Roger Espinoza was named to the Honduras roster for the London 2012 Olympic Games on Thursday, but where does that land him in the history of Kansas City players at the Olympics?
He becomes the first in 16 years, joining Matt McKeon and Chris Snitko who were KC's first two picks in the inaugural 1996 MLS College Draft. McKeon made two appearances in Atlanta, coming off the bench as a second-half substitute against Argentina and Portgual. Snitko backed up Kasey Keller on the bench in all three group stage games.
Four years later in 2000, Chris Brown was an alternate on Clive Charles' squad that finished fourth in Sydney and current outside back Michael Harrington was also an alternate in 2008 for Peter Nowak.
On the current roster, there have been a couple players that competed in Olympic action, just not when they were playing for Kansas City. Manager Peter Vermes was a starter in the 1988 Summer Olympics. Additionally, Teal Bunbury (2012) and Bobby Convey (2004) played on Olympic Qualifying teams.
Espinoza and Honduras will play Morocco on the first day of the tournament, July 26, in Group D action. In the early stages they also face Spain on July 29 and Japan on August 1. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals on August 4.
