Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler made his customary appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB today, joining Border Patrol hosts Nate Bukaty, Steven St. John and Jake Gutierrez for an intriguing discussion around the MLS is Back Tournament.
Besler and Sporting are set to depart for Walt Disney World Resort this weekend, seven days ahead of their tournament opener against Minnesota United FC on July 12. The 12th-year defender shared his thoughts on the forthcoming trip and underscored the importance of mask wearing in order for live sports to return to normal in the coming months.
“I’m not really one to speak out about certain things. I like to let people live their lives and try not to judge. But we need to wear masks, like, right now,” he said.
“I see some of these people walking around without masks and I’m like, what are we doing? I don’t care what the reasons are. I understand it’s uncomfortable and it gets hot. Maybe you don’t even believe the masks work. Whatever your reason is, it’s not a good enough reason for me. People need to wear masks. That’s the fastest way we’re going to get back to normal life,” Besler continued.
“I want to go to restaurants. I want to go to bars with friends and I want to go to concerts. I love sports; I want to play sports and watch sports live in stadiums. I want to take my kids to school and take them to the park. The fact that we’re still having these discussions and people aren’t understanding the importance of wearing masks is just crazy to me.”
After facing Minnesota, Sporting will round out their group stage campaign with fixtures against the Colorado Rapids on July 17 and Real Salt Lake on July 22. All three contests will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app.
The MLS is Back Tournament will kick off July 8, with 16 straight days of group stage matches finishing on July 23. The knockout phase will begin with the Round of 16 from July 25-28, followed by the Quarterfinals (July 30 – Aug. 1), Semifinals (Aug. 5-6) and Championship on Aug. 11. For more information about the competition, visit SportingKC.com/MLSisBack.
