The Kansas City Wizards looked poised for an exhibition defeat when defender Jimmy Conrad was sent off in the first half of the Wizards friendly against Manchester United. Rather than fold, the MLS club put together a strong performance to score a surprising 2-1 upset victory in a friendly at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kei Kamara delivered the game-winning header just before halftime to propel the Wizards to the victory in front of a crowd of 52,424, a record crowd for soccer in Kansas City.
Manchester United fielded plenty of stars, including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Nani, but the Red Devils still couldn't find an equalizer as goalkeepers Jimmy Nielsen and Erik Kronberg combined to keep Manchester United at bay.
The loss comes before Manchester United is set to take part in the MLS All-Star Game in Houston on Wednesday.
Here are the highlights from Sunday's match, as well as some other stories to get your Monday going:
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BALOTELLI SET TO JOIN MANCHESTER CITY
Inter Milan has agreed to sell teenage striker Mario Balotelli and none other than Manchester City is ready to add to its already insane spending bill this summer.
City is set to add Balotelli for £24 million, a figure that could rise to £29 million if certain incentives are reached. The initial figure pushes Manchester City's spending this summer past the £100 million mark.
A hot-tempered and unpredictable player with a world of talent but discipline issues, Balotelli will be re-united with City manager Roberto Mancini, who managed Balotelli while manager of Inter Milan.
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Raul bid a sad farewell to Real Madrid and is ready to join Schalke 04.
Didier Drogba will miss the start of the Premier League season after groin surgery.
Rio Ferdinand will also miss the start of the Premier League as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
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What did you think of Kansas City's performance on Sunday? Surprised to see Manchester City spend so much for a hot-headed teenager like Balotelli, or think the gamble is worth it?
Share your thoughts below.
even as a united supporter and someone who doesn’t really follow the mls (before you mls fanatics jump on me, there is no team within a 9 hour drive of my house), i’ve gotta say major props to kc and to nyrb for that matter for their win against city.
An easy way to curb spending is to develop a transfer cap. It would limit the amount of money clubs spend in transfer windows. And I don’t care how much City spend, but they won’t win the league this year. Just because they buy a bunch of stars (overpaid as well) doesn’t mean success. As for their younger players, they won’t be anywhere near the first team this season. They need to sell at least 5 players to fulfill the roster requirements. Bellamy will be gone, Ireland will be gone, and the big names will take their place. I think their season will resemble Real Madrid ’09-’10 instead of Chelsea ’04-’05.
That’s not even their B squad. Some of those players are going to be loaned out. Some of them will never become part of the actual team.
yeah he definitely has a lot of growing to do, and he might end up maturing and using his situations to become a very admirable person. but until then, its unfair to defend every single one of his actions.
like one game:
http://www.nimilkcup.org/?module=datalistdetail&itemid=6580955d-5762-4846-a821-e64f1640c87f
wow, ok do you know me?
a little background: i am a brown son of an immigrant and i wear a turban for religious reasons. i grew up in the south, hearing and dealing with a lot of stuff from ignorant people especially after 9/11. the last four years of my life, i have gone to a university in a small town in poland. yes, eastern europe, probably the most racist part of the world.
i have gone through “something like that.”
nice try, buddy.
Please. Puro blah blah blah. It’s always the same inane excuses. Preseason…reserves…motivation…Man U is the biggest club IN THE WORLD! The players that were on the pitch are world class competitors. Why can’t their B- squad come out and lay a goose egg on some non-playoff MLS side?? After all, those same reserves are and will be making more money than the entire KC organization combined. That side would be a mid-table squad in any of the big Euro leagues. Period.
i think it was harrington, not myers and the ball didnt even come close to crossing the line
It was close,but advantage is played to the attacker.
Giggsy and Myers were getting after it on that corner kick where RG received a yellow. I love it. Well played KC, congrats on beating United down a man. I mean, WOW!! Props MLS and USA.
Don’t think Kai’s goal ever really crossed the line, but who the hell cares.
I would not be proud of that fact. This was the third game of their preseason and they played almost all back ups, except for Berbs, Nani, and Scholes. Some of the players were borderline C-teamers. Play this game in December and see what happens.
Yes, and he is the half brother of the President of the UAE.
Berba was off on the play that got the PK
Well, yes, but he isn’t really a “man” yet. The KID is 19. At 19, to ask someone to deal gracefully with being abandoned by biological parents and being showered by racist chants seems unrealistic. At 19 I was still easily aggrieved at perceived slights, so I can’t imagine having to deal with racist chants.
If you have never gone through something like that who are you to judge?
oh yeah, it is definitely tough, no denying that. i just don’t think it makes it ok for him to do the things he does. how you deal with adversity is the difference between a man and a child.
Now Kansas City needs to play like that against MLS teams. C’MON Wizards! That’s the kind of performance we’ve been expecting since match 2. Like the new lineup a lot better. If Rocastle keep from picking up multiple cards in one match then the new midfield paring with Auvray could be really intimidating from a defensive viewpoint. The first goal was great, simple, team play as well. More of that boys.
KC out played ManUtd when it was even, and KC was much more dangerous when they had the ball. KCs midfield outplayed Man Utds and if it werent for KCs CBs, Man Utd would have been outplayed at every spot
Italy’s a 3rd world country? Who knew?
Yeah but whens the next time KC will be able to host a team like Man U? No offense to spurs or City but United will attract a huge crowd almost anywhere, especially when they go to a lesser known American market.
i would be worried about your right side, Ryan Smith completely abused them
it’s more than that, the parents who deserted him all of the sudden came back trying to claim him… (that’s a big psychological mind-f… well you know)
also, c’mon man, having to hear, “there’s no such thing as a black italian”… that’s just harsh
Well Soccer in ATL, Having four games between thursday and sunday at Red Bull Arena, you likely aren’t going to to sellout every game. Not to mention it was pooring rain in New York yesterday. Not to mention it was a meaningless exhibition against Man City who while talented, doesn’t draw like Man U does, not to mention Henry was only playing a half, not to mention Sunday games in most places never draw well. I would say anytime 20k fans show up to a game anywhere it’s never a negative.
is he an oil rich sheik?
how would you like to curb it? all their spending is on the up and up. They have a billionaire backing them who doesn’t think twice about cutting checks. Their funding will likely stay high as long as the Sheikh is on board, and from his comments, he doesn’t seem interested in leaving anytime soon. This is just what Abramovich did when he took over Chelsea, use their personal worth and value to get it done. Also, SWP, Stephen Ireland are all academy products, and Micah Richards, Adam Johnson, Nimely, and Weiss are all young players that they’ve helped develop.
+1 No one in the EPL or FA cares because the more he spends and generates revenue, they feel the league is better off. He’s the last owner that they need to worry about having financial problems.
i never said spain is worse than italy. i’m just saying i doubt every single person that knows this kid is a racist.
Ok. I have to put in the token comment about attendance. KC had a huge crowd and meanwhile NYRB can’t manage to sell more than 20k for a double header of euro teams plus their home team with a new superstar. Are New York fans deserving? They sold out Fenway park just a little further north over the weekend. What the heck is going on with the New York fanbase?
Except for the 19 other clubs in the Premier League.
If it wasn’t for that PK, KC would have shut out ManU. Both KC keepers were very sharp.
Anyone know if the MILK cup will be streamed online?
City’s owner is the richest owner in the EPL. He is worth over 10 billion….No one is worried about his spending spree.
F-KC…
Conrad gets sent off defending in the box…Surprise surprise.
Yeah from the replays on TV it didn’t cross the line.
Why isn’t someone curbing City’s spending? With all the clubs going into administration last season (voluntarily and involuntarily), you would think someone would be watching clubs to avoid this in the future. I understand there is no salary cap, but we all know where their financing will be in a couple years.
They are buying all of these players at prices that they will not be able to sell for a profit. And they aren’t even in the Champions League. I hope they fail. I despise clubs who buy their talent instead of produce it.
Schalke is not 100% yet — Raul has said that there is some interest in England, which is probably news to Schalke.
I know it’s preseason, but as a United I’m getting really worried. If Fergie doesn’t sign anyone new then there’s no chance of us winning the title this year. We had the same problems yesterday that we had whenever don’t (and sometimes even when we do) have Rooney. We need another world class player to take the burden of Wayne…I guess this is a write off year.
I have to agree. Spain is a tough place to live or ply your trade as an ethnic minority, but the Italians are ruthless in their racism. Some South Americans, like Argentines, come close too (no surprise really…they’re just wanna-be Italians themselves).
That second goal by KC should not have counted it did not go over the line.
so what i’ve gotten from your comments is that as long as there is racism shouted at him about half the times that he claims there is, and since he scores a lot, he should act however he wants to? yeah, i’m going to go with mourinho’s and his teammates’ assessment of him rather than yours.
i’m not downplaying it, sorry if it seems like i am. i’m just saying it’s not fair to justify him acting the way he does as baaa suggested in his first comment. i accidentally clicked the wrong reply button and i had meant to address his statement.
I want you to think about what you said… in essence: Black italian kid has a bad attitude, so it’s excusable for white italians to be racist bigots??? You have your doubts about a 19 year old kid that in spite of racism and bigotry had a goal in every 3 appearances?? yea, your doubts are well founded. (people used to think Henry was arrogant back when he was a winger in Ligue 1)
except for materazzi, practically none of his teammates are italian. mourinho, stankovic, zanetti? they all distanced themselves after the barca game where he threw a tantrum and blamed racism. even eto’o distanced himself, and behind henry, eto’o is probably the second biggest fighter against racism. eto’o and henry have actually dealt with racism and fought it well, please lets not put this child in the same category as them two.
Are you seriously downplaying the racism in Italy?? Seriously??? The Italians def worse than spain on the racism chart. And a 17year old kid shouldn’t have had to deal with that crap in the 21st century. (he was 17 when he debuted for Inter).
I won’t refute Balotelli experienced more than his share of racism while in Italy. However, this could very well be a classic case of what came first: the chicken or the egg.
While there is no excuse for racial slurs in a sporting realm, there is no denying Balotelli has consistently been a petulant professional that likely didn’t win himself any friends in his lockerroom or favorable fanatism in the stadium from it’s supporters.
The kid needed a fresh start and hopefully this is it. He’s amazingly talented and we’ll see if he can realize that potential if he can match it with a good attitude in a new country.
I have my doubts but time will tell.
Sure this will be covered in greater depth than I can deliver, but Omar Salgado apparently signed a Generation Adidas contract w/ MLS. He’ll be available in the Superdraft in January.
yeah his teammates distance themselves from it because everyone in Italy likes to pretend theres no racist stuff goin on there.Im Sicilian,I know better.They all abuse him but as soon as he starts scoring for the senior Azzuri they will all be cheering him on.Ridiculous,2 faced 3rd world country still in this day and age!SAD REALLY.
i dont know how much “crap” he really has to deal with. i’m assuming youre referring to the racism in italy, but it seems like a lot of the time that balotelli accuses fans of racism, even his own teammates sort of distance themselves from it. the intimation i’ve gotten from previous stories is that he plays the racism card a little too quickly as an excuse when things aren’t going his way. mostly in these situations, the fans are heckling his attitude and his lack of production, and if that is the case, it will only be worse in england.
Yea sorry Ives, if Balotelli isn’t a 19year version of Jackie Robinson… But I’d be pretty pissed if my hometeam “fans” yelled racial slurs and if my national team men’s coach ignored me for the world cup partially because of my skin color.
Ives, why do you hate on balotelli?
if i had to deal with the crap that he has to, i wouldn’t be mr. sunshine either…