* Wizards Take on New England Revolution Saturday
* Kansas City Signs Mexico International Omar Bravo as Designated Player
* Striker Sunil Chhetri Scores Twice for India National Team
* Kei Kamara Shows Support for Local Sierra Leone Soccer Campaign Tonight
* Wizards Host 25 Local Refugee Children at Wednesday’s Training
* Wizards Players Help “Stuff the Bus” School Supply Effort
* Jonathan Leathers Visits Local Argentine Library
* Jack Jewsbury and Wizards Support Local Blood Drive
* Mayor’s Night Kicks Championship to be Played on Saturday
* Fans Encouraged to Support U.S. Effort to Land World Cup in 2018 or 2022
WIZARDS TAKE ON NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION ON SATURDAY:
The Kansas City Wizards return home to face Eastern Conference opponent New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 21 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Coming off a 1-0 loss at San Jose last weekend, the Wizards will be looking to rebound against a New England team that is unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions. The Wizards have fared well against the Revolution over the last two seasons, going 4-0-1 in the past five MLS meetings.
Saturday’s match could be a crucial one as both teams push for playoff contention. The Wizards are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 20 points (5-8-5), while New England sits one point ahead and in a tie for fourth place with Chicago, who they play tonight at Toyota Park.
Saturday is Back-to-School Night with bleacher tickets available for only $16. Kids 12 and under who purchase these $16 tickets will receive Wizards youth apparel, including jerseys, shorts or hooded sweatshirts. The first 300 students who purchase these tickets will also receive a free Wizards lunch bag.
The team is also hosting a Referee Night that allows area soccer officials to take part in a pre-game question and answer session with the referee assessor, a tailgate leading up to kickoff and a post-game question and answer with the match referee. The package is $30 and includes a stadium reserved ticket.
Tickets for both promotions can be purchased by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
Saturday’s contest, broadcast live in high definition in both English and Spanish on KCWE Channel 29, is the first meeting between Kansas City and New England this season, with the rematch scheduled for Saturday, October 16th at Gillette Stadium.
KANSAS CITY SIGNS MEXICO INTERNATIONAL OMAR BRAVO AS DESIGNATED PLAYER:
The Kansas City Wizards announced last week that they have signed Mexico international and Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas) striker Omar Bravo as a Designated Player. By the terms of the subsequent loan agreement, Bravo will remain with Chivas Guadalajara for the remainder of the 2010 Apertura, Mexico’s 17-game fall season. The 30-year-old striker will then join the Wizards for the 2011 preseason.
Kansas City and Chivas have also agreed to play home-and-home friendlies at their new stadiums in 2011 as part of the loan agreement. The Wizards will play at Chivas’ new Estadio Omnilife during Kansas City’s preseason, and Chivas Guadalajara will play in Kansas City’s new soccer stadium after the venue opens next summer.
Bravo and Chivas face Brazilian club Internacional tonight into the deciding match of the 2010 Copa Libertadores, the storied South American club tournament that was first played in 1960. Only one other Mexican club, Cruz Azul in 2001, has ever reached the finals. Chivas trails 2-1 in the home-and-home aggregate goal series entering tonight’s second leg, which will air live on Fox Sports en Espanol (Ch. 162 on Time Warner cable, Ch. 425 & 624 on DirecTV, and Ch. 855 on Dish Network).
Bravo is one of the most decorated and beloved players in Chivas history as the club’s second all-time leading goal scorer with 106 goals in league competition, and has been a mainstay on the Mexico National Team with 16 goals, including two at the 2006 World Cup, in 65 appearances.
STRIKER SUNIL CHHETRI SCORES TWICE FOR INDIA NATIONAL TEAM:
Kansas City Wizards striker Sunil Chhetri, on loan to the India National Team, scored twice in India’s 3-1 friendly victory over Uniao Serra on Wednesday in Fatima, Portugal. Chhetri got the game’s first goal in the 35th minute and the match-winner in the 61st minute, both off of headers.
Chhetri was one of 30 players selected by India head coach Bob Houghton for the team’s ongoing preparations for the 2011 Asian Cup next January. Chhetri was a pivotal player in his country’s qualification, scoring a hat trick in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup final to secure India’s spot in the Asian Cup for the first time in 24 years.
Kansas City signed Chhetri from Dempo SC in March, making him the first Indian to join an MLS team and creating considerable media attention around his move abroad. His most recent appearance for the Wizards came in the 2-1 upset of Manchester United on July 25, coming on in the 69th minute and recording two shots on goal in his 21 minutes of action.
KEI KAMARA SHOWED SUPPORT FOR LOCAL SIERRA LEONE SOCCER CAMPAIGN WEDNESDAY:
Kansas City Wizards forward Kei Kamara, a Sierra Leone native and national team player, pledged his support to a local youth who is organizing an effort to collect new and used soccer items to send to children in Sierra Leone. Laurel Nagengast, a soon to be senior at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas, is asking members of the soccer community to contribute soccer jerseys, t-shirts, and balls that are in good condition, and she set up a collection site at the LHS parking lot Wednesday night. Read a Lawrence Journal-World article about the event here.
Upon finding out about this event, Kamara spoke to Nagengast via phone to express his thanks and plans to be in attendance at the collection site to show his support. He also will bring a large donation of t-shirts and soccer balls to contribute to the cause.
Kamara has made five appearances for the Sierra Leone National Team, most recently in 2010 World Cup qualifying, and lived in the West African nation until he was a teenager before coming to the United States.
WIZARDS HOST 25 LOCAL REFUGEE CHILDREN AT WEDNESDAY’S TRAINING:
The Kansas City Wizards welcomed 25 local refugee children to the team’s practice on Wednesday, featuring a special meeting with Wizards forward Kei Kamara, who came to the United States in 2000 as a refugee from Sierra Leone. Kamara talked to all of the children about his experience as a refugee, and also signed autographs, took pictures, and played soccer with the youth refugees throughout the team’s morning scrimmages at Swope Park Training Facility.
The refugees came from various countries across the globe, including Burma, Somalia, Iraq and Sierra Leone. Kamara is the team’s leading scorer with seven goals this season, and is tied for seventh most in the league in 2010.
WIZARDS PLAYERS HELP “STUFF THE BUS” SCHOOL SUPPLY EFFORT:
Kansas City Wizards players and the Kansas City Wizards Wives Club teamed up with local radio stations again this year to assist City Union Mission in providing school supplies for less fortunate children in the Greater Kansas City area. Jimmy Conrad and Roger Espinoza were two of several Wizards to hand out the supplies to schoolchildren Wednesday at City Union Mission from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
As part of the four-week campaign put on by 94.9 KCMO, 105.1 JACK FM and KCMO 710, the Wizards collected school supplies, clothing and monetary donations at their July 31 match against Toronto FC.
This marks the third straight year that the Wizards have supported the local school supply drive. Last year's collection was a huge success, highlighted by David Beckham personally donating items to the “Stuff the Bus” bins prior to the July 25 match between Kansas City and Los Angeles, which drew a standing-room only crowd in CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
The Kansas City Wizards Wives Club continues to be active in the local community after organizing numerous community outreach projects in the Kansas City area over the past several seasons. They have collected new teddy bears to donate to Children’s Mercy Hospital and sold pink soccer balls to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, in addition to other initiatives.
JONATHAN LEATHERS VISITS LOCAL ARGENTINE LIBRARY:
Wizards defender Jonathan Leathers spent Wednesday afternoon at the Argentine Library in Kansas City, Kansas holding a book reading and donation for area children. Leathers discussed the value of reading in their daily lives and read stories from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. at the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library branch at 2800 Metropolitan Avenue.
Leathers also donated some books to the library and made a donation on behalf of the Kansas City Wizards to a fund to build a new library in the area. Leathers is in his third season with the Wizards after a standout career at Furman University.
JACK JEWSBURY AND WIZARDS SUPPORT LOCAL BLOOD DRIVE:
The Kansas City Wizards partnered with the Community Blood Center for their 4th Annual Blood Drive this week, including a special appearance by Wizards midfielder Jack Jewsbury on Tuesday afternoon. Jewsbury signed autographs, thanked donors and spoke with Soren Petro of Sports Radio 810 during their live remote broadcast.
The Blood Drive continues through Friday, August 20 at the Community Blood Center on 4040 Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. All donors will receive a buy one, get one voucher for tickets to the Wizards match on Saturday, August 21 against New England at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
MAYOR’S NIGHT KICKS CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE PLAYED ON SATURDAY:
The third annual Mayor’s Night Kicks soccer tournament will crown its champion on Saturday, August 21 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark following the Wizards game against the New England Revolution. The KC Athletics and El Padrino advanced to the finals following their victories in Tuesday’s semifinals, held at the Wizards’ Swope Park Training Facility.
Established in 2008 by Mayor Mark Funkhouser, the Kansas City Wizards and the KCMO Parks and Recreation have sponsored the Mayor’s Night Kicks soccer tournament for adult males between the ages of 18 and 25 each summer since. The six-week tournament has become a tremendous success both on the field for participants and off the field as a community building tool for Kansas City’s diverse population.
FANS ENCOURAGED TO SUPPORT U.S. EFFORT TO LAND WORLD CUP IN 2018 OR 2022:
Kansas City soccer fans are strongly encouraged to support the bid to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the United States in 2018 or 2022. To date, nearly 965,000 people have showed their support, including over 27,000 from Kansas City.
In addition to signing the petition at www.goUSAbid.com/kc, supporters can register their interest by texting “Kansas City” to “22442”. Kansas City is one of 18 cities still in the running to host games should the USA bid be successful. FIFA will select the host nation for both 2018 and 2022 on December 2, 2010.
The highly successful Summer of Soccer saw over 30,000 soccer fans gather for World Cup watch parties in the Kansas City Power & Light District and a new attendance record set for a soccer match in Kansas City when 52,424 turned out to see the Wizards upset English powerhouse Manchester United 2-1 at the New Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, July 25.
