Sporting Kansas City Soni Mustivar is shown a red card for a hard tackle on Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri.
Sporting Kansas City 2 Central FC 2
Well for the T&T side they can be proud of the fact that they have played two home matches against two MLS teams and come away with a point and on aggregate goals only -1. Previous campaign they earned a draw with the Galaxy and won over Guatemalan Comunicaciones.
Sporting will look at this and scratch their heads and wonder if this Champions League campaign can afford another slip up.
A date in Vancouver in a week’s time and the squad is being stretched.
Two players were called up from the Swope Park Rangers USL farm team and it can only be assumed that they will be yet again.
Goals from Kansas City natives Kevin Ellis and Seth Sinovic are nice and all but the fact of the matter is that Vancouver already visited and came away with a victory.
If Peter Vermes and company want to make the knockout phase they need to start by winning in Canada in a weeks time.
Marc Dos Santos Leaving Swope Park Rangers
Not the word that was wanted to be heard by any fan of Sporting.
Dos Santos arrived in Kansas City with a very long resume, spoke multiple languages, and is ambitious.
He leaves at the end of the season for a return to the NASL to helm his own ship in the incoming San Francisco Deltas expansion squad.
This is all a move over power as Dos Santos was never 100% in charge as he still did answer to Peter Vermes who would hand over Sporting KC players on little warning to be played to ensure their match sharpness. But this is only a hunch.
Regardless names being bandied about for a successor have been obvious names such as Oklahoma City coach Jimmy Nielson, DC United assistant Davy Arnaud, and even assistant Kerry Zavagnin. That being said lets not overlook someone with zero ties to Kansas City.
Swope Park Rangers sign four Academy Players
As the season is drawing to a close four players from the Sporting KC academy were signed to Academy contracts.
First was Christian Alberto. This 18 year old midfielder has experienced time in three German youth setups, Kaiserslauten, Hoffenheim, and FSV Frankfurt while his parents worked for the US Military. Definitely one suitable to an ever changing landscape.
Filipe Hernandez, an 18 midfielder, made 27 appearances for the U-18 squad scoring six goals. Among these was the goal that sent the team to the playoffs and also a brace that got them to the quarterfinals.
Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal, a 17 year old midfielder, is a recent addition to the Sporting KC academy. He most recently was a vital part of the St Louis based Scott Gallagher Soccer Club and their U-18 team. He signed an academy contract with USL side Saint Louis FC and made a pair of appearances with their U-23 team in the USL PDL.
Patrick Wilkinson, a 17 year old midfielder, is a Kansas City born and raised kid. Joined the academy set up in 2012. In the 2015-16 academy season made 25 appearances combined for both the U-16 and U-18 teams.
