Sporting KC Preseason Ends with a Signing and Two Wins

For the Glory KC is back with the 167th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City finally did it! They made a signing that everyone expects to be a starter. Lasse Berg Johnsen joins from Malmo in Sweden and should immediately be penciled into the defensive midfielder role when his P-1 visa arrives. We break down the signing and how he’ll fit next to Manu Garcia.

The majority of this week’s episode is focused on the two big preseason wins for Sporting KC. They finished 3-3-0 in preseason, a three game and five goal improvement over the 2025 preseason. Sure, against NYCFC it was a win over backups, but that Austin FC game was a starting lineup that got beaten on before some late red cards let the game get out of hand. Rapha Wicky seemed none too happy with Austin’s violent fouls that led to cards either.

The results of the games made it look like Wicky’s system just needed a little more time to take hold (or maybe they just needed to not be playing Minnesota United). Regardless, there were plenty of positives to take away and I even took a shot at predicting who should start this weekend against the Quakes.

In this episode I also spent time on the multiple rumors for Sporting KC this past week, SKC adding to their front office, Forbes’ MLS valuations, Nemanja Radoja’s new landing spot, SKC II signings and some former KC player updates.

The KC Current made big headlines this week too. Some for good reasons and others that weren’t quite so good. The team traded Claire Hutton, one of the best young players in the world. Then they immediately added another young star in Croix Bethune. That, plus the 1-1 draw against San Diego in preseason.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• KS Astras keep winning
• Catarina Macario to the San Diego Wave?

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC – 0:00
• KC Current – 33:44
• Digital Crawl – 41:57

Upcoming Games

• Sporting KC @ San Jose Earthquakes – SAT, Feb 21 – 9:30PM CT

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they’ll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

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