"This Week in Sporting,” is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City.
1. USMNT remains unbeaten at Children’s Mercy Park
Last Sunday afternoon, the United States Men’s National Team and Uruguay went the distance in a hard-fought, scoreless draw. The USMNT improves to 10-0-2 in Kansas City and 8-0-2 at Children’s Mercy Park. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson made four saves in the match and Erik Palmer-Brown returned to Children’s Mercy Park after coming on as a halftime substitute. The match capped off a pair of friendlies in which the US beat Morocco 3-0 and earned a draw against Uruguay. Now, the USMNT heads to Austin, TX for a Nations League match with Grenada before wrapping up the FIFA International Window at El Salvador.
Kansas City showed out with an over-capacity crowd that brought the energy for all 90 minutes. Head coach Gregg Berhalter, and multiple players had high praise for the facilities, fans and hospitality in this city. FIFA is set to announce the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 16. Kansas City and the other bidding sites will learn their fate on that day, but Kansas Citians again showed why this place is the soccer capital of America on Sunday.
2. Sporting KC regular season action returns
After a brief hiatus, Sporting Kansas City returns to action on Sunday, June 12 against the New England Revolution. The match is set to kick at 2 p.m. CT and will air nationally on ABC and ESPN Deportes. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com as two MLS originals meet for the first time since 2019.
Sporting KC enjoyed a successful, busy month of May, advancing to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals and earning points in five of seven matches. Coming off an MLS single-season record 73 points in 2021, the Revolution brought back the 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil, Goalkeeper of the Year Matt Turner and Coach of the Year Bruce Arena. After a slow start, they have earned a result in five straight competitions and find themselves in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
3. Soccer For All: Pride
Sunday’s matinee is Sporting KC’s 2022 Soccer For All: Pride match presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Sporting KC and the Revolution will wear kits with Progressive Flag colored numbers and will don the adidas Love Unites Training Tops for warmups. The tops will be available for purchase at all SportingStyle locations with a portion of the proceeds from all Pride Capsule Collection items donated to the Kansas City Pride Community Alliance. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com and fans can purchase a South Stand ticket to the match for $30 with $5 of that donated to the Kansas City Pride Community Alliance as well.
4. International Sporting KC spotlight
As the FIFA International Window carries on, two Sporting KC forwards have linked up with their respective countries’ teams. Daniel Salloi has joined Hungary’s national team while Marinos Tzionis is representing Cyprus. Both are competing in the UEFA Nations League with Salloi and Hungary playing in League A and Tzionis and Cyprus in League C. Tzionis started in Cyprus’ 2-0 loss to Kosovo to open the competition and came on as a substitute in a scoreless draw against Northern Ireland. Salloi was an unused sub for Hungary in their 1-0 win over England. Tzionis has two more international matches this week while Salloi has three remaining.
5. Johnny Russell selected for FIFA Team of the Season
It was announced Sunday that Johnny Russell was named to EA Sports FIFA 22’s Team of the Season for MLS. Thanks to his brilliant performance in 2021 in which the Sporting KC captain scored 15 goals and added eight assists, Russell was one of 11 MLS players to receive the honor. In 2021, Russell led the MLS with eight consecutive matches with a goal and set the record for most MLS goals by a Scottish-born player. Now on 44 career MLS goals, Russell has strengthened his hold on that record.
6. SKC II suffers first defeat since May 1
Sporting KC II hosted MNUFC 2 at Rock Chalk Park in MLS NEXT Pro regular season play on Saturday night, suffering a 2-1 defeat to the Loons’ second team. Rauf Salifu scored his first goal for SKC II with a second half, stoppage-time penalty, but the two-goal deficit could not be overcome after MNUFC 2 struck twice in the 74th and 78th minutes. Sporting KC II will be back on the pitch this Saturday, June 11 with a road trip to Houston. The match against Dynamo Dos, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. will be played at 4:30 p.m. CT at PNC Stadium. The match can be found and streamed at MLSNEXTPro.com for free.
