Tonight at 7 p.m. CT, SportingKC.com will stream the Kansas City Wiz's inaugural MLS match against the Colorado Rapids from April 13, 1996.
Among the 21,141 in attendance at Arrowhead Stadium on that historic spring evening? Current Sporting Kansas City captain and defender Matt Besler, the club's all-time leader in appearances, starts and minutes played.
"Our anticipation for the game was building and building," Besler said this morning during his weekly appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB with Border Patrol hosts Nate Bukaty, Steven St. John and Jake Gutierrez. "I was nine years old and was there with my parents and brothers. There was definitely some buildup going into the game with everything that had being going on with the 1994 World Cup in the United States. That was first time I had gotten into soccer on TV, so the momentum just built from there over the next two years."
Listen to Besler's full discussion on Sports Radio 810 WHB below.
Digital Takawira wasted no time becoming a folk hero, bagging a brace in the inaugural match, while longtime United States international and eventual MLS head coach Frank Klopas also found the score sheet as the Wiz prevailed 3-0 in a triumphant first chapter for the club.
SportingKC.com will stream the historic showdown in its entirety tonight, featuring second-stream commentary from multiple former players who competed in the game. Per MLS rules, the stream will be geofenced to viewers in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.
