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Sporting captain Matt Besler: We came back home from Florida in first place

After spending most of the previous month in Walt Disney World for the historic MLS is Back Tournament, Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler was back home Thursday for his customary appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB with Border Patrol host Nate Bukaty.


Besler and Sporting finished atop Group D of the unprecedented competition and advanced to the quarterfinal stage before falling to the Philadelphia Union. Manager Peter Vermesā€™ men currently sit atop the Western Conference with 12 points and a 4-1-0 record, one point shy of Columbus Crew SC in the Supportersā€™ Shield race.



As for Sportingā€™s experience in Central Florida, Besler was incredibly pleased with how well Major League Soccer conducted the competition in a safe, inside-the-bubble setting.


ā€œThe bubble worked, which says a lot,ā€ Besler said. ā€œGoing into Orlando, nobody knew if this was going to work or not. There were a lot of reservations that people had, and the fact that the league was able to throw this (event) together with limited resources and time, I think the tournament overall is a major success.ā€


While Sportingā€™s ultimate goal of winning the tournament didnā€™t come to fruition, Besler believes the club is well-positioned for success for the remainder of the year.


ā€œWhen you take a step back and take a picture of where weā€™re at right now,ā€ Besler said, ā€œwe went down to Florida to start the tournament and we were in first place in the Western Conference. We came back home in first place, as well. That puts us in a really good position to go forward this season.ā€


Besler and Sporting will now eagerly await the resumption of the 2020 MLS regular season. As confirmed by Commissioner Don Garber on Wednesday night, MLS plans to continue with a revamped regular season schedule, followed by the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and 25th MLS Cup.


Until the revised match schedule drops, Sporting will be busy training at Compass Minerals National Performance Center.


ā€œWe went back to training yesterday and itā€™s so weird because it feels like the start of the season again,ā€ Besler said. ā€œThis is like our third preseason. Itā€™s like youā€™re a kid again and youā€™re going back to school on your first day and youā€™re feeling really excited. Weā€™ve experienced that three or four times already this year.


ā€œItā€™s great that MLS is trying to push the envelope and play as many games as possible,ā€ he continued. ā€œIn some of the markets where (cities) are allowed to have fans, weā€™re going to have fans at our games, too. That gets us closer to where we want to be in terms of normal life.


ā€œWe donā€™t really know how everything is going to happen, but right now weā€™re in a position to restart, and thatā€™s what weā€™re going to doā€¦Weā€™ve just got to take it as it comes.ā€