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Robinson Tears ACL, Voloder Transfer Rumor and More KC Current

It’s the summer of soccer, but particularly for the Kansas City Current. Between regular games, call-ups and extra competitions, the Current will be busy.

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4 months ago

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Credit: Thad Bell

Digital Crawl

A times, there is just so much soccer we can’t keep up. The Digital Crawl will allow us to catch up while paying homage to Digital Takiwira, the first goal scorer in Kansas City Wizards history. Check out the Digital Crawl archives if you missed any stories.

Plus, it’s a nice tie in for a similar segment at the end of every episode of the For the Glory KC podcast.

Gabby Robinson Out for the Year

In terrible, but not entirely unexpected news, the Kansas City Current announced that center back Gabby Robinson had torn her ACL this past weekend. Any time a player goes down with a non-contact injury, you always fear the worst.

“Gabby has been one of the league’s best defenders this year and we are heartbroken for her,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “She has worked so hard to make an impact on our club. She has one of the best attitudes around this injury and we are confident she will make a full return as she tackles her recovery process with a positive attitude. Her teammates have been incredibly supportive, and we have talented players that will be able to step in during her absence.”

Robinson had really emerged as a star in defense this year with USWNT potential. The team is deeper than in prior seasons at the position with Elizabeth Ball, Stine Ballisager and Lauren all seemingly capable of starting. Lauren hasn’t appeared yet in 2024 but she is a fairly consistent member of the Brazilian National team. Ball has been a regular starter for KC for years and Ballisager has emerged in recent weeks.

We wish Gabby a speedy recovery, though no timeline was given by the team. Likely it’ll be at or around the start of the 2025 season.

Robert Voloder Transfer Rumor

Robi Voloder hasn’t been a regular for Sporting Kansas City since arriving ahead of the 2022 season. He joined via the U-22 initiative and has appeared 32 times (24 starts) in league play in two and a half seasons with KC.

Now, rumors from overseas have him returning to his former club, NK Maribor. The reporting says he left on a €2 million fee (about $2.17m in today’s dollars). That’s pretty close to the original reporting of just under $2m.

Voloder’s contract is coming up at the end of the 2024 season, but Sporting KC have the ability to trigger an option for 2025. With around $2m in fees and another $450,000 plus in salary each season, SKC almost certainly would be looking to recoup some of that investment. While he’s yet to emerge as a regular starter, he’s primarily behind the team’s oldest field player in 34-year-old Andreu Fontas who is out of contract (with no option built in) after the season.

This is just a rumor, so take it with a grain of salt, but Voloder surely wants to play more. His time may be coming in Kansas City. In recent weeks Robert Castellanos has gotten on the field ahead of him, even when Fontas went to the bench. Perhaps the young German is looking for a new start in a familiar place.

KC Current’s International Summer of Soccer

Back in 2023, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman stated that there would be no NWSL games during the six week-long Olympic break. That’s a long time for these NWSL clubs to sit idle and wait for play to resume. Sure, some of those players will be in the Olympics, but what about the rest?

The KC Current have filled their schedule.

While they were originally set to have a break after the July 6th game against the Orlando Pride until the August 25th meeting with the Washington Spirit, the Current now have two new competitions in between.

They’ll get a week off then they’ll host the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. They face the Houston Dash on July 20th, Pachuca on the 27th and Tigres on August 1st. If the Current advance, the semifinal games will be on August 6th. CPKC hosts the teams no matter who goes on with the finals set for much later in the year on October 25th at Toyota Field.

Immediately after the Summer Cup, the KC Current host the Women’s Cup. They face the Mamelodi Sundowns on August 14th and the finals are a few days later on the 17th. They’ll either face the winner or loser of Atletico Madrid and INAC Kobe Leonessa, depending how they do against their South African opponent.

The Summer Cup will be on Paramount + for all 33 games, with 11 simulcasting on CBS Sports Golazo Network and 12 simulcasting on CBS Sports Network. No broadcast plans for TV have yet been announced for the Women’s Cup, but you can listen on KC Current Radio and all the games are at CPKC Stadium.

Busio Called Up

Yes, he’s not on Sporting KC anymore, but Gianluca Busio is always a Sporting Kansas City player in our hearts. He got the call among the 25 players called up to the US Olympic team for pre-Olympic training camp.

The game included in that camp is played right here in Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park against Japan. The US U-23s will host Japan on June 11th at 7:00 PM CT.

More Busio: Venezia Promotion Final

If you want to follow Busio even more, he’s playing a critical two leg series with his club team, Venezia FC, as they take on Cremonese in the final of the Serie B Italian promotion playoffs for a spot in Serie A.

The first leg ended in a 0-0 draw with the return leg on Sunday, June 2nd, at 1:30 CT. That game is on Fox Soccer Plus in the US.

Thommy Strains his Hamstring

I think we all knew what the injury was as soon as it happened against the Portland Timbers this past weekend. Earlier this week in practice, KC Soccer Journal’s Thad Bell got confirmation Thommy pulled his hammy and the timeline for return is unknown. Peter Vermes did say he doesn’t anticipate that it’ll be a long time.

KC Current Call Ups

The NWSL is currently on an international break and the Current are very well represented.

The first call-up of the window went to 18-year-old midfielder Claire Hutton. She joined the United States U-20s for a training camp including two games against Korea Republic.

It’ll be good preparation for the U-20 Women’s World Cup that starts August 31st. It is a good reminder Claire may be gone for a month as the Current push for the playoffs (five league games fall during the tourney, not including leaving early for camp).

The rest of the call-ups are nicely summarized in this Tweet from the KC Current with one exception. Bia was replaced by Debinha, as she continues to work back to full fitness. Also called up: Nichelle Prince, Desiree Scott, Hanna Glas, Stine Ballisager and Sophie Braun.

Glas is a particular interesting call-up. She signed with Kansas City before the 2023 season and has yet to play in a match. She is apparently recovered from her injury and working on fitness, according to Vlatko. We may see Glas pulled off the Season Ending Injury (SEI) list at any moment. A roster spot just opened up sadly, with Robinson’s injury.

Quick Entries

  • Speaking of the summer of soccer, there is a ton here in Kansas City or involving KC teams. I’m a little stressed thinking about covering/attending as many games as possible. It’d sure be nice if SKC got right before then.

  • SKC Academy members Jack Kortkamp (GK) and Ian James (CB) started for the US U-16s in their 2-2 draw against Argentina. I hear Argentina are good at soccer.

Did we miss a story you think we should cover? Put it in the comments for next time!

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I've been covering Kansas City soccer since 2014, including Sporting Kansas City, the KC Current, SKC II and more. I'm based out of Kansas City, MO, but got my start covering SKC while writing from Phoenix, AZ.

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