"This Week in Sporting," presented by The Smile Generation, is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City. To visit the series archive, click here.
1. Full House Victory
Sporting Kansas City (5-2-1, 16 points) scored three goals during a scintillating second half to secure a wild 3-2 comeback win over rivals Houston Dynamo FC (3-3-2, 11 points) on Saturday night in the first full-capacity match at Children’s Mercy Park since March 7, 2020, when the club defeated the same opponent.
Facing a 1-0 halftime deficit, Sporting unleashed a devastating salvo as Gianluca Busio bagged a world-class free kick, red-hot striker Alan Pulido buried a penalty kick and Gadi Kinda added an impressive third to vault Manager Peter Vermes side within a point of first place in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
Houston scored early and late through Matias Vera and Maxi Urruti but ultimately fell to a Sporting outfit that has now won three straight matches and scored three goals in three straight regular season fixtures for the first time since 2007. Furthermore, Sporting’s four comeback wins through eight games this year are already one shy of tying the club record set in 1996 and 2007.
2. Sights and Sounds
In a thrilling and emotional return to full capacity at Children's Mercy Park, Sporting Kansas City treated 20,086 fans to one of the most unforgettable matches in club history. Click here to revisit the remarkable sights and sounds that punctuated one of the greatest nights ever at Children's Mercy Park.
3. Pulido Joins Mexico
Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido has joined the Mexico Men’s National Team for the 2021 Concacaf Nations League Finals in Denver on Thursday and Sunday, June 3 and 6. Pulido is part of a 23-player roster assembled by Mexico head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino for the highly anticipated competition.
El Tri will meet Costa Rica in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals on Thursday and face either the United States or Honduras in the final or third-place match on Sunday, with both games taking place at Empower Field at Mile High with coverage on Paramount+. The camp will conclude with a friendly on June 12 when Mexico and Honduras square off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Pulido joined Mexico following Saturday’s win over Houston and is expected to return to Kansas City following El Tri’s friendly versus Honduras. The 30-year-old is one of two MLS players on Mexico’s star-studded squad alongside LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos.
4. Sporting Argyle Amber Ale
In collaboration with First Team partner Anheuser-Busch, Sporting Kansas City announced last week the launch of Sporting Argyle Amber Ale, a commemorative craft beer from Breckenridge Brewery.
Sporting Argyle Amber Ale is inspired by “A Force for Good,” a new philanthropic campaign in which Sporting Kansas City joins forces with partners to serve communities across the region. Over the course of 2021, a portion of profits from Sporting Argyle Amber Ale will go to Sporting Community Kitchen, one of the primary platforms of “A Force for Good.”
Sporting Community Kitchen kicked off in April 2020, distributing over 30,000 free meals to Kansas City residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative will return in a new format for 2021 as Sporting provides meals for children and families in need.
5. Parisi and Vermes Team Up
Sporting Kansas City and Kansas City-based specialty coffee roaster Parisi Coffee announced last week the release of “Il Mentore,” a co-branded espresso blend honoring—and personally selected by—Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes.
Il Mentore—which means “mentor” in Italian—is a signature espresso blended by Parisi’s head roaster Nick Scott and personally selected by Vermes, who in his 13th season at the helm of Sporting is the longest-tenured manager in MLS history. The espresso blend is the second special-edition product in the Tifosi Series, which launched last spring as a declaration of fandom in Kansas City.
On sale at ParisiCoffee.com and Parisi cafes, Il Mentore is also availabe at SportingStyle locations inside Children’s Mercy Park during Sporting home matches.
6. Nielsen is a Legend
Sporting Kansas City has announced former goalkeeper and captain Jimmy Nielsen as the newest member of the Sporting Legends hall of honor. Nielsen, who enjoyed a brilliant four-year stint in Kansas City from 2010-2013, will be officially inducted as a Sporting Legend in a pre-match ceremony before Sporting Kansas City hosts the Colorado Rapids on June 23 at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are now available at SeatGeek.com.
Nielsen, who famously captained Sporting to the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and 2013 MLS Cup titles, is the 11th club icon to join Sporting Legends, an initiative launched in 2013 that pays tribute to all-time greats while providing a platform for inductees to engage with the Kansas City community. Nielsen was selected through an online ballot of write-in votes submitted by fans.
