The month of February is here, and with that comes a monumental showdown between Sporting Kansas City and Deportivo Toluca FC in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Sporting KC will host the first leg at Children’s Mercy Park on Thursday before traveling to Mexico for the decisive second leg on Feb. 28. Tickets to the contest at Children’s Mercy Park are now on sale at SeatGeek.com as Sporting hosts its earliest competitive match in club history.
In the 20 days leading up to Feb. 21, SportingKC.com is rattling off a 20-day Champions League Countdown, hitting all the relevant storylines surrounding the two-legged fixture. From history and geography lessons to number crunching, player matchups and coaching backgrounds, this daily series sets the stage for a pivotal battle in which two successful sides aim to take their first steps toward Champions League glory.
When Sporting Kansas City takes the Children's Mercy Park pitch on Thursday night in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16, a vaguely familiar face will be in charge of proceedings.
Henry Bejarano is the center referee for Thursday's first leg between Sporting and Toluca. The 41-year-old is part of a Costa Rican officiating crew that includes assistant referees William Arrieta and Octavio Jara as well as fourth official Keylor Herrera.
Bejarano, an international referee for FIFA since 2011, has officiated two previous Sporting matches in the Concacaf Champions League. Both of which took place abroad, which makes Thursday the first game he will call as a head referee at Children's Mercy Park. Bejerano's first visit to the stadium saw him serve as a fourth official in a 2015 Gold Cup clash featuring the United States and Panama.
He first presided over Sporting's 2-0 group stage win at C.D. Olimpia in Honduras on Aug. 27, 2013. The Costa Rican awarded 37 total fouls, including 23 against Sporting, and issued five second-half yellow cards as Aurelien Collin, Paulo Nagamura and Seth Sinovic received cautions. Soony Saad decided the match with a brace, scoring on both sides of halftime with Graham Zusi assisting the 27th-minute opener.
Almost three years later, Bejarano officiated an exciting 2-2 group stage draw between Sporting and Central FC in Trinidad and Tobago. He issued a single yellow card to Central's Andre Ettienne as Sporting committed 11 fouls and suffered 15. Sinovic fired Sporting ahead in the 51st minute, but Central struck twice in the next five minutes through Marcus Joseph and Kenwyne Jones. Defender Kevin Ellis restored parity for Sporting in the 70th minute to secure the road result.
According to WorldReferee.com, Bejarano has called 46 international matches for club or country since 2011, awarding 18 penalty kicks (0.39 per game) while showing seven red cards (0.15 per game). He has brandished just shy of three yellow cards per game.
The 2019 Concacaf Champions League marks the seventh straight year Bejarano has been selected as a referee for North America's premier club competition. He has officiated multiple marquee matchups in the tournament, including the second leg of the 2014-15 finals between Club America and the Montreal Impact and the first leg of the 2018 semifinals between Club America and Toronto FC.
Bejarano is no stranger to refereeing in high-profile Concacaf events. He has officiated at two Gold Cups (2015, 2017), three Concacaf U-20 Championships (2015, 2017, 2018) and the 2017 Concacaf U-17 Championships. He also presided over a World Cup qualifier between Panama and Trinidad and Tobago in 2017, two years after seeing action at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Domestically, Bejarano has served as a referee in Costa Rica's top-flight Primera Division since 2012. He placed third in Concacaf Referee of the Year voting in 2014.
Tickets for Thursday's encounter are included in Sporting KC Season Ticket Member packages and remain available at SeatGeek.com. The match will also stream live in English on YahooSports.com and the Yahoo Sports app, while a Spanish-language telecast will air live on Univision Deportes.
