2020 Sporting Kansas City season explained

The 2020 Sporting Kansas City season was the twenty-fifth season of the team's existence in Major League Soccer and the tenth year played under the Sporting Kansas City moniker. The season was suspended on March 12, for 30 days, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] Following that decision, on March 19 Major League Soccer extended its temporary suspension until May 10.^[2] Following that decision, on April 17 Major League Soccer extended its temporary suspension until June 8.^[3]

Summary

Preseason

Sporting will spend the whole of its pre-season training camp in Scottsdale, Arizona for the sixth straight year, led by Coach and Sporting Director Peter Vermes. From January 19 to Feb 1 and from Feb. 8–22 the club will practice in Scottsdale before kicking off its 25th season in Major League Soccer on Feb 29 or March 1.^[4]

Roster

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Player movement

In

Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.

Date	Player	Position	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref
November 26, 2019	Richard Sánchez	GK	Chicago Fire FC	2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft	[6]
December 4, 2019	Roberto Punčec	DF	Rijeka	Undisclosed	[7]
December 9, 2019	Khiry Shelton	FW	SC Paderborn 07	Undisclosed	[8]
December 10, 2019	Alan Pulido	FW	C.D. Guadalajara	Undisclosed	[9]
January 10, 2020	Amadou Dia	DF	Phoenix Rising FC	Signed for 2020 season with contract options through 2022	[10]
February 24, 2020	John Pulskamp	GK	Sporting Kansas City II	Promotion to first team	[11]

Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of 2020 MLS SuperDraft will be listed in the notes.

Round	Pick Number	Player	Position	School
3	58	Jaret Townsend	align=center	MF	University of Washington
4	84	James Kasak	align=center	FW	Virginia Tech

Out

Date	Player	Position	Destination club	Notes	Ref
November 19, 2019	Jimmy Medranda	MF	Nashville SC	Selected in 2019 MLS Expansion Draft	[12]
November 19, 2019	Adrian Zendejas	GK	Nashville SC	Traded for $125,000 in 2020 TAM and $50,000 in 2020 GAM
November 21, 2019	Seth Sinovic	DF	New England Revolution	Option Declined	[13]
November 21, 2019	Benny Feilhaber	MF	Retired	Option Declined
November 21, 2019	Gedion Zelalem	MF	New York City FC	Option Declined
November 21, 2019	Krisztián Németh	FW	DAC Dunajská Streda	Option Declined
November 21, 2019	Nicolas Hasler	DF	FC Thun	Option Declined
November 21, 2019	Rodney Wallace	DF	Retired	Option Declined

Loans

Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.

In

Date	Player	Position	Loaned from	Notes	Ref
January 23, 2020		MF	Beitar Jerusalem F.C.	One-year loan using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), with an option to exercise a permanent transfer at the end of 2020	[14]
February 14, 2020		DF	West Ham United F.C.	One-year loan	[15]

Out

Competitions

Preseason

Kickoff times are in CST (UTC-06) unless shown otherwise

Preseason schedule announced on January 14, 2020.^[17]

Visit Tucson Sun Cup

See main article: Visit Tucson Sun Cup.

MLS is Back Tournament

See also: 2020 MLS is Back Tournament.

Group stage

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Knockout stage

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Regular season

See main article: 2020 Major League Soccer season.

Kickoff times are in CDT (UTC-06) unless shown otherwise

MLS Cup Playoffs

See main article: 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Standings

Overall table

Results by round

Player statistics

Squad appearances and goals

Last updated on September 23, 2020.|-! colspan="14" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"|Goalkeepers

|-! colspan="14" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"|Defenders

|-! colspan="14" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"|Midfielders

|-! colspan="14" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"|Forwards|-! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players who have made an appearance or had a squad number this season but have left the club|-|}

0+1 means player did came on as a sub once. 1+1 means player started once and came on as a sub once.

The group stage matches of the MLS is Back Tournament count as regular season matches and data will be listed under Regular Season.

Top scorers

Number	Position	Name					Total
7	FW	Johnny Russell	6	0	0	0	6
17	MF	Gadi Kinda	4	0	0	0	4
11	FW	Khiry Shelton	4	0	0	0	4
9	FW	Alan Pulido	3	1	0	0	4
19	FW	Erik Hurtado	2	0	0	0	2
15	MF	Roger Espinoza	1	0	0	0	1
8	DF	Graham Zusi	1	0	0	0	1
12	FW	Gerso	1	0	0	0	1
27	MF	Gianluca Busio	1	0	0	0	1
N/A	N/A	Own Goal	1	0	0	0	1
Total			23	1	0	0	24

As of September 23, 2020

Disciplinary record

Number	Position	Name	MLS			MLS is Back			Playoffs			Total
17	MF	Gadi Kinda	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
6	MF	Ilie	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
11	FW	Khiry Shelton	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	Roger Espinoza	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Alan Pulido	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
27	MF	Gianluca Busio	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
16	DF	Graham Smith	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
12	FW	Gerso	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	Cameron Duke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
4	DF	Roberto Punčec	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Johnny Russell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	GK	Tim Melia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Matt Besler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS			2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

As of March 1, 2021

Injury record

Notes and References

1. Web site: MLS suspends 2020 season for 30 days due to coronavirus. mlssoccer.com. March 12, 2020. March 12, 2020. March 13, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200313011509/https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/03/12/major-league-soccer-suspends-season-30-days-impact-coronavirus. dead.
2. Web site: MLS extends season suspension in accordance with CDC guidance on COVID-19. mlssoccer.com. March 19, 2020.
3. MLS_PR. 1251181017676668928 . April 17, 2020 . MLS Statement on April 17, 2020.
4. News: Kovzan . Sam . February 28, 2019 . Sporting KC announces roster moves ahead of 2020 MLS season . Sporting Kansas City . November 21, 2019.
5. Web site: Sporting KC announces more jersey number updates as Felipe Gutierrez takes No. 10. January 28, 2020. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
6. Web site: Sporting KC selects goalkeeper Richard Sanchez in Stage 1 of 2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft . Sam. Kovzan. November 26, 2019. Sporting KC. en.
7. Web site: Sporting KC signs 28-year-old Croatian defender Roberto Puncec . Sam. Kovzan. December 4, 2019. Sporting KC. en.
8. Web site: Sporting KC signs 26-year-old forward Khiry Shelton . Sam. Kovzan. December 9, 2019. Sporting KC. en.
9. Web site: Sporting KC acquires Liga MX top-scoring striker Alan Pulido on club-record transfer fee from C.D. Guadalajara . Sam. Kovzan. December 10, 2019. Sportingkc.com. en.
10. Web site: Sporting signs 26-year-old defender Amadou Dia. Sam. Kovzan. January 10, 2020. Sportingkc.com. en.
11. Web site: Sporting KC signs 18-year-old goalkeeper John Pulskamp. Sam. Kovzan. February 24, 2020. Sportingkc.com. en.
12. Web site: Sporting KC acquires $175,000 in Allocation Money and international roster spot in trade with Nashville SC. November 19, 2019. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
13. Web site: Sporting KC announces roster moves ahead of 2020 MLS season. November 21, 2019. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
14. Web site: Sporting KC acquires 25-year-old Israeli central midfielder Gadi Kinda on loan from Beitar Jerusalem. January 23, 2020. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
15. Web site: Sporting KC acquires defender Winston Reid on loan from English Premier League club West Ham United. February 14, 2020. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
16. Web site: Sporting loans goalkeeper Eric Dick to USL Championship club Phoenix Rising FC. February 4, 2020. Sporting Kansas City. Sam. Kovzan.
17. Web site: Sporting KC announces full 2020 preseason schedule. Sam. Kovzan. January 14, 2020. Sporting KC. en.