Every professional soccer player waits for that call ... umm email. On Tuesday night's Sporting KC Show on Sports Radio 810 WHB, Matt Besler detailed the process of how a player is selected for a U.S. national team camp. His situation was a bit different this time around as he was a late addition to the squad. Regardless, Besler provided great insight into the mindset of the team as they prepare for a pair of massive World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama.
Honduras is an interesting team because in recent years they have had a lot of players playing on their national team come to Major League Soccer. So I think in years past there was some mystery about them. I don't think that's the case anymore. If you go through their starting lineup, there are at least six or seven of their players that play in MLS. I think that helps our team, just being familiar and knowing certain players, their strengths and weaknesses. I think at the day, you are going to see a very organized Honduras team that will put some numbers behind the ball and will look to counterattack. Their front two, three, four guys are extremely dangerous on the counter attack.
In addition to Besler, hosts Nate Bukaty and Carter Augustine were joined by Swope Park Rangers head coach Nikola Popovic. The Rangers open their 2017 USL season on Saturday with a home match against OKC Energy FC (TICKETS). The match will kick off at 7:30pm at Children's Mercy Victory Field at Swope Soccer Village.
We are all excited. We are ready after a long preseason and we are all waiting for our fans and supporters to come here and support us and watch us play against OKC. It's going to be a great game. I can tell you that the people who will watch our team this year will find a lot of differences. We are now much more attached to the style of play of the first team and we brought in a lot of younger players - Academy players - so you can expect a little bit of a different Swope Park Rangers from last year.
Listen to the entire show below.
