Sporting Kansas City: Arnaud Traded to Montreal for Sinovic and Allocation Money

In a somewhat surprising move, Sporting Kansas City traded team captain Davy Arnaud to the Montreal Impact. Sporting KC will receive defender Seth Sinovic and an undisclosed amount of allocation money.“After many discussions and considerations, both parties have come to an agreement,” Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said. “On behalf of Sporting, we would like to thank Davy for his service with the club and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors.”The 31-year-old midfielder was acquired in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft from West Texas A&M. Arnaud made 240 regular season appearances for the club, the most in team history. Arnaud tallied 43 goals and added 35 assists, ranking second and third—most on the team's scoring charts.Arnaud also helped the club win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and reach the MLS Cup final in 2004.“I am very thankful to Sporting Kansas City, the organization and the fans," Arnaud said. "I made this my home for 10 years and am so proud to have been a part of the great soccer growth in Kansas City. I look forward to my next challenge and playing in Montreal, but will never forget the wonderful ...

MLS: Freddy Adu, Omar Bravo Head List of Players Exposed in Expansion Draft

MLS released the protected lists for all 18 teams ahead of the Expansion Draft for the Montreal Impact on Wednesday. What was interesting was some of the names that were left off of those lists.What follows is my list of players that I might select if I were Montreal. I've chosen one player from each team. Not all of these players will be selected (the draft is only 10 rounds), and quite possibly, maybe none of them will be. I will try to give a pro and con for each of my selections.Begin Slideshow

Sporting Kansas City: Omar Bravo Left Exposed in Expansion Draft

Sporting Kansas City today unveiled the list of 11 players they are protecting from selection in this year's Expansion Draft. On Wednesday, the Montreal Impact will choose players from the other 18 MLS teams in preparation for their first MLS campaign in 2012. The draft will be 10 rounds and no team may lose more than one player.Mexican forward and Designated Player Omar Bravo is the biggest name left off of he list. Bravo tied for the team lead in scoring with nine goals. He also took the captain's armband the most often while Davy Arnaud was recovering from injury.Other players left exposed to selection by Montreal include: defenders Seth Sinovic and Michael Harrington; midfielders Birahim Diop, Jeferson and Craig Rocastle; forward Soony Saad; and goalkeeper Eric Kronberg.The following is a list of the players excluded from being taken in the draft. Homegrown Players Jon Kempin and Kevin Ellis are also automatically protected. Davy Arnaud—The club's all-time leader in regular season appearances, Arnaud has been the team's captain for the past two seasons. Matt Besler—An All-Star selection as a defender this past season, Besler led the team in minutes played. Teal Bunbury—Part of Sporting's potent attack, Bunbury scored nine goals ...

Sporting Kansas City Trades Ryan Smith to Chivas USA for 2012 Draft Picks

Sporting Kansas City announced Monday that they had shipped midfielder Ryan Smith to Chivas USA. for the club's first- and third-round picks in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft.The 25-year-old Englishman notched four goals and seven assists for the club in 32 matches over the past two seasons. Due to offseason knee surgery, Smith was limited to only six appearances in 2011. Smith's season was cut short, however, when he left the team in June for family reasons. He then appeared to be shopping himself around to clubs in Europe while still under contract to MLS.In exchange for Smith, Chivas USA will send their first-round natural and third-round natural selections in the MLS Supplemental Draft to Sporting Kansas City.The Supplemental Draft will be conducted January 17th.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Sporting Kansas City End-of-Season Awards

Now that the 2011 season has come to a close for Sporting Kansas City, it's time for the first annual Fountain City Soccer Awards. These awards are based solely on my opinions.While most of these awards are team-specific, there are those that would be my nominations, at least, for the league-wide awards which will be announced very soon. I will make it obvious which ones those are.Begin Slideshow

Graham Zusi Powers Sporting Kansas City to Conference Final in 2-0 Win

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Midfielder Graham Zusi assisted on both goals to lead Sporting Kansas City to a 2-0 win in the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinal. In front of 18,565 rain-soaked fans in a sold-out LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Zusi became the first player in franchise history to get multiple assists in a playoff game.Added to their result from the first leg, Kansas City now advances to the next round 4-0 on aggregate.The first true scoring chance of the game came in the 16th minute, when defender Aurelien Collin played a long ball into the area for Teal Bunbury. Bunbury tracked it down near the end line, but his shot was saved by Brad Pickens and went out for a corner kick.The game was fairly sloppy, owing to the incredibly wet conditions. The rain started a few hours before the game and did not let up. Chances were few and far between, but Kansas City seemed to get most of them.Sporting KC opened the scoring in the 28th minute, when Zusi put a free kick into the penalty area, bouncing it off the back of Collin's head and into the back of the net.In the first minute after ...

MLS: Teal Bunbury, Sporting Kansas City Punch Ticket for Postseason

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Sporting Kansas City, who were dead last in the league in May, continued their resurgence after the opening of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs with a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls. A standing-room-only crowd of 19,921 saw Sporting earn its first playoff berth since 2008.With Philadelphia and Toronto playing to a 1-1 tie, Sporting moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference.Kansas City started the game in full-on attack mode. The first truly dangerous chance came in the first minute. Omar Bravo lifted a soft cross into the six-yard box, where defender Aurelien Collin headed it just wide.New York's first chance came in the 11th minute when they put a ball into the penalty area. Luke Rodgers whiffed on it before Dane Richards took a shot that was saved by Jimmy Nielsen.New York's hopes for winning the match took a huge hit in the 28th minute. While Roger Espinoza was on the ground, Thierry Henry kneed him in the back. Referee Kevin Stott wasted no time in reaching for the red card, and New York was reduced to 10 men.Kansas City fairly dominated possession for the ...

MLS: Omar Bravo Captains SKC Against Former Club in International Friendly

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sporting Kansas City forward Omar Bravo captained his current club against his old team in an international friendly at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Wednesday night. Bravo, a product of the Club Deportivo Guadalajara youth academy, scored 108 goals for the Mexican side after making his senior team debut in 2000.After the game, Bravo said through a translator, "I respect Davy Arnaud a lot as the captain of the team, but I see it as a gift from Peter (Vermes) because of a game like this. It's something that means a lot to me to be captain for a game like this."Chivas had the first truly dangerous chance of the game in the eighth minute. Midfielder Marco Fabian got loose on a breakaway. He managed to get around goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, who had come completely outside the 18-yard box. Two defenders had managed to get in behind Kronberg and Aurelien Collin tackled Fabian, but the ball trickled toward the net. Kronberg managed to hustle back and make sure the ball stayed out of the net.In the 13th minute, KC forward Kei Kamara put a cross from the left wing into the penalty area for Jeferson. The Brazilian ...

Sporting KC: Bunbury Among Five Players Given National Team Call-Ups

Sporting Kansas City forward Teal Bunbury heads a list of players given national team call-ups for friendlies in October.Bunbury (USA) joins midfielder Roger Espinoza (Honduras), defender Shavar Thomas (Jamaica), midfielder Craig Rocastle (Grenada), and midfielder Peterson Joseph (Haiti) in being selected for national team duty next month. Only Bunbury and Espinoza see regular action for Kansas City.The call-ups are actually fairly well-timed for Sporting. After the team's game on Saturday versus the San Jose Earthquakes, they're off from league play until October 15th when they host the New York Red Bulls.The only match these players may miss is a home friendly against CD Chivas Guadalajara (Mexico) on October 12th.The call-ups also set up an interesting matchup. On October 8th, Bunbury and his American teammates will be in Miami to take on Espinoza and Honduras. It could be interesting to see if they take it easy on each other.One notable omission on this list of call-ups is forward Kei Kamara.Kamara tweeted that he had been invited to play in Sierra Leone's massive African Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa. However, he also said he'd been suspended by the FA. When asked why, Kamara replied, "That's the question am asking myself ...

MLS: Kei Kamara, Sporting KC Defeat Columbus Crew, Move into First Place

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Sporting Kansas City team captain Davy Arnaud made a triumphant return to the starting lineup in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. With the win, Kansas City moved into first place in the Eastern Conference, jumping in front of the Houston Dynamo.Arnaud made his 237th appearance for the team, tying assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin for the club record for games played. Zavagnin retired after the 2008 season and has been part of the coaching staff since then.Sporting KC (11-9-11, 44 pts.) jumped on the scoreboard in the 15th minute. Forward C.J. Sapong was brought down in the penalty area by defender Chad Marshall. Referee Hilario Grajeda did not hesitate in pointing to the spot. Kei Kamara stepped up and put the ball into the lower left of the net, with goalkeeper Will Hesmer going the opposite way.Columbus (11-12-8, 41 pts.) equalized in the 35th minute. Robbie Rogers stole the ball near midfield and fed forward Emilio Renteria, who fired it past Jimmy Nielsen on Nielsen's right.Kansas City recaptured the lead in the 74th minute. Defender Matt Besler put a long throw-in into the penalty area where Columbus' Julius James headed it ...