"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. Comeback Draw
Daniel Salloi bagged his fourth goal of the season as Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17 points) came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Austin FC (2-4-2, 8 points) in an enthralling encounter on Saturday afternoon at sun-drenched Children’s Mercy Park.
The 150th MLS sellout in stadium history saw Austin FC take a 1-0 lead in the first half through Cecilio Dominguez, but Sporting’s stranglehold on proceedings was rewarded in the 71st minute when Salloi cashed in on one of 32 shot attempts for the hosts, who pushed their unbeaten run to four games. Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver made a career-high nine saves but was unable to prevent Sporting from extending their regular season home scoring streak to 20 matches, which ties a club record first set from 2011-2012.
2. Trip to Portland
A point out of first place in the Supporters' Shield standings, Sporting will now prepare for a challenging road trip to the Portland Timbers (3-4-0, 9 points) on Saturday night at Providence Park with kickoff set for 9:30 p.m. CT.
Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Midwest will provide three hours of live television coverage on Saturday beginning at 9 p.m. CT. Supporters can also stream the contest on BallySports.com or the Bally Sports app, while the Sporting KC app will provide additional in-game updates. The game will also air live locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately following on 810 WHB.
3. Pulido Starts for Mexico
Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido earned his 16th cap for the Mexico Men's National Team on Saturday night, starting and playing 69 minutes in a 0-0 friendly draw against Honduras at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game was played with 70,072 fans in attendance, the largest soccer crowd in the world since early 2020.
Pulido's start was his first for Mexico since Nov. 16, 2018, and concluded a two-week stint in which the 30-year-old forward helped El Tri to a second-place finish in the inaugural Concacaf Nations League in Denver. He will now rejoin Sporting ahead of Saturday's match in Portland.
4. Kinda Starts for Israel
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gadi Kinda earned his first career start for the Israeli Men's National Team on Wednesday, playing 62 minutes in a 4-0 friendly loss to European powerhouse Portugal at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal. He will now rejoin Sporting ahead of Saturday's match in Portland.
Kinda went head-to-head for over an hour against a star-studded Portuguese side that used a brace from Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes and additional goals from world superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester City wing back Joao Cancelo to secure the victory.
5. Two Ticket Packages
Kansas City soccer fans can enjoy a double feature on June 23 and 26 when Sporting Kansas City and Kansas City NWSL host home matches at Children's Mercy Park and nearby Legends Field, respectively.
On June 23, Kansas City NWSL will host the Orlando Pride in a 1 p.m. CT kickoff before Sporting welcomes the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT. Three days later, Sporting will host LAFC at 4:30 p.m. CT and KC NWSL will welcome the Washington Spirit at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Ticket packages for both doubleheaders are now available at SeatGeek.com at the links below.
6. MLS vs. LIGA MX
After a year of building anticipation, Major League Soccer announced last week that the 2021 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target will see the MLS All-Stars face off against the LIGA MX All-Stars on Wednesday, Aug. 25, at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. For the first time ever, two rival leagues will go head-to-head in an unprecedented matchup that will be the showpiece event of the summer, as the entire soccer community unites to celebrate the sport and soccer culture in North America.
The match on Aug. 25 will be broadcast in the U.S. on FS1 and Univision, in Canada on TSN and TVA Sports, on ESPN throughout Mexico and Latin America, and in more than 190 countries and territories around the world.
7. Two on Tap for SKC II
Led by head coach Paulo Nagamura, Sporting Kansas City II (1-3-4, 7 points) will play for a fourth straight result at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday when they visit FC Tulsa (3-3-0, 9 points) at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. Sporting KC II will then return home for a showdown with Indy Eleven (3-3-1, 10 points) at 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Children's Mercy Park. Both USL Championship matches will stream live on ESPN Plus.
8. Finding Nemo on Father's Day
Sporting Club Special Events and Children's Mercy Park will celebrate Father's Day on Sunday with a free showing of the classic family film "Finding Nemo" at 12 p.m. CT. Fans can secure their free tickets at SeatGeek.com and click here for more information.
