The 2012 Sporting Kansas City season was the seventeenth season of the team's existence in Major League Soccer and the second year played under the Sporting Kansas City moniker.
Overview
Preseason
Late 2011 Preparations for the 2012 Major League Soccer season began only a day after the 2011 MLS Cup. On November 21, 2011, Ryan Smith was traded to Chivas USA for 1st and 3rd round draft picks in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft. Later the same day, all MLS teams were required to submit a list of 11 protected players for the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft to be held for the newly formed Montreal Impact. The club chose to protect Davy Arnaud, Matt Besler, Teal Bunbury, Aurélien Collin, Roger Espinoza, Kei Kamara, Chance Myers, Jimmy Nielsen, Júlio César, C. J. Sapong, and Graham Zusi.
During the expansion draft on November 23, the Montreal Impact selected unprotected Sporting leftback Seth Sinovic. Later the same day, Sporting KC waived Scott Lorenz, Miloš Stojčev, Craig Rocastle, and Jéferson. The following Monday (November 28), Sporting traded team captain Davy Arnaud to the Montreal Impact for Sinovic and allocation money. The club also announced that starting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen signed a contract extension through the 2013 season, with an option for the 2014 season. On November 29, Sporting KC acquired Paulo Nagamura from Chivas USA for the 1st round supplemental draft pick that was part of the November 21 Ryan Smith trade.
In December, Sporting traded an international roster slot to the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for two-time MLS All-Star and World Cup veteran winger Bobby Convey. Later in December, Sporting and Mexican club Cruz Azul agreed to a deal that would see Omar Bravo return to his home country.
Early 2012 Sporting Kansas City resumed its off-season transactions at the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft. Generation adidas forward Dom Dwyer of South Florida was selected 16th overall in the SuperDraft, and he was joined by defender Cyprian Hedrick of Coastal Carolina in the second round. Between the two drafts, Sporting acquired the rights to local product Michael Thomas from the Earthquakes in exchange for a fourth-round supplemental pick. Thomas officially signed on January 18. On January 17, Sporting selected Shawn Singh, Pablo Punyed, Stefan Antonijevic, and Kyle Miller in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft. On January 19, yet another trade with the Earthquakes saw the acquisition of forward Jacob Peterson. On February 22, defender Daneil Cyrus was waived.
Squad
First team roster As of December 12, 2012.
No.PositionNationPlayer
Formation
Player movement
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef November 28, 2011 Seth Sinovic DF Montreal Impact Acquired with allocation money for Davy Arnaud November 29, 2011 Paulo Nagamura MF Chivas USA Acquired for a first-round 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft pick December 2, 2011 Bobby Convey MF San Jose Earthquakes Acquired for a 2012 international roster slot January 12, 2012 Dom Dwyer FW University of South Florida Superdraft, 1st Round January 18, 2012 Michael Thomas MF Ljungskile SK Signed after MLS rights acquired from San Jose Earthquakes for a fourth-round 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft pick January 20, 2012 Jacob Peterson FW San Jose Earthquakes Free February 21, 2012 Cyprian Hedrick DF Coastal Carolina University Superdraft, 2nd Round March 19, 2012 Shawn Singh DF UCLA Supplemental Draft, 1st Round May 30, 2012 Kyle Miller DF Rockhurst University Supplemental Draft, 3rd Round July 6, 2012 Neven Marković DF Doxa Drama F.C. Undisclosed July 24, 2012 Scott Angevine GK Coastal Carolina University Free August 2, 2012 Oriol Rosell MF Barcelona B Undisclosed
Out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef November 21, 2011 Ryan Smith MF Chivas USA Trade November 23, 2011 Seth Sinovic DF Montreal Impact Expansion Draft November 23, 2011 Scott Lorenz DF Fort Lauderdale Strikers Waived November 23, 2011 Jéferson MF Esporte Clube Bahia Waived November 23, 2011 Craig Rocastle MF Thrasyvoulos F.C. Waived November 23, 2011 Miloš Stojčev DF FC Akzhayik Waived November 28, 2011 Davy Arnaud MF Montreal Impact Trade December 12, 2011 Omar Bravo FW Cruz Azul Free February 22, 2012 Daneil Cyrus DF W Connection Waived March 26, 2012 Birahim Diop FW None Waived June 29, 2012 Luke Sassano MF Carolina RailHawks Waived July 6, 2012 Shawn Singh DF None Waived
Loans
In DatePlayerPositionLoaned fromFee/notesRef
Out DatePlayerPositionLoaned toFee/notesRef August 28, 2012 Konrad Warzycha MF Carolina RailHawks Recalled back to Sporting KC on September 12, 2012
Major League Soccer
League table
Eastern Conference standings
Results summary
Match results
Preseason
2012 Disney Pro Soccer Classic
Exhibition Matches
Regular season
MLS Cup Playoffs
Houston Dynamo won 2–1 on aggregate
U.S. Open Cup
Friendly Matches
Recognition
AT&T Goal of the Week WeekPlayerWeek 12 C. J. SapongWeeks 13–15 Júlio César
MLS Save of the Week WeekPlayerWeek 7 Jimmy NielsenWeeks 13–15 Jimmy NielsenWeek 18 Jimmy NielsenWeek 19 Jimmy NielsenWeek 31 Jimmy NielsenWeek 32 Jimmy Nielsen
MLS All-Stars 2012 PositionPlayerNoteDF Aurélien Collin First XIGK Jimmy Nielsen First XIMF Graham Zusi First XI
2012 Team Awards Player(s)Award Jimmy Nielsen Graham Zusi Sporting Kansas City 2012 Most Valuable Players Kei Kamara Sporting Kansas City 2012 Offensive Player of the Year Matt Besler Sporting Kansas City 2012 Defensive Player of the Year Kei Kamara Sporting Kansas City 2012 Humanitarian of the Year Paul Dean 2012 Bob Gansler Award (Most Outstanding Academy Player) Kei Kamara Sporting Kansas City 2012 Budweiser Golden Boot
Miscellany
Allocation ranking Sporting Kansas City is in the #14 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.2011 MLS Roster Rules Major League Soccer
International roster slots Sporting Kansas City has 7 MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots. Sporting Kansas City traded one slot to San Jose Earthquakes for the 2012 season only.
Future draft pick trades Future picks acquired: * 2013 MLS SuperDraft Round 2 pick acquired from New York Red Bulls. Future picks traded: None.
MLS rights to other players It is believed that Sporting maintains the MLS rights to Herculez Gomez after the player declined a contract offer by the club and instead signed with a non-MLS side on a free transfer.
Notes