MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Hosts Houston on Saturday in Home Opener

Published on March 4, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


MLS is back in Kansas City as Sporting Kansas City (0-1-0, 0 points) hosts Houston Dynamo FC (0-0-1, 1 point) on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park for an afternoon showdown at 2:30 p.m. CT.

For the first time in 2022, Sporting's new local broadcast partner 38 The Spot will air the game with Nate Bukaty, Jacob Peterson and Aly Trost calling the action. The match will also be nationally televised in Spanish on Univision and TUDN with an English live stream on Twitter. There will be live updates throughout the contest from @SKCMatchday on Twitter and in the Sporting KC mobile app, as well as radio broadcasts on SiriusXM FC, ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 in Spanish.

Tickets for Saturday's home opener are available online at SeatGeek.com and all fans in attendance will receive Sporting KC rally towels courtesy of match sponsor Central Bank of the Midwest. The club will take the field in the new State Line 3.0 kits for the first time and SportingStyle will be offering fans free customization on all jerseys at Saturday's match.

Sporting kicked off its 2022 campaign last Sunday with a 3-1 defeat at Atlanta United FC in front of 67,523 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the most fans to ever attend an MLS match involving Sporting Kansas City. Houston meanwhile battled to a scoreless draw at home with Real Salt Lake in Week 1 last weekend.

Sporting is 15-3-8 all-time in MLS regular season home openers, including a 4-1-6 record at Children's Mercy Park, and Saturday is the first of two showdowns between these longtime rivals in the 2022 MLS regular season. Last year, the two sides faced each other on three occasions with the home team taking all three points in all three matches. In the two matches at Children's Mercy Park, Sporting bested the Dynamo 3-2 in May and 4-2 in early October.

Leading the way for Sporting once again in 2022 is team captain Johnny Russell. Last season the Scotsman netted 15 goals and added eight assists for Sporting KC. On the other wing of the pitch is Hungarian international Daniel Salloi. Salloi opened his scoring account in Atlanta with an 85th minute volley from close range into the roof of the net. The Sporting KC Academy product is coming off a career year in which he put the ball in the back of the net 16 times and added eight assists as well.

Sunday also marked the debut of Belgian left back Logan Ndenbe. The 22-year-old arrived in Kansas City from French side Guingamp this offseason and did not have to wait long to make his first MLS appearance.

Fellow defender and Sporting KC veteran Graham Zusi also started for Sporting in the opener, surpassing 30,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions. Zusi is the first player in league history to play 14 seasons for one club and is in line for his 300th career MLS start on Saturday.

Paulo Nagamura, a former Sporting KC midfielder and SKC II head coach, returns to Kansas City as the first-year head coach of the Dynamo along with Sporting Legend Jimmy Nielsen as an assistant coach for Houston. The two MLS Cup champions have a bolstered Dynamo team that is looking to improve upon their last place finish in the Western Conference last season.

Houston brought in MLS veterans Steve Clark, Corey Baird and Daniel Steres this past offseason. They also made a splash signing, bringing in Paraguayan forward Sebastian Ferreira for a club record $4.3 million fee. The Dynamo were in the news again this week, signing Atletico Madrid and Mexican National Team captain Hector Herrera. The El Tri skipper will not be with the team this week as he will join Houston this summer following the conclusion of the La Liga season.

Sporting midfielder Uri Rosell will miss Saturday's match after suffering a hamstring injury in the team's season opener. Houston has one name on the availability report in Griffin Dorsey who is questionable with a left leg injury.

Sporting Kansas City vs Houston Dynamo FC

2022 MLS Regular Season | Match 2

Saturday, March 5 | 2:30 p.m. CT (2:50 kickoff)

Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, KS

Broadcast Schedule:

English TV | 38 The Spot

Spanish TV | Univision, TUDN

Streaming | Twitter

English Radio | SiriusXM FC, ESPN 94.5 FM

Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM

Check out the Sporting Kansas City Statistics

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