Sporting Kansas City acquired the rights to forward Soony Saad on Tuesday, following a weighted lottery held by Major League Soccer for the 18-year-old standout from the University of Michigan.
“He’s a player that our staff has seen in college several times, and we were very interested in him,” Manager Peter Vermes said. “We feel this is a good young addition for our team.”
“I’m really excited that I got picked up by Sporting Kansas City,” Saad said. “It’s in the Midwest where I’m from and with the team’s brand new stadium, I couldn’t have hoped for anything better. This is a dream come true for the next step in my professional career.”
The 2009-2010 National Gatorade Player of the Year attended the University of Michigan in the fall, where he led the NCAA in scoring and set a Michigan single-season record with 19 goals, while also adding five assists. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned spots on the All-Big Ten First Team, NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team and NSCAA All-American Second Team, after helping lead the Wolverines to their first NCAA College Cup appearance.
Saad, a 2008 US Development Academy Player of the Year, has been actively involved in the United States youth national team system, most recently being invited as one of two collegiate players to join the U.S. Under-20 camp in December, where he scored the match-winner in an international friendly against Canada.
Saad signed with Major League Soccer last week and was entered into Tuesday’s weighted lottery, the mechanism by which Major League Soccer assigns players signed under special circumstances after the annual SuperDraft.
He becomes the fifth player assigned via an MLS weighted lottery in 2011, joining Korey Veeder (Columbus Crew). David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Cody Arnoux (Real Salt Lake) and Chris Agorsor (Philadelphia Union).
Sporting Kansas City, unbeaten in their last eight MLS matches, will host the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
Tickets are available on TicketMaster.com and all fans that purchase a ticket in advance will receive a complimentary ticket to the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal between Sporting Kansas City and the Richmond Kickers (USL PRO) on Tuesday, July 12th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) acquires rights to forward Soony Saad via weighted lottery.
Vitals:
Soony Saad (soo-NEE sod)
Forward
Height: 5-10
Weight: 165
Born: 8/17/1992
Hometown: Dearborn, Michigan
Birthplace: Dearborn, Michigan
Citizenship: USA
Last Club: University of Michigan (NCAA)
