Sporting Kansas City is riding high into Decision Day.
A pair of emphatic road wins over Vancouver Whitecaps FC and FC Dallas last week have vaulted Manager Peter Vermes’ side to first place in the Western Conference. But Sporting KC still has work to do going into Sunday’s regular season finale against LAFC at Children’s Mercy Park, set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT inside Children’s Mercy Park.
Vermes joined Sports Radio 810 WHB on Thursday afternoon to recap his team’s recent success and look ahead to Sunday’s monumental showdown with LAFC. In a wide-ranging conversation with The Program host Soren Petro, Vermes spoke highly about the club’s recent form, broke down what makes LAFC such a difficult opponent, and conveyed plenty of excitement for Decision Day, which will see 22 MLS teams kick off concurrently on Sunday afternoon.
“Our performance has been fantastic,” Vermes said. “Last year I didn’t think that we were good enough to go on and win (in the playoffs) because we weren’t in form. Now we are in form, and that’s a good place to be at this point in the season.”
Indeed, Sporting KC can secure the No. 1 playoff seed in the West with a win or draw this weekend. A loss, however, could drop them as low as fourth. The top two seeds will clinch Knockout Round byes to the two-legged conference semifinals, playing away on Nov. 4 and hosting the second leg on Nov. 11. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will host single-elimination Knockout Round matches on either Oct. 31 or Nov. 1.
“A big objective of ours this season was to get a home playoff game, and now the next step is to get a result on Sunday,” Vermes said. “When teams come into our place, they feel a different level of pressure, and it’s not just from the opponent on the field. They feel it from the fans as well. That is a testament to Kansas City and the way that they support all of their sports teams.”
The Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs will make at least one stop at Children’s Mercy Park, which will host its first postseason match since Sporting KC hoisted the 2013 MLS Cup.
Listen to the full discussion between Vermes and Petro below. Also available for listening is Vermes’ appearance on ESPN 97.9 Tallahassee, where he joined The Soccer Guys program this week with hosts Andy Warner and former FC Dallas coach Dave Dir.
Peter Vermes on The Program (Sports Radio 810 WHB)
Peter Vermes with The Soccer Guys (ESPN 97.9 FM Tallahassee)
