By DAN KARELL
A day after hearing that defender Matt Besler and midfielder Graham Zusi would be joining the U.S. Men’s National Team, Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes found out he’d be without two additional players for a three week stretch in the middle of the season.
Having just returned to the club, forward Kei Kamara has been called up by Sierra Leone and reserve winger Soony Saad has accepted a call-up to represent Lebanon, after filing a one-time switch with FIFA following a career representing the U.S. at the youth level.
The call-ups will leave Vermes without Besler, Zusi, and Kamara for a three week stretch between May 27 and June 18, though Saad will only be gone from May 25-31. The foursome will each miss at least two matches, May 28 in the U.S. Open Cup and June 1 at Montreal.
Here are some more stories to get you caught up around the league:
DYNAMO TO HOST SECOND SOCCER NIGHT IN NEWTOWN, REVS TO PLAY CHARITY MATCH IN JUNE
After the success of the first Soccer Night in Newtown last January, Houston Dynamo president Chris Canetti, a native of Connecticut, decided to organize the event a second time.
The second edition will take place on on May 17 at the soccer fields next to the municipal center in Newtown, and the night will consist of meet-and-greets, small sided games, a juggling station, and much more. Many recognizable soccer stars from the past will be on hand at the festivities including Mia Hamm, Cobi Jones, Tab Ramos, Taylor Twellman, and Alexi Lalas.
The event is being supported by Canetti, a graduate of nearby Quinnipiac University, as well as the charitable arm of the Dynamo, Major League Soccer, and Newtown Kindness.
In other news, the Newtown Parent Connection announced a double-header of friendly soccer matches on June 18, featuring the New England Revolution taking on the Real Boston Rams of the PDL, and the NASL New York Cosmos facing the Newtown Pride of the Connecticut Soccer League.
All proceeds from the matches, which will take place in New Britain, Connecticut, will go to the Newtown Parent Connection.
NELSEN EXPECTS NEW SIGNINGS TO PLAY FOR TFC ON SATURDAY
Infused with three new players and a ten-day layoff since their last match, Toronto FC manager Ryan Nelsen is ready to throw his team into the fire against the Columbus Crew on Saturday and see if they can win back the Trillium Cup.
Nelsen said after practice on Friday to TFC’s official website that he expects both forward Jermey Brockie and defender Steven Caldwell to get minutes in Saturday’s match. The two were acquired on-loan just before the transfer deadline closed on May 6 and both arrived in Toronto on Tuesday.
Also reported during the training session on Friday was that 31-year-old Brazilian defender Gleison Pinto dos Santos, or just Santos, is currently trailing with the club. Santos most recently played with Skoda Xanthi in the Greek Super League, and has previously had spent eight seasons in Italy, bouncing between Serie A and Serie B with Reggina, Genoa, and AlbinoLeffe, among others.
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What do you make of these reports? Do you see SKC struggling in Montreal without the foursome? Happy to see more MLS teams get involved with charity for Newtown? Do you see Brockie or Caldwell getting a start for TFC on Saturday?
Share your thoughts below.
Tough stretch for KC. Good for MLS that there are various national team players playing here.
hope MLS continues to move closer and closer to an international calendar with less to no games during the international schedules… maybe move the complete USOC bracket into this time of year..
Just to be clear before things get out of control, no politics here regarding Newtown please. I’d be glad to direct you to the appropriate message boards if you wish to discuss gun laws.
He shoots … just wide of the target.
photo id is requried at the juggling station
Could Sierra Leone make it to the world cup
I hope so. That would be awesome for Siera Leone, USA, MLS and World Football in general.
Hopefully a World Cup birth would shed some light on the various conflicts in that nation like it did for Ivory Coast in 2006.
The war in Sierra Leone ended a few years ago.
Lebanon over a chance to represent USA? lol enjoy watching everyone else go to the world cup saad
He was never going to have enough quality to play for the full national team anyway
I dont believe in giving up on a player but it certainly seems like he has given up on his chances of representing the US
Or maybe it’s a cultural thing? Why do people always seem to jump quickly to the most convenient “didn’t want it more” excuse? Baffling.
I don’t get the lol. It’s a great opportunity. Good for him.
Agree.
How many national teams have you played for Dan?
Good for Saad. I don’t see him projecting into the US depth chart in the future so this is a good move for his career.
Best of luck to him. I don’t see it as clear opportunism, Hassan Ali Saad from Dearborn, MI may feel some connection to Lebanon as a first-generation immigrant, especially if his parents left Lebanon following conflict instead of simply deciding to move to America.