All-Time Record
Colorado is 2-1-0 against Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup
Game Info
When: 8:30 p.m. ET, Tues., April 13 Where: Stanley H. Durwood Stadium on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City
What's at stake?
Survival. Lose here and all that’s left in the MLS regular season for both these teams. Kansas City would love to bring home some silverware on the eve of its new stadium’s completion, and Colorado wouldn’t say no to a shot at hardware either. The winner will move onto the final phase of the MLS play-in bracket for the tournament proper; the loser will watch the rest of the competition from home.
Last meeting:
Three days ago at CommunityAmerica Ballpark the Wizards came out on the right end of a 1-0 battle against the Rapids. It was a rough-and-tumble game with four yellow cards, one ejection, and a great deal of trash talk. There is no reason not to expect something similar today with each side’s Cup lives on the line.
Remember when?
Kei Kamara scored the match-winning goal on Saturday night.
Heroes & Villains
Wizards bench vs. Rapids bench: Colorado already sent Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark, Julien Baudet and Conor Casey back to Denver. Kansas City plays in Seattle four days after facing the Rapids tonight. Suffice to say, whichever side’s reserve players perform the best will likely walk away victorious. This should provide a good opportunity for Wizards fans to get long looks at young KC's Teal Bunbury and Sunil Chhetri. Rapids fans will be curious to see how newcomer Quincy Amarikwa does over 90 minutes and how rookie Andre Akpan performs filling Casey’s role as target man.
Claudio Lopez vs. Sunil Chhetri: No, these two won’t be matching up directly, but it should be the first time each sees action in a competitive match for his new club. Kansas City is plenty familiar with Clauio López—the former Wizard—although the sheer number of new additions means not everyone on the roster will know what to expect. As far as Chhetri goes, the Rapids can have no idea what really to expect. He’s consistently found the net against lower competition in scattered exhibition games, but those matches won’t match the intensity or urgency expected tonight, when he will have to contend with top-tier defenders like Óscar Murillo and Drew Moor.
“Whatever
emotion was in this [Saturday’s 1-0 Wizards victory] is just going to
carry over. Whoever is reffing that game is going to probably have to
call it pretty close at first to make sure it doesn’t get out of
control.” — Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad
Stat that makes you go “Hmm...”:Saturday's match included 33 fouls between the two sides.He said it:
