Sporting Kansas City has added six players to its roster from the Swope Park Rangers ahead of Wednesday's CONCACAF Champions League match versus Central FC at Children's Mercy Park.
Defender Ever Alvarado and midfielder Emmanuel Appiah have been recalled from their loans to SPR, while Tyler Pasher, Tomas Granitto, Alex Molano and Nansel Selbol join Sporting KC on short-term agreements. Granitto, Molano and Selbol earn their first call-ups to Sporting Kansas City.
Sporting Kansas City concludes the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League group stage on Wednesday in a 7 p.m. CT kickoff against Trinidad and Tobago's most dominant club. Tickets for the match can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and a live stream will be available on CONCACAF's official Facebook page.
The CCL fixture comes four days before Sporting Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers play their biggest games of the year on Sunday. Sporting KC hosts the San Jose Earthquakes at 3 p.m. CT, knowing a Decision Day victory would clinch a club-record sixth straight playoff berth. The Rangers then look to bring a league championship back to Kansas City when they visit New York Red Bulls II in the 2016 USL Cup Final at 7 p.m. CT.
Alvarado signed for Sporting KC in June and has since made three appearances for the club, including two in the CONCACAF Champions League. The 24-year-old Honduran international has also notched two assists in 12 starts for the Rangers, featuring in the club's first two playoff wins on Sept. 30 and Oct. 9.
Appiah joined Sporting KC in July and has logged three starts in all competitions, two of which in the CONCACAF Champions League. The 23-year-old rookie out of Cincinnati has played nine games for the Rangers, including all three during the club's postseason run to the USL Cup Final.
Pasher has enjoyed an excellent first season with the Rangers, recording five goals and four assists in 27 appearances while featuring at left wing and left back. The 22-year-old Canadian made his Sporting KC debut in a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sept. 13 at Children's Mercy Park.
Granitto, 23, has started 12 of 26 appearances in his first USL campaign. The midfielder played one season of college soccer at Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 before beginning his professional career with CD Luis Angel Firpo in his native El Salvador. He spent 2015 in the NASL with FC Edmonton before linking up with the Rangers in March.
Molano, 24, signed for the Swope Park Rangers in January after attending open tryouts last November. The midfielder has started eight of 18 appearances, tallying one goal and one assist, and played professionally in Europe from 2009-2014. He spent the 2015 campaign with hometown club Dallas City FC, competing in the NPSL South Region.
Selbol, 19, joined the Rangers at the beginning of the year from the Sporting Kansas City Academy. A native of Jos, Nigeria, Selbol has made 24 USL appearances in his first professional season. The dynamic forward starred for the Sporting KC U-18s during the first half of the 2015-16 USSDA campaign, leading the team with 10 league goals. In July, he helped the U-18s advance to the quarterfinals of the USSDA playoffs for the first time.
