Sporting KC player national team news [R]

good to see epb get some minutes for the nats here in kc. he didn't do anything of note (actually, i didn't think he did very well at all, but i'll let it slide). scally, though, whoever that is, was flat-out awful all game. where did he come from to get on the nats scene? wherever it is, he needs to go back there and not be seen until after the world cup is over.

 

Salloi made the bench in their game against Italy. DNP for the second time this int break.

 

Tzonis came on at 64", i think, in Cyprus' game at Greece. Might have been 63. Anyhoo, greece were clearly the better team, by a lot, so hard to judge Tzonis. He is nice running at people. He actually had several ints. He looks like a JFR type of player with the ball. He needs to develop a JFR type of drive without the ball.
That said, I have a hard time understanding why you'd start anyone but him on this Cyprus squad. He, at least, brings moments of hope.
Biggest takeaway from this match. Greece played in a stadium in which their nats don't often play. they usually only have two choices, Athens and Athens (okay, suburban Athens). this was a small stadium, just a smidge bigger than CMP. But CMP beats it in every metric after total capacity (we should add a few thousand more seats). It was a smallish place, but with a track around the field so they had a couple shots from the crowd and you were miles from the field. Because of that, and the slope of the stands, it was dead quiet, even when the Greek fans were cheering.
I was just thinking as I watched that Wiz-SKC fans, and US soccer fans in general, have been treated to a really spectacular couple decades of progress.
We may suck this season, but at least we don't suck in an f'ing minor league baseball stadium, or a too narrow to actually work Arrowhead. I once got into an argument, I think it was with either Cliff or Robb about the worst soccer venue. They chose Arrowhead, I chose that baseball park. we agreed they both sucked.
Today, we're so much better off.

 

Game three of this window for Hungary. Good news for them, 1-1 tie with Germany. Bad news for us: Salloi again DNP

 

Interpretation?

 

This really pisses me off. What benefit is there to a club of a guy getting called away for two weeks, only to not play at all and get sent home dispirited?
Nats managers really have to honestly assess their intent for upcoming matches and bring in those they want to actually play, and no others. One big reason I'm pretty done with nats

 

Salloi sent home, and another guy who has yellows also sent home

 

Isn't Gulasci both their starting GK and their captain? Bummer for them there.

But yeah, really dispiriting for Salloi. Especially as there's plenty of speculation on his contract for next year (as in, is he walking?)... and the opportunity to play internationally, especially if he shows well, would have been a huge boon for him personally. Now, I definitely want to keep him or at least get a fee for him, but also I do hope his career gets to go where he wants it to go, too.

Leaving a bad team on a free is already not the biggest selling point. Add in an inability to get caps? He might not be getting very good offers at all.

 

I agree. I think another great season in MLS could negate not playing for Hungary (though playing well against Germany, Italy and England in this round would have helped a lot), so I hope if he's planning to leave, he tears up MLS for the rest of this season, at least.
I watched them play, and they're pretty good.You have to go back to age of legends to remember a significantly better Hungarian team. He may simply not be good enough to play in this group. But if that's the case, they know him, why call him in?

 

Sometimes it's worth gambling on an "unknown" player from a less visible league, I think. He won't have been particularly scouted by Germany, and definitely not by the less intense nations they face. I think the idea is that as an unexpected factor, he can change games as a sub.

But that doesn't mean much if he doesn't get played, even though the manager may have been hoping or even intending to field him at some point this window.

Definitely a crowded Hungarian forward line! Been a fun team to watch. Bummer they're not gonna be in the WC, and bummer that Daniel still is being rebuffed.

 

I know Roger doesn’t play for the Honduran Natl team any more, but I couldn’t resist watching some of the Canada v Honduras game. What a sh1t show. Canada easily had the better team but due to the poor field conditions and non-stop rain, Canada’s speed and quick ball movement was mostly negated. I do credit Honduras with scoring both goals, both good. I know everybody blames the refs for losses, but that guy last night was really bad, especially with the second yellow card that dropped Canada to 10 men. Play that game on a decent field, even in the wet conditions and Canada wins easily.

 

German scouts pay attention to MLS. they're looking for a cheap talent source, and to this point the US/Canada remain relatively cheap, at least for young'uns.
that's probably not an advantage for Salloi, because he was being watched before he went into a 2 year tailspin, meaning he was being watched in that tailspin. He may well re-sign for SKC. I wonder if there are many clubs over here who know what to make of his extreme ups and downs.

 

Tzonis with a nice goal against greece, ends up being the lone goal of the match, so the winner. Wait, i think it was, I stopped watching when they took him off at around the 63rd minute. Okay, checked, it was the winner.
Anyway, a nice goal. Brilliant run from his right wing onto a ball put to the far side of the defender, so he came onto it from behind the defender. A nice run, keeper comes out, he sends a skittering shot hugging the ground just beyond the keeper's foot and into the side netting.
It was a nation's league game. I don't really get the nation's league, but it was something meaningful.
But Tzone looked strong. He's a better all around player than when he arrived.

 

Interesting indeed. Kaile has played for both France and for the US previously.

This makes two players from Stephane's ESI program that are currently playing with SKC II. The other is Mo. He has countless other players in the younger academy teams.

 

Why was I expecting to open this thread and see a reminder that there was nothing to see here? Glad my cynical inner-voice was wrong!

 

Having watched more Cyprus than I should have, I will say that the one moment of beuty that side produced was Tzonis' goal against Estonia, and the one moment of hope was his dribbled winner v Greece.
Greece and Estonia are not horrible national teams. I don't think anyone in the Cyprus National League group has a talent level that matches even SKC (and national teams play pretty mediocre football at the best of times), but he is the only thing that makes that side worth watching.

 

Congrats to the guy, that's great! He's had a hard couple of years.