Running throughout the season on Sports Radio 810 WHB, the Sporting Kansas City Show is available on several podcast hubs including Spotify and iTunes as well as SportingKC.com/SportingKCShow. With Nate Bukaty, Carter Augustine and Aly Trost hosting the weekly program, Sporting fans have a place to go to catch up on club storylines, guest interviews and more.
A week and a half has passed since Erik Hurtado’s world-beating golazo at Children’s Mercy Park went viral on social media, during which time Sporting has played an additional two matches and kept within a point of first place in the Western Conference table.
Even so, when the striker joined the Sporting Kansas City Show on Tuesday, you can bet that his stunning volley from the 2-1 victory over Nashville SC on Oct. 11 was the first topic of conversation.
One of the facets that made the strike so unforgettable—set aside the inevitable comparisons to Marco van Basten’s volley in the 1988 European Championship—was Hurtado’s nonchalant, been-there-done-that, arms-crossed reaction as he gazed into the Cauldron at the north end of the stadium.
As it turns out, Hurtado has bagged a few bangers of that quality before—even if the stakes weren’t quite as high.
“I wouldn’t say that it was easy, but I can tell you that throughout my life I’ve scored some crazy goals like that,” Hurtado said. “I just don’t think it’s been on the professional stage in front of the lights and the cameras. In practices and games in college and high school, balls would come out of nowhere and I would shoot from wherever and it would go it. So when it hit the back of the net, I was just like, ‘OK, let’s go.’”
Hurtado has enjoyed an excellent run of form in recent weeks and added another goal in Sporting’s 2-2 road draw at Chicago Fire FC on Saturday at Soldier Field. Among all MLS players who have scored at least four times this season, Huratdo has done so in the fewest minutes at 321.
The 29-year-old, who is expecting a firstborn son in the coming days, will look to carry that scoring touch into Saturday when Sporting hosts the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT (tickets). Colorado has seen its last several matches postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the team, but Hurtado nevertheless expects a stern challenge.
“They’re gonna be hungry. They haven’t played in a couple of weeks,” Hurtado said of the Rapids, who haven’t taken the field since Sept. 23. “They’re going to want to get as many points as they can to help them get into a good playoff spot. We also know that they may not be game-fit. We are game-fit, so if we play to our strengths in attack and shut them down defensively, hopefully we can take care of business.”
After speaking with Hurtado, hosts Nate Bukaty, Carter Augustine and Aly Trost welcomed Sporting Kansas City II head coach and former Sporting great Paulo Nagamura. The 2020 USL Championship campaign concluded on Oct. 3, closing the curtains on a season that required Sporting KC II to play 14 of 16 games away from home.
Despite the road-heavy schedule, and with numerous young Sporting KC Academy products earning playing time, Sporting KC II managed to beat the likes of Louisville City FC, Indy Eleven and FC Tulsaon their frequent travels.
“The first thing I can say about our players is that they are a group of warriors,” Nagamura said of his team, which finished just seven points out of playoff positioning. “It’s not easy to have 14 different road trips in three months—go back to Indianapolis four times, St. Louis four times, Louisville four times. It wasn’t easy, but we spent a lot of time together on bus rides and in hotels, and I can tell you that the group we had this year was special. They were resilient, and to be honest, that showed a lot on the field with some of the great performances we had this season.”
Nagamura then remarked on the development of Felipe Hernandez, a Sporting midfielder who was named the 2019 MVP of Sporting KC II—formerly the Swope Park Rangers—before breaking into the first team this year. Nagamura had effusive praise for Hernandez and believes a number of current Sporting KC II players could be next in line to earn an opportunity at the MLS level. Among them are 20-year-old striker Wilson Harris, who led the team in scoring for the second straight year, and 18-year-old midfielder Jake Davis.
“Wilson Harris has improved tremendously in terms of his game, and he’s a goal scorer,” Nagamura said. “Look, it’s not easy to score 20 goals in the USL Championship at 20 years old. And he’s not only scoring goals. He’s performing well, playing between the lines, connecting with the wingers and making good runs in behind to get himself in good places. His defensive work has improved immensely.
“Another guy who has really, really done well is Jake Davis. He’s another guy who is going in the right direction. That doesn’t mean he’s made it, but he’s going in the right direction. These guys have to take all of the steps in order to earn their MLS contracts. I could name three, four or five more players who are like that, so we are just trying to help them continue that progression.”
