Ahead of Sunday's nationally televised match against expanside side Orlando City SC, we caught up with Fox Sports broadcaster John Strong. The match will kick off at 6:00 p.m. CT with live coverage on Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes, and Fox Sports GO.
Jonathon Feyerherm: What were your thoughts on the play of Tim Melia, who made seven saves in Wednesday's scoreless draw at Portland?
John Strong: What impressed me about Melia in particular on Wednesday night was his awareness for his positioning. He made a career high for saves but only one of them would you say he was really stretched. It's almost unfair to goalkeepers when someone says "oh, he hit it right at them", but sometimes hitting it right at them means he's was in an excellent position. I thought he did a good job with his positioning and did a good job a couple of times being really aggressive coming off his line and closing down Melano. Only once was he rounded and Ellis was there to clear it away. That was a great performance in the moment that it probably earned them a point and prevented the Timbers from earnings two points, with whom their battling for a playoff spot.
JF: What are some of the storylines you're watching for this match?
JS: This is absolutely a game that when we got our schedule back in the winter I was drew a circle around. You've got Dom Dwyer coming back to the place where he made his name and broke what was then a USL record for goals and scored four goals in the USL championship match. He returned to Sporting KC and began starting and scored the game-winner in the Eastern Conference championship. It was the confidence from the run of games he got in Orlando that really started the trajectory that led to his 22 goals last year. Graham Zusi is coming back to his hometown to play a competitive match there for the first time. You've got Aurelien Collin taking on Sporting KC. The journeyman bounced around in Europe but he finds a home in Sporting KC and was a big part of what they did defensively. Now he's in Orlando. Those are the three main storylines. Also, you've got the possibility of Servando Carrasco and Amobi Okugo, who were traded for each other, playing in this match. Tally Hall had a great rivalry with Sporting KC in the great Houston/KC games in the playoffs. It was against Sporting KC that he tore his ACL last year. There is a lot to this match.
JF: What are looking forward to seeing from today's match?
JS: Obviously it depends on Orlando's injury situation and what's Kaka's status and is this the week Brek Shea returns. A little bit of it for Kansas City is the long travel (from Portland to Orlando). For Sporting Kansas City, it's allowing Benny Feilhaber to be on the ball and having him put a stamp on the match, which for whatever reason didn't quite happen in Wednesday's match. I think for Orlando, it's just putting the pieces together because they have games where everything is clicking and they're a really good and dangerous team. Then they have other games where they get a red card and just fall apart. Particular the last couple of weeks, they've leaked a lot of goals. That's the thing I want to see from an Orlando standpoint. Generally, can they keep it together for 90 minutes.
