Minnesota United at Sporting Kansas City
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Sporting Park
Stream: Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500
Weather: 77 degrees, partly cloudy, 10 mph south wind
Form: MNUFC (6-5-4, 22 points) has not played in two months due to the league’s FIFA World Cup break. Kansas City (3-10-2, 11 points) ended its long layoff with a 3-2 loss at St. Louis City on Thursday.
Context: In the summer transfer window, Kansas City has so far added two new players to zero for Minnesota, but the Loons were strides better than Sporting in the first half of the season, so a result on the road is a fair expectation for MNUFC.
Storyline: Loons striker Kelvin Yeboah said he and the club “are in a good place” after an “internal matter” led to him being effectively suspended for the home draw against Real Salt Lake on May 23.
“It doesn’t really change anything,” Yeboah told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “It’s something behind us, and I just try to focus against Kansas. … For me, the most important (thing) from Day 1 when I came here, I think you got to know me a bit, I just want to impact and influence the game as much as possible. Try to lead with those values all the time. But at the end, I’m also human, and this is all part of the game.”
Yeboah, who has a team-high eight goals this season, was involved in an unspecified incident during a training session leading up to the last match before the World Cup break.
“That’s done,” Loons coach Cameron Knowles said July 2 about Yeboah’s benching. “I said it at the time, ‘I wish there would have been one more game.’ … We look forward to getting him back in with the group.”
Yeboah was in a jovial mood at the end of Tuesday’s training session. He had an outside-of-the-boot finish reminiscent of Gio Reyna’s goal for the U.S. in the World Cup.
Tidbits: MNUFC assistant coach Josh Wolff was a finalist for the Portland Timbers’ coaching job, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press. The Athletic first reported the news over the weekend. Wolff was the head coach of Austin FC from 2020-24.
The Loons are in the process of sending Costa Rican attacker Kenyel Michel on loan to Alajuelense for the rest of the year. Michel, who has only played for MNUFC2, was with that Costa Rican club before joining Minnesota on a transfer last summer.
Goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich, 18, has been called up to the U.S. under-20 men’s national team before the CONCACAF U20 championship in Mexico from Friday to Aug. 8. Rizvanovich was recalled by Minnesota from a loan with Brooklyn in the USL Championship and has played 17 matches for MNUFC2 this season.
Absences: Nectar Triantis (ankle), Nico Romero (knee) and Carlos Harvey (illness) are expected to be out. Jefferson Diaz (knee) is questionable.
Scouting report: Kansas City has allowed a Western Conference-worst 39 goals this season, but Minnesota has scored only 18, which is more than only K.C.’s 16.
“A big emphasis over the break was what are we doing in those moments of creating consistent chances when we are in the front half and into the attacking third,” midfielder Wil Trapp said Tuesday. “I think we’ve seen the patterns and understanding of what little things we need to recognize and how to break the last lines … and what that looks like on a consistent basis.”
View: Knowles declined to share any specifics about the team’s three “closed-door” scrimmages before the restart of the regular season. He has used the time to work on varying set-ups with the team and relationship with particular players.
“Some of it is trying to get a different look for us that maybe we can use throughout the remainder of the season,” Knowles said.
Prediction: Kansas City continued to struggle defensively after the World Cup break, showing a direct way for Minnesota to generate goals. But how much rust might the Loons have after two months without a match? Minnesota 2, Kansas City 1.
