - 9,409 (-)
14. 1999 - 9,030 (+1)
15. 1997 - 8,889 (-1)
16. 2000 - 8,482 (+1)
17, 1998 - 7,616 (-1)

Another Friendly for Sporting KC?

A few weeks ago, Sporting KC announced the friendly against Stoke City on August 1st at Livestrong Sporting Park.  Today, it appears that there's another friendly coming to KC.  Word on Goal.com is that before the Stoke City game, KC will play another friendly against French side, Paris Saint-Germain.  PSG finished second in Ligue 1 this year, 3 points behind Montpellier. 

According to the article, KC would take on PSG on July 26th, two days before KC takes on Columbus at LSP.  The game would be PSG's second of 3 on their tour, as they take on Chelsea at Yankee Stadium on the 22nd.  And on the 31st they are in Montreal to take on Juventus.

Sporting Need to Right Ship

Sporting Kansas City are back in action tomorrow against San Jose in their final league match for two weeks due to the upcoming international break.  Before they reach the break, they'll look to end their 4 game winless streak back at home.  For the 4th time during their winless streak, KC is taking on a team that is coming in on shorter rest than KC.  Montreal, Chicago, Colorado and now San Jose have all played the Wednesday before KC take them on.  KC has gotten 1 point out of the 9 available so far from those games. 

San Jose is a little short handed for this game, especially at the striker position.  First, San Jose is without leading scorer, Chris Wondolowski and his 11 goals as he is in Jacksonville with the US national team.  They are also without second leading scorer, Steven Lenhart, who picked up a yellow against Los Angeles on Wednesday and will have to sit out Sunday's game due to yellow accumulation.  The Lenhart v Aurelien Collin match up last year was intense and the highlight of last year's game at LSP.  San Jose still has plenty of talent in the midfield though that will cause trouble for KC, including Marvin Chavez and Simon Dawkins. 

Kansas City had 3 players called up for national team duty late last week/early this week, but all 3 will be available on Sunday.  Graham Zusi did not make the final cut on the US roster, while Roger Espinoza and Kei Kamara are leaving for duty after the game tomorrow.  All 3 being available is certainly a boost for Kansas City's chances this weekend, and I expect all 3 to play a role.  The thing KC also has to watch out for is that they have an Open Cup game on Tuesday against a very dangerous Orlando City team that already has many KC fans worrying about a repeat of last year's Richmond Kickers' game at LSP.  Peter Vermes is well aware of the dilemma and does have his eye on Tuesday as well.  Still I expect Kansas City to field their full first team in the league game tomorrow against San Jose, even though the Open Cup is still the easiest path to the CONCACAF Champions' League. 

Nielsen

Myers - Collin - Besler - Sinovic

Espinoza - Cesar

Zusi

Kamara - Bunbury - Convey

Number to Remember - 16 - That's the number of goals San Jose is missing from their lineup tomorrow.  Eleven for Wondoloski and another 5 for Lenhart.  The rest of San Jose's roster has scored 10 goals this season, 4 of those through Alan Gordon.

Key Match Up - Bobby Convey vs San Jose - Convey didn't exactly endear himself with many people in San Jose on his way out of town.  This will be the only opportunity for Convey to play his former team in a match this year and you would want him ready to step up and have a big game.  Especially after Convey got moved to the left back position by Frank Yallop.

PREDICTION - With KC having all 3 of their internationals available, and San Jose being without Wondolowski and Lenhart, KC should win this game.  KC has traditionally not done well against teams that are undermanned, but they have done better since Vermes took over the coaching duties.  This is a game that KC has to win, the team needs to get back to winning ways ahead of the layoff.  Against a San Jose team that doesn't have first choice strikers, now is the time.

SKC - 2 (Kamara, Bunbury)
SJ - 0