Sporting KC and USMNT Soccer Updates

Nov 9, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Sporting KC midfielder Oriol Rosell (20) and Houston Dynamo defender Warren Creavalle (5) battle for the ball during the MLS Eastern Conference Championship soccer game at BBVA Compass Stadium. (Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports)

Sporting KC played the Houston Dynamo in the first leg of the MLS Cup Conference Finals last Saturday. A 0-0 draw. The soccer world is taking a break from club matches for a week so that international soccer can be played. This unfortunately creates a gap in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and places the next SKC vs. Houston game on Saturday, November 23rd.

The game between Sporting and Houston, looked sloppy. There were disciplinary mistakes, missed shots, and bad passes. But in the players’ defense, this was the third game in eight days, which including an extra time game on Wednesday for both teams.

The MLS playoff schedule is a bit wonky. The International Break causes the schedulers to cram more games in to a shorter time span and break major series apart. It’s somewhat confusing and allows playoff intrigue to fade during the off week. It’s a microcosm of the American sports calendar not syncing with the World’s sports schedule. Most soccer leagues play soccer from Fall to Spring, where America goes from Spring to Fall. There has been talk of the MLS changing their schedule to go from Fall to Spring, but the decision isn’t final.

(Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)

There is a silver lining to the International Break, though: we get international soccer. The U.S. soccer team has already qualified for the World Cup in Brazil, so the friendly matches this week won’t really mean anything on paper. Manager Jurgen Klinsmann still wants to find the best players and to build team chemistry and he isn’t willing to take these games for granted. Call ups came for many of the regular USMNT players, but he left off both of the players he usually employs from Sporting KC, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. This is a good thing if you a Sporting fan because now these guys can get some rest and prepare for Round 2 of the Dynamo.

The first game is against Scotland (Friday, 2:00 pm CT, ESPN2). This is a rematch from a game back in May 2012, where the U.S. won 5-1.

Game two is a trip to Austria (Tuesday, 1:45 pm CT, NBCSN).

Don’t forget that there are lots of other teams still trying to qualify for the World Cup. There should be plenty of other teams playing over the week to satisfy your soccer thirst. Qualified teams will be drawn into groups in early December. These groups will be similar to divisions for the first round of the World Cup in June.

On Wednesday, news appeared saying Clint Dempsey and Fabian Johnson would not be joining the team due to injury. Their positions will not be filled, therefore leaving Klinsmann to play with only 21 players. Her is a look at the U.S. roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)

DEFENDERS (7): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Michael Orozco (Puebla)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Alejandro Bedoya (FC Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)