Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City Begin Quest for US Open Cup
Sporting Kansas City will head to Nebraska on Wednesday night to take on Union Omaha in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
Sporting Kansas City @ Union Omaha
When: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 7:00pm
Where: UNO Caniglia Field, Omaha
How to Watch: Streaming Live on ussoccer.com or MLSsoccer.com
The schedule for Sporting Kansas City is going to be getting a bit fuller starting this week. Sporting will begin their hunt for the US Open Cup on Wednesday when they made the 2.5-hour trip north to take on Union Omaha in the round of 32. This season the US Open Cup will only consist of eight Major League Soccer teams after Major League Soccer attempted to keep all MLS teams out of the tournament citing schedule congestion.
The last and only time that Union Omaha and Sporting Kansas City met was in the US Open Cup in 2022. Omaha came to Children’s Mercy Park for the quarterfinals of the tournament. Sporting Kansas City easily won the match 6-0 having 77 percent of the possession in the match.
Kansas City Recent Form:
- US Open Cup:
- No matches for 2024
- Regular Season:
Sporting Kansas City has not had a win since the end of March against Toronto FC. The team went 0-2-2 in April and has a loss in their one match in May.
Union Omaha Recent Form:
- US Open Cup:
- First Round vs. Pioneers: 4-0 Win
- Second Round vs. Des Moines Menace: 3-1 Win
- Third Round vs. El Paso: 0-0 Final Advance on penalty kicks
- Regular Season:
- April 12 vs One Knoxville: 1-0 Win
- April 20 vs Charlotte Independence: 0-0 Draw
- May 4 vs South Georgia Tormenta FC: 4-2 Win
Union Omaha’s last loss was on April 12. They have two wins and three draws in their last five matches across all competitions.
Stats
Sporting Kansas City
Goals: Erik Tommy (4), Willy Agada, Alan Pulido (3), Dany Rosero, Remi Walter (2), Jake Davis, Alenis Vargas, Nemanja Radoja
Assists: Agada, Davis, Memo Rodriguez, Daniel Salloi (2), Andreu Fontas, Tim Leibold, Radoja, Johnny Russell, Robi Voloder, Walter (1)
Union Omaha
Goals: J. Gallardo (3), P. Dolabella, M. Milanese (1)
Assists: J. Gomez (2), L. Mastrantonio, P. Dolabella (1)
Predictions
It is difficult to make a real prediction about this game without knowing for sure what kind of lineup Peter Vermes will be rolling out on Wednesday evening. Will he completely overhaul the lineup and play an almost full squad of backups, or will he play some of the regular players in all or part of the game? It is my hope that some of the struggling regulars (ahem Daniel Salloi) will get some time in the hope they will have a successful night against a lower division team to gain confidence that will then roll over to the regular season.
Regardless of the team’s recent results, with Sporting having no wins in their last five matches and Union Omaha have no losses over that time, it is important to remember that Union Omaha is a lower division team. Sporting should be able to leave Nebraska with a comfortable win.
However, Union Omaha knocked both the Chicago Fire and Minnesota United out of the US Open Cup in 2022 so it will be important for Sporting Kansas City to not overlook Omaha on Wednesday. They clearly have a history of not being afraid to take on an MLS team and feel like they are capable of winning against a top tier team.
Sporting Kansas City has never been a team to just completely give up on the US Open Cup. When they are in the tournament, they are looking to win it all. I believe that Vermes will play mix of regular players as well as some backups playing together in Omaha. That mix will be enough fire power to score goals and a strong enough defense for Sporting to come out of Omaha with a win.
Prediction: 4-2 Sporting Kansas City Win
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I’m wondering who will play from SKC II. Mike and a few others had a discussion on Twitter about it.
Ethan Bryant and Beto Avila both didn’t play 90, so that’s probably good for their chances to at least be on the bench. Sebastian Cruz played 90, but has an endless gas tank.
Kameron Habibulah was player of the month in all of MLS Next Pro in April, but he played 90, so who knows.
I expect mostly guys on the SKC bench to play, with some starters mixed in, like Stacy referenced.
At game time I’ll be somewhere between Zion Natl Park and Las Vegas. There’s no time shifted way to see this game right? It’s a ussoccer.com streamer live or nothing?
I’d assume this YouTube link will still work after the fact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvIdEtvBqL0 (I inserted it into the story above too).
I would really like to see Ethan Bryant and Kameron Habibulah at least on the bench. Maybe even Tschanchret as well. I could see some second-half minutes for all three if the game is out of hand by then. Also, I’d love to see more of Stephen Afrifa this match. Watching back some of his time with the first team, he looks promising—will track back and support the full-back and combines well with midfield. He has played some minutes with the 2s but from what I’ve seen from the second team, they struggle with combination play and at times in transition, both areas where I think Afrifa shines. He could also push Salloi a bit more on that left wing. I think this is a game he could show some of his strengths against lower competition.