For the Glory KC Podcast

For the Glory KC is back with the 136th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City have lost back-to-back games for the first time in the Kerry Zavagnin era. While results haven't been perfect, it's a testament to how much better this team is. Against FC Dallas, it felt like an opportunity to avoid this very result as Dallas entered the game on a six-game winless streak. And it really felt like Sporting KC were the better side on the night.

At least until things went off the rails. Referee Sergii Demianchuk had an outsized impact on the game. Sheena and I get into the dicey officiating on the night and if we thought the right calls were made. A lot was made of the Khiry Shelton red card, but that may have actually been one of the more accurate calls. The first yellow, who knows based on the broadcast. But the second, Khiry cannot make that challenge. There was a lot of poor calls though, and a lot of bad replay work.

Sheena also made it out to Children's Mercy Park for the first time in 2025 and she brought some newbies. Sheena gives her breakdown on the atmosphere and the view from the South Stand.

We also round-up a bunch of SKC stories, including Zorhan Bassong going back on national team duty, updates on Gianluca Busio, Benny Feilhaber, Johnny Russell and more.

The KC Current won their fifth straight and their 10th of the season on the back of three goals in the first 19 minutes that would prove too much for Racing Louisville to overcome. We also update what we know on Lo LaBonta's injury and the final results of HB Koge's season in the Danish league.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:

• A new soccer facility in KC
• The NWSL Final gets a location
• USMNT results

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC lose a controversial game against FC Dallas - 4:51
• SKC Round-up - 42:00
• KC Current win and a Lo update - 53:13
• Digital Crawl - 1:04:44

Upcoming Games

• USMNT vs. Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 19th at 8:15PM CDT
• KC Current vs. Angel City FC, Friday, June 20th at 7:00PM
• USMNT vs. Haiti, Sunday, June 22nd at 6:00PM
• SKC have the weekend off but play twice the next week

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 135th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City came back down to earth this week with a tough loss against Los Angeles Football Club on the road. Things looked bright early when Dejan Joveljic scored his 10th goal of the season off a Manu Garcia assist. But the lead didn't even last until halftime.

Calamitous set piece defending led to a 1-1 halftime score and the capper on a bad game for Memo Rodriguez led to the game winning penalty kick for Denis Bouanga.

Speaking of Bouanga, despite him having a goal and an assist, Jansen Miller seemed to be in his head. Maybe Bouanga gets the last laugh, but all the victimizing Denis did came at the expense of others, not Miller. Jansen more than held his own against one of the elite players in Major League Soccer. It's wild to say Miller (and frankly Pulskamp again) had good games when three goals went in. But they really did. And the joy Miller clearly gets from hounding attackers was all over his face.

Sheena and I also discussed lots of other topics including: the return of Jake Davis from injury, the return of Stephen Afrifa from the bench, Khiry Shelton's ever-changing hair color, a bloody Shapi Suleymanov, who the heck was the captain after Daniel Salloi subbed off and many other topics from the SKC/LAFC game.

Before we got to the winning KC team, we also had to talk about the big news that Benny Feilhaber has landed a job with the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship. It's a short-term deal. Is it so he can make sure he's available for the Sporting KC job?

The KC Current went out and crushed it again, this time winning on the road against the newly crowned CONCACAF W Champions, NJ/NY Gotham. Michelle Cooper and Temwa Chawinga scored early, but it was the VAR that may have come to their rescue late. The officials seemed to get most things right when overturning Gotham goals, but that Esther goal is a little dicey to change.

We also discussed a really good interview Forbes did with Chris and Angie Long along with the new 2,000 seat stadium the KC Current are building at their Riverside complex.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:

• More SKC II woes
• USWNT/USMNT results
• The Chicago Fire privately funding a new stadium

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC come back to Earth in LA - 7:28
• Benny gets a job and more in the SKC roundup - 41:25
• KC Current get a big road win (again) - 49:25
• Another KC women’s soccer stadium and more in the Current roundup - 55:39
• Digital Crawl - 1:09:46

Upcoming Games

• USMNT vs. Switzerland - Tuesday, June 10th at 7:00PM CDT
• KC Current vs Racing Louisville, Saturday, June 14th at 6:30PM
• Sporting KC vs. FC Dallas, Saturday, June 14th at 7:30PM
• SKC II have 3 weeks off

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 134th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City went on the road and picked up a massive three points in a statistically defiant weekend. It was their first win in Houston since October 3, 2020. They had been 0-3-3 in their prior six visits in all competitions. The victory also broke a 19-game winless streak when they gave up the first goal in a game. Adding to all of that, Kerry Zavagnin has now been in charge for 10 games and has led his team to an appropriate 4-3-3 record. KZ is now responsible for 15 of the team's 16 points in 2025 and Sporting KC find themselves just four points south of a playoff spot.

A big part of this successful run under Zavagnin is the emergence of John Pulskamp as a quality starter in Major League Soccer. Despite getting beat by another goal of the week candidate, he absolutely stood on his head for stretches of the game against the Houston Dynamo. He actually had a career high eight saves, including perhaps the save of the night when he shut down Griffin Dorsey one on one.

Going into the season, it felt like a big risk to have three very young goalkeepers. There had been an expectation all offseason that a veteran goalkeeper would be added to a group that was 23, 22 and 17-years-of-age coming into the season. And it is not as if there haven't been growing pains. Sporting KC have allowed 28 goals in league play, but by no means has the defense helped out Pulskamp for large stretches. Personally, it feels like John has saved many shots he shouldn't save, which is supported by him being in the 95th percentile of post-shot expected goals per shot on target. Elite numbers.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Sheena and I discuss the comeback by SKC, including a brace from Dejan Joveljic, Santiago Munoz's first goal with Sporting KC, Zorhan Bassong's delightful free kick and header, both of which led to goals and many other moments from the game.

However, even with the win, I can't help but bring up the terrible officiating from referee Jair Marrufo. He has a dicey history refereeing Sporting KC games and that didn't change on Saturday. He had numerous questionable calls, which I break down. Perhaps the biggest questionable moment was a miss by Marrufo and the VAR when a handball went uncalled in the box. It wasn't as egregious as the error that may have eliminated SKC from the 2023 playoffs (also against Houston), but it seemed to be a clear handball. The lack of camera angles is an indictment on MLS too.

The KC Current made plenty of news. Chris and Angie Long bought their second soccer team when the club announced the purchase of HB Køge Women in Denmark.

Lo LaBonta also made her debut with the US Women's National Team, Michelle Cooper started that same game and added an assist and Mary Long and Katie Scott scored for the US U-20 women to qualify for the U-20 Women's World Cup.

In another big move, the KC Current announced the Teal Rising Cup.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:

• St. Louis City fired their coach
• US U-20 Men's World Cup Draw and learning about New Caledonia
• Mexico to co-host 2031 Women's World Cup

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC win big on the road - 7:09
• SKC Round-up - 39:30
• KC Current have a big bye week - 47:02
• Digital Crawl - 58:32

Upcoming Games

• USWNT vs. Jamaica, Tuesday, June 3rd at 7:00PM CDT
• KC Current at NJ/NY Gotham, Saturday, June 7th at 12:00PM
• SKC II at Houston Dynamo 2, Saturday, June 7th at 7:00PM
• Sporting KC at LAFC, Sunday, June 8th at 8:00PM

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 133rd episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City had a very heavy week. After the unexpected passing of former teammate Gadi Kinda, the team had to try to find a way to host the New England Revolution. It looked grim early as the team fell down 2-0 before staging a wild eight minutes in the second half where they scored three times to take the lead.

Ultimately, the Revs stole a goal late to tie it, but the outburst of goals was the loudest I can remember hearing Children's Mercy Park in a very long time.

Sheena and I break down key moments from the game from Daniel Salloi's standout performance to Zorhan Bassong lighting a spark in the midfield.

Coursing through everything was the weight of Kinda's passing. From the pre-game warm-up tops to the "Gadi" armbands, video memorials, on field tributes and everything in between, his presence was felt in the stadium.

We also got an injury update on Jake Davis, who popped back onto the injury report and showed up in a boot on Saturday. Don't worry, he said he doesn't even need it, so it's likely just a precaution.

The KC Current continued their winning ways on Saturday night. They went to Illinois and dispatched the Chicago Stars 3-1 behind goals from Bia, Temwa Chawinga and Kayla Sharples. We also had to work through the news of the devastating injuries to Alana Cook and Debinha as well as the unbelievably positive news of Lo LaBonta's first call-up by the USWNT.

The podcast also got off the rails more than usual. Did you ever want to know when boxed mac and cheese was invented? Well, we've got you covered for some reason.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:

• Bassong called up
• SKC II lose again
• Venezia relegated, is Busio available?

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC have a wild comeback - 10:52
• Gadi Kinda - 50:15
• KC Current win again! - 1:00:09
• Kansas City Current Injuries and Lo's Call-up! - 1:06:53
• Digital Crawl - 1:16:45

Upcoming Games

• USWNT vs. China, Saturday, May 31st at 4:30PM CDT
• Sporting KC at Houston Dynamo, Saturday, May 31st at 7:30PM
• SKC II vs. Colorado Rapids II, Sunday, June 1st at 12:00PM
• KC Current have a bye (International Break)

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 132nd episode of the show after an unexpected week off. 

Sporting Kansas City had a very busy week loaded with (frankly, ridiculous) travel. After nearly 5,000 miles, they picked up two hard fought points against St. Louis City SC and San Diego FC. The draw against their cross-state rivals definitely felt like a victory as they snatched the point from the jaws of defeat. The San Diego game was more of a slog, as though a team had travelled a ton, heavily rotated their lineup, missed one of their two Designated Players and were playing a superior opponent at home. Despite that, they still earned a draw.

Sheena returns after a brief hiatus, and we work our way through both of those games as well as a brief mention of the 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers from last week we didn't get to cover.

The theme of the three games was definitely defense, villains and goalkeeping. All three get high marks as Shapi Suleymanov and Jansen Miller tortured the St. Louis fans. Pulskamp also stood on his head across all three games. And Robert Voloder may have cemented himself as the starter next to Miller at center back, with a revolving door of fullbacks playing next to them.

Since our last episode, MLS also released roster compositions for all 30 MLS teams. Sporting KC have no surprises with two open international spots and the ability to add a Designated Player along with a U-22 Initiative player, or two U-22 signings. To aid in that addition this summer is $1,928,679 in General Allocation Money (GAM), of which at least $500,000 is burning a hole in their pocket and has to be spent. 

Also, we get into the movement of the LAFC/SKC game from a crowded week to an international break weekend.

The KC Current got back to their winning ways with us taking the last week off. They beat Bay FC 4-1 before heading on the road to take out the Orlando Pride 1-0. The biggest questions coming off the victory that further cemented their first-place status is, at what cost did it come? Alana Cook, Debinha and Temwa Chawinga all left the game injured.

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few more topics, including:

• SKC II slightly improving on their struggles
• Former SKC player updates on CJ Sapong, Kei Kamara and Gianluca Busio
• Greg Vanney gets his contract extended after the worst start to a season in MLS history

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• A Hard Fought SKC Point against San Diego - 6:36
• Sporting KC’s big comeback vs St. Louis - 18:41
• A quick look at SKC vs. Portland - 48:10
• Sporting KC have room to spend - 52:17
• KC Current slip by Orlando and crush Bay FC - 1:06:28
• Digital Crawl - 1:14:33

Upcoming Games

• SKC II vs. LAFC2, Friday, May 23rd at 6:00PM CDT 
• KC Current vs. Chicago Stars, Saturday, May 24th at 6:30PM
• Sporting KC vs New England Revolution, Saturday, May 24th at 7:30PM

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.