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Today, Major League Soccer announced AS Roma as the opponent for the 2013 MLS All-Star Game at Sporting Park on July 31.

In conjunction with the match, Kansas City will host three days worth of festivities including a free concert at Power and Light on ASG eve. Here's the catch, while the concert is free, you'll still need a ticket for admission. Be on the lookout for these tickets over the next several weeks.

Here are a few tips:

• Tune into 96.5 the Buzz  and follow @SportingKC on Twitter to see where the tickets will be distributed.
• The tickets will be silver in honor of the band, Silversun Pickups.
• The first two opportunities to get the tickets will be this Saturday at:
  • The Boulevard Members Club at Sporting Park following Sporting Kansas City's match against the Montreal Impact.
  • Buzz Under the Stars at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater.

See below for a special message from the band:

The Sporting KC Show aired live from La Bodega last night. Hosts Dave Borchardt and Andy Edwards were joined by Sporting Kansas City midfielder Oriol Rosell. The former Barcelona B player made his English radio debut last night after coming to America in August of last year. Upon arrival, "hello" was the extent of Rosell's English vocabulary.

Nine months later, it is quite the contrary. Oriol Rosell moved to the states with his girlfriend and the two have been taking on the Midwest together including learning the native dialect.

Rosell talks with Dave and Andy about his move to America and more specifically about his thoughts on Kansas City.

Find the full interview here to listen to Rosell talk about his Sporting KC family.

Sporting Kansas City advanced to the fourth round of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Des Moines Menace. They will now face Orlando City in the fourth round at Sporting Park on Wednesday, June 12, 2013.

Man of the Match

Mikey Lopez played his first competitive match for Sporting KC and helped to control the middle of the pitch. There were a few early nerves from the rookie but Lopez quickly settled in and showed why he was a first round pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft. Lopez will now join up with the U.S. U-20s as they play in the Toulon tournament ahead of this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup. 

Turning Point

Claudio Bieler's second half goal effectively ended any thought of an upset at Sporting Park. The goal was a result of continuous pressure from Sporting KC that eventually took its toll on the Des Moines backline. Bieler now has seven goals (five at Sporting Park) in all competitions this year and proving he's a pure striker with a nose for goal.

A Few Stats

• Sporting KC is now 3-0-0 all-time versus Des Moines in Open Cup matches
• Kei Kamara's goal moves him into a tied of fifth most in club history for Open Cup matches
• Eric Kronberg's clean sheet is his fifth in nine Open Cup matches, most in club history

To preview Sporting KC's third round match of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, I interviewed the Des Moines Register's Chris Cuellar.

Can you tell us about the Menace and where most of the players have previously played?

"The team itself has made four U.S. Open Cup appearances in a row, which is pretty surprising for a PDL team. They kind of just snuck in this year to the Open Cup. It's an amateur squad that in the past has been made up of college players and other guys who can retain their amateur status but this season they've got kind of a boost. Almost three-fourths of the roster is NCAA Division I players. Whether they played there before or they're playing at it now. Whether or not the team has come together yet is still up in the air. They've only been together for three weeks. Talent-wise, it's up there with one of the better Menace teams in recent memory. It's the highest level soccer team in the state of Iowa. It's hard to put up against anything else because most other towns don't have anything at all. If you're a soccer fan in central Iowa, this is the one team you're a fan of and it just so happens that they're pretty good this year.

What was the reaction of the Menace players and coaches after advancing to the third round (by defeating Minnesota United FC 1-0 in the second round)?

"They were pretty excited and even heading into the Minnesota game, they were following the lines of one game at a time but their eyes were pretty big towards that potential Kansas City date. Now that it's here, they're pretty excited. The squad was rotated pretty heavily for Saturday's match (at St Louis Lions) in preparation (of Tuesday's match). They want to give some guys some rest to put the best 11 they possibly can out in Kansas City. A lot of the guys are top level Division I players but even they are really anticipating playing at Kansas City and on that field (at Sporting Park) to get the opportunity to go against professionals."

Scott Angevine is a familiar face in Kansas City but who are some of the other key players for the Menace?

"Brandon Fricke is from central Iowa, just outside of Des Moines, and he was with Sporting KC's youth academy. He's been the skipper and centerback for them to start the year. He's started almost every game for them so far. He's been playing really well. He's a junior at Butler University and he's been with the Menace for a few seasons. He's taking over a leadership role and one of the senior players on the squad that got a whole heap of new guys. He's been playing really well lately."

"Dylan Lax is a holding midfielder and he's one of the guys from Indiana. He played all 90 minutes in the NCAA Championship game. He doesn't necessarily jump off the page at you athletically or skill wise but he locks it down and a big reason why they haven't allowed a goal in three of their last four matches. He's a heck of a player."

"Up top, the Menace have a Jamaican striker, Jimmy Tulloch, who has the power and pace to get through. He's creating a whole ton of chances but has struggled to put one in the back of the net. He's got one goal on the season and he's created a couple of more assists. He's a big physical presence that this team hasn't really had in quite a few seasons. It's refreshing in that way and maybe one of the guys who athletically will be able to hang with professionals."

What do you expect to see from the Menace for Tuesday's match?

"I expect to see a strong defensive effort. They'll need to be more clinical up front, most of their goals have come off of set pieces. If things hold to form, they'll put their best 11 on the field. They have more size at the back. They'll defend hard and hopefully maybe get one on a set piece or one on a counterattack because they do have a bit fo speed on the wings. Possesion wise if they weren't able to boss around Minnesota then I don't know how they, regardless of what 11 Kansas City puts out there, I would be surprised if they are able to hold onto a lot of possession. It depends on what guys with big game experiences step up and what their fitness is. I would be shocked if there's any kind of solid result. The Menace have never made it past the fourth round. They've been stopped by Kansas City twice at this round. I don't necessarily have a prediction but I think they'll defend as hard as they possibly can and if they can get a result it's hard to say it wouldn't be the biggest win franchise history."