Sporting Kansas City returns home this weekend to face off against cross-state rivals St. Louis at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream in English and Spanish on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV as well as on local radio via ESPN 94.5 FM. Tickets are available at SeatGeek.com.
1. WINLESS RUN BEGETS CHANGES
Sporting Kansas City awaits its first victory of the 2025 season and this week that led to major change at the club as the organization parted ways with Manager Peter Vermes following a wildly successful 20-year stint at the club in various roles.
Sporting produced an improved performance on Saturday night and dominated in all categories yet still succumbed to a 2-1 setback against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium.
That result stretches the club’s winless run in all competitions to a club record 13 matches since a 4-1 thrashing of the Colorado Rapids at home on Sept. 18, 2024. Sporting previously went 12 games winless in 2009 which poetically led to the appointment of Vermes after the ouster of Curt Onalfo.
Sporting will kick off a new era with interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin in charge as the team plays back-to-back home games at Children’s Mercy Park against St. Louis on April 5 and Portland on April 13.
2. UNBEATEN vs. STL IN KC
Sporting Kansas City returns home this weekend to host cross-state rivals St. Louis at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Sporting will be looking to extend their home unbeaten run against St. Louis, having never lost at home in the series (1-0-2 in regular season, 2-0-2 including postseason).
Sporting faced St. Louis three times in 2024, twice at home and once away. The first meeting took place on April 20, 2024, resulting in an enthralling 3-3 draw at Children’s Mercy Park. After Alan Pulido had given Sporting the lead, St. Louis scored twice before halftime to take the lead. Sporting responded in the second half with an own goal and a go-ahead strike from Erik Thommy before the visitors equalized deep in stoppage time.
The two teams met again at Children’s Mercy Park three months later on July 20, 2024, ending in a 1-1 draw. St. Louis had taken the lead in the first half before Pulido set up William Agada to head home an equalizer in the second half.
The third and final meeting took place at Citypark on Sept. 28, 2024 - three days after Sporting had fallen in extra time in the U.S. Open Cup Final at LAFC. The hosts took a two-goal lead into halftime before Stephen Afrifa pulled a goal back midway through the second half. St. Louis tallied a third shortly after to seal a 3-1 win.
Sporting trails the all-time regular-season series 1-3-2, but is tied 3-3-2 including the MLS Cup Playoffs.
3. SPORTING PARTS WAYS WITH PETER VERMES
Sporting Kansas City announced on Monday that the club has mutually agreed to part ways with Manager Peter Vermes, ending his trophy-laden run as MLS’s longest-tenured head coach and one of the longest-serving managers in global soccer.
Vermes became Sporting’s technical director in November 2006 and assumed head coaching duties in 2009, building a winning culture and orchestrating one of the greatest turnarounds in MLS history. Sporting flourished into a perennial championship contender and a model MLS organization under Vermes’ visionary stewardship.
In addition to hoisting the 2013 MLS Cup and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles in 2012, 2015 and 2017, Vermes guided the club to 11 playoff appearances - including eight straight from 2011-2018 - and four first-place finishes in the regular season. He remains the only person to win MLS Cup as a player and a coach with the same team, having led Kansas City to the 2000 title as a standout central defender, and his three Open Cup championships were the most among active MLS coaches entering 2025. He ranks third on the all-time MLS chart with 203 regular season wins and concludes his tenure as the longest-serving head coach in Kansas City professional sports history.
Vermes coached 609 matches for Sporting in all competitions, more than half of the games in the club’s 30-year existence and the most ever for a manager at one MLS club. His 511 regular season matches coached are third-most all-time and his 17-season run at the helm of Sporting was at least seven seasons longer than any other active MLS head coach.
Inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013, Vermes was named the inaugural MLS Sporting Executive of the Year in early 2019 for his exemplary leadership, dedication and strategic vision in guiding Sporting to long-term success—including the development of the Sporting Kansas City Academy and Sporting KC II. Under his guidance, Sporting has experienced remarkable growth across its enterprise with the openings of world-class Children’s Mercy Park in 2011 and state-of-the-art Compass Minerals National Performance Center in 2018. Vermes’ achievements within the Kansas City soccer landscape—alongside a passionate fanbase, strong civic leadership and first-class facilities across the region—helped pave the way for a monumental development when Kansas City was selected as a host city for FIFA World Cup 2026.
4. ZAVAGNIN TAKES CHARGE
Kerry Zavagnin was named interim head coach of Sporting Kansas City on March 31, 2025 following the departure of longtime Manager Peter Vermes. Zavagnin currently holds the MLS record as he enters his 25th season with one club as a player or coach.
Zavagnin first joined Kansas City in 2000 as a holding midfielder and was an integral part of the club’s midfield for the next nine seasons, during which time he helped lead the Wizards to MLS Cup (2000) and U.S. Open Cup (2004) Championships. He was named to the MLS All-Star team and the Best XI in 2004.
Zavagnin has won seven major trophies with Kansas City, three as a player (2000 MLS Cup, 2000 Supporters’ Shield and 2004 Open Cup) and four as a coach (2013 MLS Cup and Open Cups in 2012, 2015 and 2017). Zavagnin has played or coached 923 matches with the club in all competitions, including 766 games in the MLS regular season.
Zavagnin has been involved in almost 84% of the club’s matches all-time as either a player or an assistant coach (923 of 1,099 matches). He started his professional career with the MetroStars, where he played in 39 games over two seasons. After spending one season with the Lehigh Valley Steam (USL-1), Zavagnin arrived in Kansas City in 2000.
He played 237 games and logged 20,516 minutes for the Wizards, setting team records in both categories before being overtaken by Matt Besler early in 2018. He scored eight goals and added 22 assists in his nine seasons in KC. Zavagnin was named Team Defender of the Year in 2001.
On top of his club success in Kansas City, Zavagnin also appeared 21 times for the U.S. Men’s National Team. He recorded one assist for the U.S., who went 15-2-4 when Zavagnin featured.
5. SALLOI BAGS SECOND OF THE SEASON
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi scored his second goal of the season this past weekend in the club’s 2-1 loss to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night.
In the 32nd minute, Salloi received the ball on the left side of the penalty area from Shapi Suleymanov, controlled with his thigh and flicked an impudent finish on the volley into the far corner to give his side the lead. The goal was later nominated for MLS Goal of the Matchday.
Salloi, who was making the 300th appearance of his professional club career, now has nine regular season goals against FC Dallas, his most against any opponent and the most of any KC player in the series all-time.
Salloi now has two goals on the season, both coming in the last three games having also tallied in the 3-3 draw against Minnesota United. That matches his tally from the entirety of the 2024 campaign and brings him to 49 regular-season goals and 62 goals across all competitions in 260 appearances.
