Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club would be hosting the third round of the US Open Cup at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on May 29th against either the KC Athletics or Orlando City SC. Both of SKC's potential opponents have Kansas City connections. It's easy to draw the line between the Athletics and KC while Sporting KC center back Lawrence Olum was a former player of Orlando City. Lawrence won the USL Pro with the club in 2011 grouping him with a select few of current Sporting KC players to have ever won any form of silverware.

Sporting KC will know who they face in the third round following the game played on May 22nd when the Athletics take on Orlando City. The Athletics are one of only 3 USASA teams left in the tournament after two rounds while Orlando City have yet to play a game in the US Open Cup.

It will cost Sporting KC a fee of $12,000 to host the third round. Added on top of that, SKC will have to pay the US Soccer Federation 15% of ticket sales following the $100,000 mark. So if tickets sell for $15 dollars a piece(just speculating here) it would take well over 6,500 people for the USSF to make a profit of more than $12,000 and since I doubt that many people will show up, Sporting KC are the only organization that will profit from the ticket soles.

No, seriously panic. We're going to play a 3-6-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Klinsmann Announces First 16 Players to Report to Training Camp in Orlando - U.S. Soccer
INITIAL U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION - Detailed Roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (4): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)

FORWARDS (1): Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

More serious commentary after the jump.

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Immediately following the full time whistle after Sporting KC's 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire over the weekend SKC's head coach Peter Vermes made several controversial comments about the debuting MLS referee Jose Carlos Rivero on KSMO's post-game show. Not only did Vermes not even attempt to side-step directly accusing the referee for the loss - but blamed the referee of "changing the game" and that he had "been part of the show".

A red card to Roger Espinoza and a penalty kick following a miss-timed tackle from Aurelien Collin is what spurned these comments. It's tough to say the penalty kick wasn't deserved but at first glance the red card to Roger didn't really appear to be much.

It's easy to underestand Vermes' frustration, especially from a fan's perspective. It was the third loss in a row for Sporting following what had been a record breaking start to the campaign. One could argue the calls made by the referee had directly impacted the results of two of those three games and Vermes was surely starting to feel the pressure of a season starting to turn southward.

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As adamant as the Chicago Fire fans are that there is no bad blood between the two Midwestern clubs, the loss tonight seemed to point in a different direction. The two things that led to the defeat - a red card and a penalty kick both given in the way of Chicago Fire's favor - not only enraged the 400+ away KC supporters and the tens of thousands watching back at home, but it also infuriated Peter Vermes, who could face legal action from the league in response to his comments on KSMO's post game show about the referee's 'controversial' calls, which in all fairness, looked to be the correct decisions.

Surely Peter Vermes couldn't blame the entire match on two single plays could he? The second goal was almost completely Kei Kamara's fault while at parts of the second half Sporting KC struggled to create offensively. A lack of fresh ideas and a silly mistake in SKC's own box were the perfect mixture to defeat a side that looked to be the Supporter's Shield favorites just a few short weeks ago.

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Sporting Kansas City

7-2-0, 21 pts, 1st in the Eastern Conference

vs.

Chicago Fire

3-2-3, 12 pts, 4th in the Eastern Conference

SKC Recap:

Two losses in a row now for Sporting KC as they take to the road to face the "rival" Chicago Fire. The 2-0 defeat at the hands of the expansion Montreal Impact was the shocker of the early season, and most importantly the team is looking to get back on the scoreboard as they haven't scored in the past 205 minutes, or more if you include extra time.

Extended Preview by The Daily Wiz

Chicago recap:

A mid-week draw with Real Salt Lake after a stoppage time win against Chivas USA were enough to move the Fire into fourth in the Eastern Conference with games in hand against the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place clubs.

With Sporting Kansas City doing so well in the league, and especially in the Eastern Conference, there hasn't been much room for squad rotation. Coupled with a stellar defense, one of the keys to Sporting KC's relatively great early success has actually come down to their extreme consistency in who they field on match day.

In fact, only 14 players have ever started a game for Sporting Kansas City in 2012 and only 17 have ever appeared in an MLS fixture. Sporting KC has a 28 man squad, meaning 11 players have never recorded a minute in league play while only one player, Eric Kronberg, hasn't recorded a minute in a either a reserve or league game.

While some of the younger players may be content with their roles in the team as they attempt to get their feet on the ground, others who have been with the club for a while will be itching to get playing time on the field, whether it's at Sporting Kansas City, or somewhere else.

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See how clever I am. I start with the goalkeepers and then move to our most obvious position of depth next. Next I'll tell you that Clint Dempsey should be starting as our number 10. Seriously, if we are having right back problem anytime before 2018, I'll be surprised.

1. Steve Cherundolo, 33, Hannover 96 (German Bundesliga), 35 in 2014

There have been some signs lately that his skills are declining. Whereas he was the captain at Hannover, he has been relegated to the bench at several times during the past season. The problem with age and fullbacks is that most teams don't put crafty wingers on the field to oppose you they put out Theo Walcotts that push forward with speed and little else. Luckily, he will never have to face anyone as good as Gareth Bale, since he's a Welshman but eventually age and competition will see him supplanted. Just not yet.

2 Eric Lichaj, 23, Aston Villa (EPL), 25

Speaking of Gareth Bale, guess who shut him down during that all world spell he went on last year (memorably when he just embarrassed Maicon in the Champion's League)? If you guessed Eric Lichaj, you probably watch too much American soccer or realized that his name is listed above here and I'm writing in ridiculous formats these days. If he ever stays healthy, (this will be a familiar refrain for American EPL players throughout this series) he is our second best right back ahead of Timmy Chandler. Do I suppose there could be a time where Chandler is better on the right? Yes, but as you will see there may be two openings on the field for these players.

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