Sporting Kansas City defenders Marcel de Jong and Ike Opara received MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week honors following Saturday’s shutout of the Portland Timbers.
In his second MLS appearance, Canadian left back de Jong won a game-high four tackles and helped Sporting KC post their first clean sheet of 2015. He also created four chances, tied for most of any player in MLS Week 3, including a pinpoint cross in the second half that Opara headed narrowly over the crossbar. De Jong, who joins the Canada Men’s national team this week for friendlies against Guatemala (Friday) and Puerto Rico (March 30), also landed Team of the Week spots on Bleacher Report and Goal.com.
Opara earns Team of the Week recognition for the second time in three weeks after missing most of 2014 through injury. On Saturday, he limited the impact of Portland striker Fanendo Adi and led all players with eight interceptions and five aerial duels. The centerback now leads MLS with 20 interceptions on the season, five more than any other player.
In addition, Honduran midfielder Roger Espinoza was named to NBC Pro Soccer Talk's Team of the Week after winning a game-high 14 duels.
Sporting KC returns to MLS action Saturday at 6 p.m. CT when they face expansion side New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. The inaugural meeting between the clubs will be televised locally on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV with three hours of on-site coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT. Sporting KC will be without de Jong and Espinoza, who joined their respective national teams this week for a pair of international matches.
