For the first time in nine weeks -- yes, you would have to go all the way back to June 13 -- Sporting Kansas City is not in action midweek. Though the team gets a full six days rest before taking on Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field, three Sporting Kansas City players are on international duty and could be in action tonight for their respective national teams.
Midfielder Roger Espinoza is back in camp with Honduras, who take on famed Argentine club team Boca Juniors at 6 p.m. CT at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Roger recently returned from a stellar showing at the London 2012 Olympic Games and now seeks to help Honduras ahead of two FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Cuba on Sept. 7 and 11.
Further south, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are in Mexico City with the U.S. Men's National Team for a much-anticipated match against regional rivals Mexico. Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann will select 18 players from his 23-man training camp roster to take the field at 7 p.m. CT at Estadio Azteca.
The largest soccer-specific stadium in the world, Mexico's historic home venue seats more than 105,000 and is 7,200 feet above sea level. The United States has never won a match on Mexican soil, going 0-23-1 all-time, and tonight will mark the team's first friendly in Mexico since 1984. The rivalry began much earlier with the teams first meeting in 1934, and tonight will be the first meeting between the two sides since a 1-1 draw on August 10, 2011 in Klinsmann's USMNT debut.
Despite playing four of the team's eight matches to date in 2012 on foreign soil, the USMNT is 5-1-2 this year with the lone loss coming against Brazil. Zusi started each of the team's first two matches of the year, playing 74 minutes in a 1-0 win over Venezuela on January 21st and then scoring the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory at Panama four days later.
Besler received his first invite to the full national team and is the fourth Sporting Kansas City player to participate in a U.S. Men's National Team camp this year, along with Zusi, Teal Bunbury and C.J. Sapong. Check out video footage below from Besler and Zusi in training with the USMNT on Tuesday.
Join American Outlaws - Kansas City for their watch party at Johnny's Tavern in Power & Light. Live coverage from Mexico City begins at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and Univision.
