LSP Construction Update

LIVESTRONG Sporting Park is really starting to look like the world-class soccer stadium it's going to be. The playing surface is now in place, the first of thousands of seats have gone in and this week's construction update tells us "installation of beer lines is ongoing." What more do you need?

Read the full memo below, and be sure to check out some of the news coverage from the media's tour of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park yesterday.

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Bravo On ESPN Cover

The April edition of ESPN Deportes La Revista hit newsstands this week and, in select markets, Sporting Kansas City striker Omar Bravo graces the cover. The article, available online en Espanol, is headlined "The Return of the King" and looks at Bravo's distinguished career with Chivas Guadalajara, the Mexico National Team and now with Sporting Kansas City upon his arrival in Major League Soccer this season.

The Grass is Always Greener...

At LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The playing surface at the stadium site is being installed today as roll after roll of sod are put in place as part of a process that began in the early morning hours. Check out the slideshow below for a few images and set your homepage to the construction webcam, presented by Midwest Ford Dealers. What's better than sod? Seats. Those begin going in tomorrow.

Reserve Game Live Online

Today's reserve game will be full of flavor as Sporting Kansas City takes on the KC Brass at 3:30 p.m. CT at the team's Swope Park Training Center, complete with live video available at Sporting85.com for registered members. The scrimmage will be played in three, 30-minute sessions with the lineups listed below. Guest trialist Chad Ochocinco is expected to make his debut in a game-setting for Sporting KC, while a second new trialist, Byron Alvarez, joins Sporting KC following his MVP season with the MISL's Missouri Comets.

Alongside 33-year-old Ochocinco and 32-year-old Alvarez, six Sporting KC Juniors academy players will be available for the match. Jordan Rideout, Michael Oakley and Ray Lee from the Under-18 team, and Seo-In Kim, Derek Schrick and Wes White from the Under-16 team were all invited to round out the roster and may see minutes.

Watch live at Sporting85.com or follow along on @SportingKC on Twitter. Click below for line-ups...

READ MORE...

SKC and Ochocinco on ESPN

The Worldwide Leader in Sports was all about Chad Ochocinco's tryout with Sporting Kansas City, so much so they sent in a crew for a special all-access package that aired today on their flagship SportsCenter programming. Check the video out below for a behind-the-scenes look at days one thru three,  and be sure to visit Sporting85.com tomorrow for a live stream of the SKC reserves versus the KC Brass to see Ochocinco's debut in a game setting.

Also, don't forget to tune in to Off the Pitch with Sporting Kansas City at 9:30 p.m. tonight on KSMO-TV for highlights and reaction from last night's 3-2 loss in Chicago.

SKC Falls 3-2 to Fire

Recap up at SportingKC.com and video highlights available below...

What A Week...

Following a light training session this morning at the team's Swope Park Training Center, Sporting Kansas City takes off for Chi-town today to take on the Fire tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT, live locally on KSMO-TV and nationally on TeleFutura. Remember last time Teal Bunbury was on TeleFutura? Might the SKC striker be in the starting line-up on Saturday at Toyota Park?

If he is, he'll have more than 300 Sporting Kansas City supporters there to welcome him back. Check out the KC Cauldron's latest website, wizonthefire.com, for more on the impressive road trip, including a tasty gesture from goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen and one seriously sweet banner to announce their arrival in Chicago.

LIVESTRONG will be hoping the SKC supporters have plenty to cheer about, after Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman pledged $500 for every goal ANY TEAM IN MLS scores against Chicago in MLS play this season, starting with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Read this week's game notes on SportingKC.com and check the links below for more SKC-related news:

• Congrats to Alex Horwath, a 2010 League pool goalkeeper who trained with KC regularly last season, on signing with the New York Red Bulls today.
• Sporting KC defender Shavar Thomas will captain Jamaica as they take on Venezuela at 8 p.m. CT tonight in Montego Bay. Though it's just a friendly, both sides say its a crucial match and want to win.
• Jamaica will be back in action on Sunday against El Salvador, while Sporting Kansas City striker Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone will play an African Cup of Nations qualifier at Niger on Sunday. Kei's arrival was welcome news in Sierra Leone, which has several options for their starting line-up.

Photo Proof: Ochocinco Tryout

They say pictures are worth a thousand words, and seeing as many, many times that have already been written about Chad Ochocinco's tryout with Sporting KC, here are some photos of the NFL star in action on the soccer field. Exclusive video from day two is also available at SportingKC.com.

Ochocinco called Wednesday a "superb day on the pitch" prior to admitting he pales in comparison to the slightly more experienced and soccer-skilled SKC players, who he's promised to take to dinner at Fogo De Chao tonight.

He'll be heading out to LIVESTRONG Sporting Park tomorrow to take a tour of a stadium site that is coming to life as we get closer and closer to its June 9th grand opening. Read this week's construction memo from Turner here, as well as the Kansas City Star's update posted earlier today.

Watch Live: Ochocinco Day One

Think Chad Ochocinco can score on Jimmy Nielsen? Want to see him go stride for stride against Teal Bunbury?

Watch today's training, the first of a four-day tryout for the six-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, live at 10:00 a.m. CT on Sporting85.com. SKC's broadcast duo of Callum Williams and Sasha Victorine will provide comments and analysis on the action as it unfolds at the team's Swope Park Training Center.

Also, read about how Ochocinco has been preparing for the tryout at SportingKC.com, where you can find the news that the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver will be trying out as a forward while in KC.

Saturday Stats

It would be hard not to notice, but SportingKC.com is cranking up the coverage this season in the days after matches. As always, there is the standard game recap and quote sheet, but there's also Andrew Wiebe's written breakdown, Josh Whisenhunt and Dave Borchardt's audio analysis, Jake Yadrich's video highlights and reactions along with footage from postgame activities, and feature stories about the debuts of Sapong and Bravo. Truly a variety of voices with different takes on the game.

And now for the final piece of the puzzle, a look inside the official ProZone post match report provided to the technical staff. This is the statistical stuff that goes well beyond the basic box score and can really give a feel for some of the finer nuances of any given game. Here's a sampling from the season opener against Chivas USA:

• Sporting KC completed 176 of 230 passes with a success rate of 76.5%.
• Captain Davy Arnaud attempted the most with 26, but fellow midfielder Stephane Auvray completed the most with 20 after coming on in place of Craig Rocastle.
• Who completed the highest percentage of their passes? Rookie C.J. Sapong, successfully sending 18 of 19 passes for an impressive 94.7% success rate. 
• Sapong also won the most headers, beating out centerbacks Matt Besler (12) and Julio Cesar (13) with 17 successful aerial battles to his name.
• Who received the most passes? Omar Bravo and Kei Kamara each had 38.
• Best passing relationship? Omar Bravo and Milos Stojcev who combined nine times between each other.
• On the defensive end, Stephane Auvray made the most tackles with six, while Besler led all players with 22 interceptions.

2011 Opens With 3-2 Win!

SKC captain Davy Arnaud and Chivas USA's Nick LaBrocca

It started in dream fashion with rookie striker CJ Sapong scoring just one minute, 43 seconds into the match and only got better as Sporting Kansas City would never relinquish the lead thanks to Designated Player Omar Bravo's two tallies in his debut for the 3-2 victory over Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

Head over to the MLSsoccer.com MatchCenter for individual highlights from the game's key moments and click here for the match recap and quote sheet. Three points and top of the table after week one...let's hear it for the great start to the 2011 MLS season.

Lineups and Live Chat

Scott Lorenz on team bus to Home Depot Center

Lineups are in and pre-game show is starting on KSMO-TV, which means we're 30 minutes to First Kick!

SKC: Nielsen; Sassano, Besler, Cesar, Espinoza; Rocastle, Arnaud, Stojcev; Bravo, Kamara, Sapong

Bench: Auvray, Bunbury, Kronberg, Lorenz, Myers, Thomas,  Zusi

CHV: Thornton; Pearce, Conrad, Valentin, Jazic; Zemanski, Mendoza, LaBrocca, Mondaini; Braun, Moreno

Tune in to KSMO-TV for the pre-game show leading up to the 2011 season opener between Sporting Kansas City and Chivas USA at 9:30 p.m. CT from Carson, California (where a few of our faithful are in attendance). If you're not out in Cali -- or at the Johnny's Tavern watch party -- head on over to SportingKC.com to join the live chat during tonight's season opener.

Here We Go!

To borrow one of the Cauldron's classic chants....Here we go, here we go, here we go-oh!

Sporting Kansas City officially begins the highly anticipated 2011 season tomorrow night in LA against Chivas USA. Watch live on KSMO-TV at 9:30 p.m. CT and follow along via the team's new @SKCGameday Twitter account, with even more commentary available via a live chat on SportingKC.com. There will be a watch party at Johnny's Tavern in Power & Light downtown, so join some fellow SKC supporters for the season opener. They'll even have audio on (instead of March Madness, might we add) so you can hear new play-by-play announcer Callum Williams alongside Sasha Victorine.

Some storylines to get everyone excited for First Kick:

• It's the team's first match under the new name and colors (they're wearing Sporting blue shorts and shirts), but they'll be looking for the same results as last season at the Home Depot Center when KC went two-for-two in striker Kei Kamara's old stomping grounds (he once worked on the operations staff at the stadium from 2004-05 while attending Cal State Dominguez Hills).
  
  
• Saturday will be the managerial debut for Chivas USA's Robin Fraser, who was a US National Teammate of Peter Vermes dating all the way back to 1988. Both teams have their leading scorers back from 2010, as Kamara looks to build off his career-year last season when he set single-season highs with 10 goals and six assists, while Justin Braun led Chivas with nine goals in 2010 but suffered an Achilles tendon injury in January.
  
  
• Kansas City is 9-4-2 all-time in season openers, the best mark in MLS, and have lost just once to start the season in the last nine years. Omar Bravo will look to keep that trend alive in his expected MLS debut, one of three Designated Players introduced to the League this season along with Fabian Castillo and Eric Hassli (bringing the total to more than a dozen DPs).

For notes, stats and much more on the match-up, browse through the official game notes below or read the match preview on MLSsoccer.com.

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Chad Ochocinco to Trial

Peter Vermes has brought in a lot of guest trialists in his tenure as Sporting Kansas City Manager and Technical Director. But never has one come with the resume of the latest invitee: Chad Ochocinco (aka Chad Johnson, aka Esteban Ochocinco, aka PePe).

Ochocinco has publicly pondered the possibility of playing soccer before. After all, he claims to have been good during his playing days in his youth, cut short by a blossoming football career that turned out pretty well for the guy (six Pro Bowl selections in 10 NFL seasons).

He visited Real Madrid and Barcelona during the offseason -- which may be longer than most if the current state of the NFL lockout doesn't improve -- and now he's coming to Sporting Kansas City for a tryout. Vermes phoned the NFL star yesterday, and final arrangements were made this morning for his four-day trial to begin on Tuesday. Read the release here for more details.

Both sides left open the opportunity for a longer stay if the wide receiver (and one-kick wonder, shown right kicking the game-winning point after attempt) does well enough to warrant a longer look. Think he can cut it?

Get Your Gold Cup Tix

The initial allotment of tickets are now on sale for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader on June 14th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Click here for the seating chart and pricing info, as well as a link to the tickets page to reserve your seats for the United States vs. Guadeloupe, and Canada vs. Panama.

Who might be appearing for the U.S. Men's National Team in Kansas City? ESPN says the likes of Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore are locks. See the slideshow below for some images from the last time the US Men were in KC (April 2001).

First Kick Prep

The 2011 Major League Soccer season is finally upon us with tonight's First Kick between Seattle and LA (8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN) and this year, like never before, MLS has rolled out the digital goods for fans to enjoy it all year long via video subscription services, mobile applications and fantasy games. See below for a brief sampling of what's available and why you'll want it:

• Video Services
• MLS Direct Kick returns for $79/year (residential) or $100/year (commercial) via DirecTV or DISH Network on satellite and iN DEMAND or Avail-TVN through cable providers. See 200+ matches live from all the markets, week one all the way up through the MLS Cup playoffs. Try it out this weekend for FREE.
• MLS MatchDay Live brings the games live to your computer with HD quality video, DVR functionality and the ability to watch two (picture-in-picture) or even three (mosaic mode) games at once. Buy now and you'll get it for $39.99/year as part of the First Kick special ($59.99 after March 28th).
• Mobile Applications
• MatchDay app for iPad, iPhone or iPod touch allows users to watch live matches, see real-time highlights, set up customizable alerts and access the MatchCenter interface all while on the go and all for no charge.
• Android users too can download the MatchDay app for free with real-time highlights, live scores and play-by-play, customizable content and featured video channels for their mobile devices.
• Fantasy Games
• This year's salary cap game boasts all new features, from a new interface with live scoring to a revised point system. There's paid and free versions and plenty of leagues to join, including the Fans of Sporting Kansas City.
• MLS is also offering it's first-ever commissioner-style, league manager game. Fantasy Challenge allows for customized scoring, season, trade and waiver regulations, as well a whole new gameplay that begins with live drafts and uses weekly head-to-head match-ups.
• Pro Soccer Picks will test even the most avid MLS fans to see who can build the longest streak of correct answers in a variety of predictions. Help us grow the group of Sporting KC fans currently competing in the game.
• Still can't get enough fantasy action? ESPN offers FC Manager, the game of choice for The Full 90.

NCAA Bracket Challenge

Talk about March Madness. The 2011 Major League Soccer season kicks off tonight with MLS First Kick between the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Real Salt Lake also continues their pursuit of representing MLS in the FIFA Club World Cup with a semifinal match against Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions League at 9:00 p.m. CT on Fox Soccer Channel.

And then there's this little thing called the NCAA Tournament which officially begins tonight with the First Four. People all across America are filling out their brackets and we're guessing more than a few of our fans have picks of their own. Well, now you can participate in the official Sporting Kansas City Supporters bracket group on Facebook to see how your predictions stack up against those from SKC players, staff and fellow fans. The winner will receive a Sporting KC soccer ball autographed by the team...and the requisite bragging rights.

Click here to join the group on Facebook and add your bracket -- deadline to enter is Thursday, March 17 at 10:00 a.m. CT.

Wonder who the players are rooting for? Their alma maters, of course. Matt Besler's Notre Dame (No. 2) takes on Teal Bunbury's Akron (No. 15) on Friday in what could be the first of several clashes between schools represented on the KC roster. Other players' alma maters in the Big Dance include:

• Ohio State, overall No. 1 seed (Roger Espinoza and Konrad Warzycha)
• North Carolina, No. 2 seed (Michael Harrington)
• Connecticut, No. 3 seed (Shavar Thomas)
• Wisconsin, No. 4 seed (Scott Lorenz)
• UCLA, No. 7 seed (Chance Myers)

US Open Cup

Sporting Kansas City's path to the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will begin in College Station, Texas on Wednesday, April 6th against Houston. The Dynamo announced today that the qualifying match will be played at Aggie Soccer Stadium, hosts of the 2005, 2007 and 2009 NCAA Women's College Cup. Click here for more details, including ticket information.

Other news and notes from Friday:

• Grant Wahl spoke with MLS Commissioner Don Garber ahead of MLS First Kick, now four days away. See what Garber had to say about LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
• Kyle McCarthy of GOAL.com tabbed Omar Bravo as his early pick for MLS Newcomer of the Year over Charlie Davies.
• New Byline 2 Backpost podcast available for listening.
• See which players are participating in Sporting Kansas City's 2011 Open Tryouts tomorrow at Swope Park Training Center.

Stadium Shots

Sporting Kansas City bloggers Andy Edwards and Thad Bell both have photo-friendly posts up today with images of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Andy's SB Nation site has some great shots of the stadium lit up at night, while Thad at The Back Post toured the stadium with VP of Development David Ficklin earlier this week.

We've also set up a new Flickr Page for LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. For more on the stadium, be sure to follow @LIVESTRONGPark on Twitter and like its Facebook page. And as always, get a live look via the webcam.

In other news, voting for this year's National Hall of Fame Class comes to a close today. Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes is on the ballot and has the support of at least two media members, Craig Stouffer and Frank Giase.

More MLS links and other soccer stories via The Full 90's Morning Kickoff.

Welcome, Callum Williams

Introducing the latest acquisition by Sporting Kansas City....play-by-play announcer Callum Williams. He comes to KC from England, where he works for BBC Radio covering the sport throughout the country. Callum will be broadcasting all home and away SKC matches on KSMO-TV in 2011, beginning with next Saturday's season opener at Chivas USA.

Listen to a message from Callum below, prior to his arrival in KC. Fans can also follow him on Twitter, @CalWilliams2011.

  Callum Williams by SportingKC

LIVESTRONG Love

LIVESTRONG Sporting Park started its legacy with a bang on Tuesday, trending first nationally in the United States and then worldwide leading up to the announcement. It got hype from soccer big wigs like Landon Donovan and Drew Carey, as well as Re-Tweets from people such as Sanjay Gupta and Pearl Jam. Even Twitter investor Chris Sacca helped it go viral.

The Kansas City Star featured two articles on the partnership on the front page of the sports section on Wednesday and it was also the topic of an editorial in today's edition. See the pages below and read the stories from Terez Paylor and Sam Mellinger. The Star was among dozens of outlets to report on the landmark deal -- see a sampling of them at our media recap page on SportingKC.com.

While in KC for the announcement, Lance Armstrong got his first look at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Tuesday. See the pictures below with Armstrong alongside team co-owner Cliff Illig, and then read the latest construction update online for the latest progress made at the site.

Pre-Season Finale

Sporting Kansas City fell 1-0 today against Real Salt Lake in the team's final scrimmage of the 2011 pre-season. The game's lone goal came from striker Paulo Jr. in the game's 28th minute at Reach 11 in Phoenix, AZ. We're told KC goalkeeper Eric Kronberg made some solid saves in net as KC finished the pre-season 2-3-5 in all competition.

Lineups for both teams are below, including two players with KC connections who appeared for RSL...

RSL: Kyle Reynish (Tim Melia 80); Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler, Rauwshan McKenzie, Jarad vanSchaik (Nelson Gonzalez 30); Jean Alexandre, Luis Gil, Ned Grabavoy, Collen Warner; Paulo Jr. (Donny Toia 80), Connor Chinn (Jarad vanSchaik 70)

KC: Kronberg; Trialist 1 (Thomas 70), Jones, Colley, Ellis; Aiyegbusi (Mravec 70), Zusi, Rocastle; Lorenz, Sapong, Myers (Sassano 46)

The team will go through one final training session tomorrow morning in Phoenix before returning to Kansas City tomorrow night. After spending 34 days in Arizona, including the last 18 straight, MCI airport will be a welcome sight. Welcome back, guys.

LIVESTRONG Sporting Park

Watch video from yesterday's LIVESTRONG Sporting Park event and see additional photos below. We'll have a media recap with links to all the coverage early this afternoon.

BIG News Day

CONCACAF announced the 2011 Gold Cup groups and schedule today and KC fans got their wish. The USMNT is coming to Kansas City to play Stephane Auvray and Guadeloupe. Panama and Canada will kick off the doubleheader on June 14th at 6 p.m. CT, followed by the USMNT at 8 p.m. CT. Click here for ticket info, with an exclusive pre-sale beginning tomorrow for current Sporting Kansas City season ticket members.

That was just an appetizer on the news agenda for today. Watch live at LIVESTRONGSportingPark.com for the announcement of a major partnership, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT from the stadium.

Desert Cup Champs

Make room in the trophy case, we've got a new Cup to add. The MLS Desert Cup is now the property of Sporting Kansas City, after a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night in front of 10,000+ in Tucson, Arizona. Though both teams were 1-0-1 in the tourney, the title was decided on goal differential which favored KC at +5.

Check out media coverage from the match below, including an anecdote about the Prill family who were in attendance from Sierra Vista, AZ. Don Prill began supporting the team while he was an Army Captain at Fort Riley, Kansas. Thanks for the support!

• That story is one of many interesting pieces of information in the Arizona Daily Star's "Seen & Heard" round-up from Saturday.
• Some great photos from the newspaper in their report on whether Tucson can win over MLS teams for future pre-seasons
• The Tucson Sentinel focuses on the fans that turned out, including the AO Tucson chapter.
• KOLD-13 was also on hand at Hi Corbett Field for the spectacle
• The Kansas City Star and Big Apple Soccer with match recaps as well from each team's market.

Live Chat: MLS Desert Cup

Join us at 9:00 p.m. CT tonight for the live chat from the fourth and final match at the 2011 MLS Desert Cup in Tucson, Arizona, featuring Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls.

Toast to Tucson

Opening night of the 2011 MLS Desert Cup is in the books and Sporting Kansas City walked away big winners with their 6-1 defeat over the Arizona Sahuaros. But the biggest winners of all just might have to be the city and people of Tucson for putting on a soccer showcase on Friday night that sets the stage for tonight's headliner: Sporting Kansas City vs. New York Red Bulls. The Sporting Way will again host a live chat, which will open shortly before kickoff at 9 p.m. CT from Hi Corbett Field. Thanks to all those who joined on Friday!

Kansas City will be going for its third straight pre-season win after last night's six-goal scorefest. When was the last time six different players scored for Kansas City? Well, in an MLS game, it was June 21, 1997 in a 6-1 win over D.C. United. And when was the last time a professional soccer player forgot their shoes when travelling for a game? Yesterday.

Kamara, Kansas City's leading scorer last year, has pledged to give the nearly $200 pair of lime green cleats out to a lucky fan after the game on Saturday. If he remembers to take them with him...

Read reaction from last night's match:

• Rough Start to a Smooth Night (Arizona Daily Star)
• Kansas City outlasts, outshoots Arizona in Desert Cup (Tucson Sentinel)
• Fans turn out for Tucson's first MLS matches (KOLD-13)
• Seen and Heard (Arizon Daily Star)
• Sporting KC romp in the Desert Cup (KC Star)

Live Chat: MLS Desert Cup

Media Roundup

Total Soccer Magazine's newest issue launched online yesterday with two good reads on Sporting Kansas City. A great feature on Manager Peter Vermes shown above, and some well-deserved PR for the KC Cauldron. Hopefully you've heard, but the KC Cauldron is organizing a road trip for Sporting Kansas City's March 26th match at the Chicago Fire. They've already filled up one bus and with more than 180 fellow fans interested in showing their support, they've got a second one open for reservations. Click here for more information.

Other links worth looking at:

• Vermes is also quoted in this week's story from US Soccer Players about USMNT alums in MLS
• Sideshow KC is getting amped up for the start of the 2011 season
• About that time of year when pre-season rankings start rolling in. See what you think of a Sounders' fan putting SKC at No. 7 at 12thMinute.com.
• Be sure to visit the MLS Insider blog throughout the weekend as Shawn Francis attends the American Outlaws inaugural rally in Las Vegas. Anyone from AOKCdoesnotstop.com going to be in attendance?
• Join AOKC, the KC Cauldron and other local soccer junkies at Johnny's Tavern in the Power & Light district on Sunday morning for food and drink specials during the Manchester United - Liverpool clash at 7:15 a.m. CT. 

On To Tucson...

Hi Corbett Field, host of the 2011 MLS Desert Cup

Sporting Kansas City will pack up camp in Phoenix this morning and hit the road for Tucson, hosts of the 2011 MLS Desert Cup. It's the first year of the pre-season event, but tournament organizers have set their sights high for a city that's never seen an MLS team play. One Arizona Citizen newspaper column summed it all up, "Folks, this is a big deal for Tucson." 

Looking back at the previous professional soccer matches in the city, you can understand their excitement:

• February 4th, 1996: Atlante (Mexico) 1, FC Linz (Austria) 1 at Arizona Stadium (8,500)
• March 18th, 1979:  San Jose Earthquakes 3, Dallas Tornado 1 at Arizona Stadium (6,000)
• March 12, 1978:  Dallas Tornado 2, Los Angelez Aztecs 0 at Arizona Stadium (4,000)

Those games brought international soccer stars like Manchester United teammates George Best and Alex Stepney, as well as Mexico National Team icons Jorge Campos and Hugo Sanchez. Now this weekend will feature three of Major League Soccer's newest Designated Players in Sporting KC striker Omar Bravo and the New York Red Bulls duo of Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez.

Action gets underway tonight at 7 p.m. CT when Sporting plays the NPSL's Arizona Sahuaros at Hi Corbett Field, followed by tomorrow's marquee match between Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls at 9 p.m. CT. We'll be hosting live chats with in-game updates for both, so join in and follow along right here on The Sporting Way.

FIFA 11 Tournament

After over four weeks in Arizona, the guys are getting creative on how to spend their downtime. Today, Sporting Kansas City striker Kei Kamara organized a team-wide FIFA tournament for the afternoon. Eighteen of the players drew their teams out of a cup, with Graham Zusi representing Sporting Kansas City against European heavyweights Real Madrid. Here are the pairings for the first round of matches:

Arsenal (Sapong) vs. Barcelona (Bunbury)
Inter Milan (Myers) vs. Liverpool (Rocastle)
Manchester City (Kronberg) vs. Olympic Lyonnais (Kamara)
Sporting Kansas City (Zusi) vs. Real Madrid (Espinoza)
Valencia C.F. vs. Bayern Munich (Aiyegbusi)
Rangers (Lorenz) vs. Roma (Besler)
FC Schalke 04 (Jones) vs Olympique Marseille (Sassano)
Chelsea (Arnaud) vs Manchester United (Harrington)

Follow along on Twitter via the team's list of players and staff at twitter.com/SportingKC/Club to get updates from all the individual feeds with one click of a button.

Here are some stories that caught our attention today:

• Kansas City Star Q&A with Jack Jewsbury, who had some great things to say about KC. More from Andrew Wiebe on SportingKC.com.
• One thing Jewsbury mentioned is all the new stadiums in MLS. Big congrats go to the SJ Earthquakes, who began demolition today at their stadium site.
• The CONCACAF Gold Cup will announce its schedule on Tuesday, March 8th. Five more days until we find out which National Teams are coming to KC!
• Mark the June 14th Gold Cup doubleheader on your calendar and you can also now download our 2011 MLS regular season schedule as a PDF.

Welcome, Konrad Warzycha

Konrad Warzycha, 25, celebrates a goal against Penn State

Pretty cool to say KC has the first (Teal Bunbury) and now second son of a former MLS player to join the League in its 16-year history. Sporting Kansas City announced the signing of Konrad Warzycha today -- offspring of Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha -- and while the imposing midfielder isn't with the team in pre-season after having knee surgery last week, he told The Sporting Way that the surgery went well and he will be rehabbing as hard as he can to return for his rookie season.

Lots of other links to catch up on for Thursday:

• While Sporting Park construction continues ahead of our June 9th opener, construction has also began at the former stadium site at Bannister Mall for a $590 million development. Check out more on The Trails at the project's website.
• Speaking of our world class stadium, Mark at The Beautiful Game KC lists some world class teams he would love to see play there.
• WVhooligan.com ranks 2011 MLS keepers. Who thinks Jimmy Nielsen, an MLS All-Star last season, deserves higher than No. 8?
• The SKC U13 and U15 Juniors were in St. Louis last weekend for neutral site friendlies against the Chicago Magic Pre-Academy. Read the recap on The Junior Way.

Download SKC's 2011 Schedule

As several members have requested, our 2011 regular season MLS schedule is now available for download into Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and other .ics compatible calendars. The link is located at the top of our schedule page on SportingKC.com, with a help page that lists specific instructions for importing the games into your calendar of choice.

With the click of a button, you'll have every regular season game on our schedule sent straight to your calendar, with game time, location and broadcast information all stored in the event. Have questions? Leave them in the comments below. We'll also have a PDF version coming shortly that can be downloaded and saved to your computer for close checking, or printed to show off on your desk at work or on the refrigerator at home.

Please note that the file only includes currently scheduled Sporting Kansas City matches. Any matches announced after you download the file (i.e. U.S. Open Cup play-in game in April, Sporting KC reserve matches, etc.) will be added once finalized, and users must then re-save the file to import the latest updated version.

Quickly onto the news of the day thus far:

• The USWNT defeated No. 5 Japan 2-1 at the Algarve Cup
• Want to support the U.S. Women or Men? U.S. Soccer has a 20% off sale thru Sunday to commemorate the Yanks 2-0 win over Mexico 10 years ago.
• Three days in a row with a new podcast. Today brings the latest episode of the KC Soccer Show.
• Want more links, read The Full 90's Morning Kickoff.

Go Go USA!

The United States Women's National Team will continue their road toward the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany this summer, as they participate in their second international tournament of the year today. After winning the Four Nations Tournament in China in January, the world's top-ranked USWNT begins the 18th Annual Algarve Cup in Spain against No. 5 ranked Japan at 9am CT. Head Coach Pia Sundhage's squad are reigning champions and will be going for their eighth tournament title in preparation for this summer's showcase in Germany. Fans can follow @ussoccer_wnt on Twitter for updates on today's game or via the MatchTracker on the USsoccer.com homepage.

The U.S. Men will return to action later this month for two friendlies in a four-day span, taking on No. 5 Argentina on March 26th in New Jersey before hosting Paraguay in Nashville on March 29th. AOKC is organizing a road trip for the Paraguay match, with $100 covering hotel, game ticket and transportation to/from the game. For more information, click here.

Two links to get your Wednesday started, while the team prepares for two training sessions in Phoenix today:

• The Back Post gives you all the sights and sounds from last week's KC Cauldron recording session
• Inside Minnesota Soccer interviews KC newcomer Scott Lorenz

100 Days and Counting

Ground-level view from the Member's Stand

In exactly 100 days, Sporting Park will open on June 9th. Sixteen seasons after the team arrived in KC, sixteen months after construction began on the site, Sporting Kansas City will walk out beneath the lights of a state-of-the-art stadium that is one of the best of its size in the sport. And more than 18,000 of the team's most fervent fans will be inside to help welcome them home, while thousands more watch on national television as Major League Soccer's newest stadium is unveiled for the first time on ESPN2. It's 100 days away, do you have your tickets yet? 

2011 Sporting Kansas City season tickets give you a pass to 20 games inside the $180 million plus stadium, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader on June 14th featuring four of the top National Teams from this region. For the Member's Stand view shown above, where the front row sits just 16 feet from the field of play and supporters looks straight ahead at the 2,016 square foot HD video board, tickets are $14 per game. Visit the virtual venue to get an even closer look and reserve your seats, or call 888-4KC-GOAL for more information.

Speaking of 100 days, it's probably been at least that since we published the last stadium construction update. Here is last week's look at all the ongoing development, courtesy of Turner Construction, as we get closer and closer to the highly anticipated June 9th historic home opener.

Roster Deadline Day

Today marks the roster deadline day for all 18 MLS clubs to be in compliance with the 2011 roster rules and regulations. Sporting Kansas City made a handful of moves, officially signing two of the team's January draft picks -- C.J. Sapong and Mike Jones -- while also introducing MLS newcomer Scott Lorenz. Welcome to the club, gentlemen.

With the three new additions also came the news of the departure of KC veteran Jack Jewsbury, who was dealt to Portland in exchange for allocation money. Best of luck to Jack, shown at right in the 2004 MLS Cup.

Other news from Tuesday:

• Bleacher Report ranks The 25 Greatest MLS Goals of All-Time and puts Claudio Lopez's midfield bomb at CommunityAmerica Ballpark as #14 on the list.
• New Byline 2 Backpost podcast is out
• Davy Arnaud's Postcard from Camp in the KC Star
• It's winner-take-all between Columbus and Real Salt Lake in the second leg of CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal, live on Fox Soccer Channel at 9 p.m. CT tonight.
• MLS First Kick is two weeks from tonight. That's right, 14 more days.

Media Recap

For those fans who can't get enough Sporting KC coverage and want to find it all in one spot, we've started a Sporting Kansas City Media Recap page on SportingKC.com. The plan is to keep a running log of coverage each month with all the latest and greatest online articles, blog posts, video pieces, podcasts and every other kind of web content that's out there for our fans consumption. See something we missed and should have included? Send us an email to Press Officer Kurt Austin and we'll get it added.

A sampling of yesterday's news and notes:

• The team practiced shooting...at each other...with paint.
• In actual action, the U16 and U18 Juniors did well in Dallas
• The KC Cauldron was showcased by The Free Beer Movement blog
• Sports Illustrated's Steve Davis talked to Manager Peter Vermes about the 2011 MLS Cup playoff format. More notes on his site.
• The Beautiful Game K.C. with his weekly Monday Rewind
• Ñ Magazine has Omar Bravo on the cover of it's March issue. 
• KC will play Houston in April on road to qualifying for US Open Cup
• Two pre-season matches against Real Salt Lake announced for next week
• Take two of The Full 90's Stoppage Time
• Two Lee's Summit, Mo products currently in Spain with the U.S. Women's Youth National Teams. Lee's Summit's Mandy Laddish is with the U20's, while her Notre Dame teammate Lauren Fowlkes played for the U23s against England.
• Salina, Kansas native Adriana Franch is also on the U23's as one of two goalkeepers on the roster.
• Speaking of US Soccer, yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of former KC forward Josh Wolff's momentous goal against Mexico in World Cup qualifying. Studio 90 relives the upset.