Kansas City will have a connection to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. That was confirmed today when Honduras announced their 23-man roster that will compete this summer in Brazil.
The roster features four current MLS players as well as former Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza, who played for the club from 2008-2012.
During his five years in Major League Soccer, Espinoza played 113 regular season games and tallied two goals and 10 assists. The Honduran midfielder played a key role in Sporting KC's recent dominance, helping the club to a first place finish in the Eastern Conference regular season standings in 2011 and 2012 as well as the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship.
English Premier League club Wigan Athletic F.C. signed Espinoza in January 2013 and the tenacious midfielder immediately paid dividends for his new club. Wigan won the 2013 FA Cup and is currently in the Football League Championship playoff to get back into England's first division.
Espinoza was recently given two awards at Wigan's end-of-year awards banquet including Community Player of the Year and Goal of the Year for his longe-range strike against MK Dons in the FA Cup third round.
Elsewhere in CONCACAF, in the coming days, U.S. Soccer is expected to announce the roster that will head to the USMNT pre-World Cup training camp in California starting Wednesday, May 14. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann recently announced that he would bring 30 players to the camp with 23 players then selected to go to Brazil for the World Cup.
Sporting KC defender Matt Besler and midfielder Graham Zusi each played prominent roles in the USMNT's World Cup qualification and are expected to be part of the 30-man roster. Besler has featured 14 times for the USMNT, while Zusi has 20 caps under Klinsmann.
