Smith battling with a member of the Columbus Crew down in AZ.Some of this has been in the
blogosphere before, but Ryan Smith, Igor Kostrov and Craig Rocastle have all signed contracts with
the Wizards. Smith and Kostrov have all necessary paperwork and are immediately available for
selection in League play.
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It looks like the Wizards are definitely making a move to sign Indian national team player, Sunil
Chhetri. Word out of India today is that Chhetri's I-League club, Dempo SC has released the striker
so that he can make his move to MLS and the Kansas City Wizards. Chhetri will join what appears to
be a growing strike force for KC.
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Last night's intrasquad scrimmage finished 5-2 in favor of the white team. For highlights and
commentary from Peter Vermes and Josh Wolff, watch this video:
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Had a quick phone interview with Coach Vermes this morning.We discussed trialists Craig Rocastle
and Sunil Chhetri, they are still considering both of them...Ryan Smith deal is not officially
done, they are still working through some details around his citizenship with the league...Birahim
Diop is also still being considered.
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Lots of different bits of news out today from the Wizards. First, the Wizards have continued to
make over their roster as they have waived midfielder/defender, Lance Watson. Watson was a starter
for much of the last season, starting 19 games, mainly at right back. Late in the season, though,
Watson lost his place to Jonathan Leathers.
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The rumors that the Wizards had signed Moldovan midfielder Igor Kostrov have been around for almost
two weeks now. Today, the Star has word that Kostrov has officially signed a four year contract
with the team. Kostrov has been with the Wizards since the beginning of preseason. He's sat out the
last two preseason games with minor knocks, but is likely to compete for time anywhere in the
midfield.
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"We would have liked to have Claudio back in 2010, but unfortunately it became clear early in the
contract negotiations that we could not give him what he desired," Wizards manager Peter Vermes
said.
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photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
The U.S. national team currently has a long list of injuries its trying to deal with, but
Ricardo Clark is one name that can now be scratched off.
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When news dropped on Friday that Luis Gil was signing MLS, the initial question became: where
will he end up? And how will it affect his development?
The 16-year-old U.S. Youth International, who had reported interest from storied clubs like
Arsenal and Real Madrid, ended up being allocated to the Kansas City Wizards yesterday.
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When news dropped on Friday that Luis Gil was signing MLS, the initial question became: where
will he end up? And how will it affect his development?
The 16-year-old U.S. Youth International, who had reported interest from storied clubs like
Arsenal and Real Madrid, ended up being allocated to the Kansas City Wizards yesterday.
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You might have seen from various sources that we have won the special lottery for the rights to
Luis Gil. As Robb Heineman just said on Twitter, we would like to have a conversation with Gil, his
family and representation to see if he is interested in coming to Kansas City. As a 16-year-old
from the west coast, we understand the special considerations in his contract with MLS and his
initial desire to play closer to home with either Seattle Sounders FC or Real Salt Lake.
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MIKE JACOBS 21 February @ 10:24 PM EDT
The Kansas City Wizards needed a shake up and a change - they hadn't advanced into the MLS
Playoffs, and head coach Curt Onalfo was dismissed.
In came Peter Vermes - the former captain of the US National team, and the Wizards' technical
director and interm head coach.
Vermes was named the team's full-time head coach at the conclusion of the season, and has worked
hard on trying to change the culture within the locker room.
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That's the word out of Holland today. The Wizards are apparently after Ghanaian midfielder, Anthony
Obodai. From what I've been able to find, Obodai is a defensive midfielder. Obodai has been playing
his entire professional career in Holland after starting his career in his native Ghana. He's
appeared for the full Ghanaian national team as well as their youth teams.
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Today Thad from The Back Post has an interview with Peter Vermes that he's posted over on his blog.
Vermes talks about the next phase of preseason, as he calls it, the "team phase", likely working to
get all the new players integrated even more into the team and playing as one team. Thad brings up
all the trialists that the team has had in camp and Vermes says that some of them have impressed
some have not, some have signed, some they're still wanting to look at.
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The Back Post 17 February @ 07:25 PM EDT
Peter talks about the next phase of training (the Team phase), status of various players and the
effect of the CBA not being settled on putting together the team.
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The Back Post 14 February @ 02:21 AM EDT
I checked in with Peter Vermes after the preseason game with San Jose. The Wizards lost 1-0 on an
early (2nd minute) goal by Eduardo.Some highlights from the interview:Coach Vermes said the team
was "gassed". The team had been going through high volume of training the last two weeks and the
team was feeling the effects of it.
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Thanks for the service, Kevin. It appears that goalkeeper Kevin Hartman will not be
returning after three solid seasons in the net for the Wizards. Hartman started every MLS game over
the last three years since joining via trade from LA before the 2007 season, helping us reach the
playoffs in both '07 and '08.
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The Kansas City Star this morning has quotes from Peter Vermes that confirm my thoughts that I
posted last night about Kevin Hartman. According to the article from the Star, Vermes basically
said that Hartman no long figures in the team's plans. It sounds like a bitter ending for a keeper
that started every league game over his 3 years with the team, in all competitions, Hartman didn't
play in only 4 games (all Open Cup) over that time frame.
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We showed you yesterday a ping-pong battle between Peter Vermes and Octavio Zambrano from the other
evening. Now, we'd like your help in laying some audio over the track. Write a script for the
1-minute clip and email it to krogers@kcwizards.com. The winning script will be added to the clip
by voice-over guru Dave Borchardt and re-posted on YouTube.
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Word out of Denmark is that the Wizards have a new keeper, former Aalborg goal keeper, Jimmy
Nielsen. Nielsen is a 32 year old Danish keeper who spent most of his time with Aalborg, but has
most recently been with Vejle Boldklub of the Danish second division. According to the article, the
Wizards bought Nielsen from Vejle, which I personally doubt.
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Video guru Jake caught Manager Peter Vermes taking on Octavio Zambrano last night in ping pong. No
word on the winner, but both those guys look pretty good:
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Video guru Jake snagged Manager Peter Vermes for a quick talk about the process around our Phoenix
training camp.
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MLS Daily 28 January @ 11:50 AM EDT
Kansas City Wizards midfielder Roger Espinoza has reportedly had his request to be loaned to a team
in the Honduran league turned down by Wizards head coach and technical director Peter Vermes.
Espinoza had been pushing for a loan that would have allowed him to play in his home country in the
months leading up to the 2010 World Cup in hopes of improving his chances of making Honduras' squad
to South Africa.
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If Roger Espinoza is going to make the Honduran World Cup team, it appears he'll be doing it in a
Wizards uniform. Apparently after their game against the United States, Honduran coach, Reinaldo
Rueda that Espinoza was looking to secure a loan move to a team in the Honduran league to help
improve his chances of being selected.
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Escobar, 22, joins the Wizards from Colombian power Deportivo Cali. Before joining Cali in 2009,
Escobar played for rival team Deportivo Quindio in the Colombian first division for three and a
half years. Escobar, a central defender, was part of the famed Boca Juniors academy and the America
de Cali academy.
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Thomas Dooley's leadership during a crucial growth period for the US can never be
overstated
Last week, two of my all-time favorite US National team players, Thomas Dooley and Preki
Radosavljevic, were elected into the Nation Soccer Hall of Fame for the class of 2010. I often look
at these two players, especially Dooley, as players who helped the US transition into the modern
day model of international success for the US.
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The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas gave final approval on a deal to
build a new stadium for the Kansas City Wizards. The Wizards stadium is part of a larger $400+
million project developed by OnGoal and LANE4 Property Group. It will include world-class
tournament field complex with 18-24 fields for major youth sporting events and an office complex
for Cerner
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The Kansas Wizards received news late today that Stephane Auvray has received his P1 visa and will
be officially announced by the team soon.Auvray was born in Guadeloupe and has played for their
national team. He has been playing professionally in France since 1999'I talked with Peter Vermes
about Auvray a few days ago and here is what he had to say:A good youtube video of Auvray can be
found here
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
The 2010 MLS Draft will be remembered as the Philadelphia Union's first, and may be seen as the
expansion's best draft for a long time.
Between Philly's impressive haul, Chicago's surprisingly strong class and the New York Red Bulls
drafting of Tony "The Franchise" Tchani, these are just some of the stories to discuss coming out
of the draft.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
The 2010 MLS Draft will be remembered as the Philadelphia Union's first, and may be seen as the
expansion's best draft for a long time.
Between Philly's impressive haul, Chicago's surprisingly strong class and the New York Red Bulls
drafting of Tony "The Franchise" Tchani, these are just some of the stories to discuss coming out
of the draft.
Click to continue reading...
Preki accepting his 2003 MLS MVP award.
Props to Preki, our all-time leader in goals and assists, who played nine very successful seasons
for the Wizards. Preki won the MLS MVP award in both 1997 and 2003, becoming the only player in MLS
history to win MLS MVP twice. He helped Kansas City win the 2000 MLS Cup, 2000 Supporters' Shield
and 2004 Lamar Hunt U.
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kenn.com 15 January @ 04:42 PM EDT
Here's how the voting has gone for the National Soccer Hall of Fame for the last seven years
(all I have are the top tens - my man Jack Huckel, late of the Hall, may have the
complete lists, but whether he'll ever share them, I don't know). Those players who were elected
are in bold.
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The MLS draft ended a couple hours ago, and there are 5 new Wizards draftees, only one of those
players though is already signed to an MLS contract, the other 4 will be looking to earn contract
this coming preseason.
Let's start with some really good news to most Wizards fans. When ESPN opened their broadcast today
they mentioned that the Wizards were shopping Jimmy Conrad.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
The Kansas City Wizards took part in the pre-draft ritual of endless trade talk, but unlike
other teams, the Wizards wound up the subjects of one of the juicier rumors of MLS Draft Day 2010.
Various reports, including one on the ESPN broadcast of the MLS Draft, reported that the Wizards
were shopping around U.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
The Kansas City Wizards took part in the pre-draft ritual of endless trade talk, but unlike
other teams, the Wizards wound up the subjects of one of the juicier rumors of MLS Draft Day 2010.
Various reports, including one on the ESPN broadcast of the MLS Draft, reported that the Wizards
were shopping around U.
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Teal Bunbury shakes hands with assistant Octavio Zambrano as Alex Bunbury hugs Peter Vermes.
Kansas City selected forward Teal Bunbury with the 4th overall selection in the SuperDraft
Thursday, bringing the first son of an MLS player to the team his father played for from 1999-2000.
We've tracked down (Thanks Alex) some info on our newest attacker, including his player bio from
Akron, a feature story from Cleveland.
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For those that are not watching the draft on ESPN-2, they just announced that the Wizards have been
fielding calls about teams looking to acquire KC's captain, Jimmy Conrad. A little surprising here,
but with another new center back coming in and Conrad over 30 now the team could be looking to go
full rebuilding mode under Peter Vermes.
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About 10 minutes until the MLS Draft starts and the deals are already being made. Philadelphia has
grabbed a third pick inside the top 7 by grabbing the 6th pick from Dallas after acquiring the 7th
pick from DC last night.
The Wizards have the 4th, 20th, 36th, 41st, and 52nd picks. The pick everyone is talking about
right now is the number 4 pick.
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