The Kansas City Wizards 2 Generation Adidas players will be making their way over to South Africa with the rest of an MLS Generation Adidas team. Roger Espinoza and Chance Myers were both named to the team that will leave later this month for a 10 day tour of the World Cup hosting country. Espinoza and Myers will be competing in 3 games against Premier Soccer League reserve teams, including Ajax Cape Town and Orlando Pirates. Click to continue reading...

That was Honduran radio as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the USA-Costa Rica game. Had Costa Rica won, Honduras would have played Uruguay in a two-game playoff to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Costa Rica didn't win, as you know, and Honduras qualified to the upcoming "Mundial" automatically. Click to continue reading...

The U-17s shaking hands with the Wizards prior to today's match.
Scoring Summary:
KC – Roger Espinoza (unassisted) 32'
KC – Herculez Gomez (unassisted) 47'
KC – Kevin Souter (unassisted) 88'
(October 13, 2009) – The Kansas City Wizards topped the United States Under-17 Men's National Team 3-0 Tuesday night in rainy weather at Kansas City's Swope Park Training Center. Click to continue reading...

The Swope Park Rangers (the Wizards reserves) defeated the US Under 17 national team tonight out at the Swope Park training complex 3-0 on goals by Roger Espinoza, Herculez Gomez, and Kevin Souter. The Rangers dominated their younger opponents for much of the game, but the 17's still did well throughout, having their moments. Click to continue reading...

Or at least he loves weather people. Espinoza visited Channel 9 today to do a satellite interview with the BBC in advance of tomorrow's World Cup qualifier between the USA and Honduras. While he was there, Espinoza ran into Bryan Busby, Channel 9's weather guy. The two introduced themselves and chatted for a bit before posing for this picture. Click to continue reading...

While the rankings don't really mean all that much, it's nice to see the USA near the top of the FIFA World Rankings, isn't it? Victories in our two matches this weekend would help that climb continue, especially if France or Croatia falter in upcoming UEFA WC Qualifiers. See the full list at FIFA.com. Click to continue reading...

Roger Espinoza appeared in all of Honduras' games in the Gold Cup recently, but he did not get himself a spot on the Honduran's World Cup Qualifying roster for the upcoming qualifier against Costa Rica on August 12th. While some people may be a little surprised since Espinoza has been a staple at least in camp for most of this round of qualifying, it's not incredibly surprising. Click to continue reading...

Image by Victor Decolongon of Getty Images

And those words are: Should've taken three.

I can't remember the last time my frustration from a Los Angeles Galaxy performance was based on the fact that they clearly outplayed their opponent for an entire game, but could not deliver the death blow.

Click to continue reading...

USA and Mexico are set for another showdown in a Gold Cup final. The teams will play one another Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at Giants Stadium in New York, with the match broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel. We will be hosting watch parties at both area 810 Zone locations courtesy of Budweiser.
The United States defeated Honduras 2-0 last night on the strength of goals from Clarence Goodson and Kenny Cooper, both set up by Stuart Holden. Click to continue reading...

Tonight the United States advanced to the Gold Cup final, taking out Honduras for the second time in the tournament by a 2-0 score line. The US will now play the winner of Costa Rica-Mexico on Sunday. For the United States, Jimmy Conrad was out due to his concussion that he suffered in the quarterfinals. Click to continue reading...

Arnaud has impressed during his time with the National Team.
For the 3rd straight USA match during the Gold Cup, Wizards midfielder/forward Davy Arnaud is in the starting 11. In his first two starts, he has registered a goal (his 1st in international play) and an assist (his 1st in international play). Click to continue reading...

Wizards left winger Roger Espinoza will be available for Honduras tomorrow against the USA.
The United States and Honduras face off tomorrow at 6 p.m. CT in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match at Soldier Field in Chicago. The match will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, and the Wizards are hosting watch parties at both area 810 Zone locations courtesy of Budweiser. Click to continue reading...

Two of the three Wizards playing tonight in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup in Philadelphia had a good night tonight, but Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad did not. First, Wizards midfielder, Roger Espinoza once again got a start of Honduras as they faced off against Canada. Espinoza went 90 minutes as Honduras knocked off the Canadians 1-0. Click to continue reading...

After USA's amazing late-game tie against Haiti to win the group and Honduras' dominating 4-0 win over Grenada, Kansas City players presented themselves to the world quite well. Arnaud scored a beautiful opening goal with a great run and calm finish. Espinoza scored off a header and was named Miller Lite Man of the Match by media members. Click to continue reading...

This brilliant shot of Davy celebrating his first-ever international goal courtesy of NE team photog Keith Nordstrom. Don't hesitate to check out his excellent website http://www.nordstromphotography.com.
You all know about the goals and captaincy on Saturday night in the Gold Cup tripleheader. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards couldn't score last night in their game against the Revolution, but two Wizards players did score last night. Davy Arnaud scored the United States' first goal in their 2-2 draw with Haiti, receiving a pass from Stuart Holden that Arnaud put away to the Haitian goalkeeper's near post. Roger Espinoza also scored, scoring the second goal of the night for Honduras in their 4-0 win over Grenada. Click to continue reading...

Wizards midfielder, Roger Espinoza was the only Wizards player that dressed tonight for his national team as Espinoza's Honduran side played the United States. Espinoza once again started for Los Catrachos tonight, playing 70 minutes before being subbed out in the USA's 2-0 win. US Wizards' players, Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud did not dress for the game. Click to continue reading...

Espinoza, whose nickname is apparently Bruce Lee among Honduran media, is featured today by Diez.hn ahead of tonight's match against the USA and, potentially, two Wizards teammates. Espinoza talks in Spanish about Arnaud and Conrad and about the U.S. in general. The story goes on to detail how Carlos Pavon and Amado Guevara gave Espinoza the nickname "Bruce Lee. Click to continue reading...

Two of the three Wizards representatives at the CONCACAF Gold Cup appeared in their teams' first game tonight. Roger Espinoza started for Honduras in the first game of the night against Caribbean side, Haiti. Espinoza played 68 minutes before being subbed out as Los Catrachos won 1-0. Davy Arnaud also appeared tonight, in the late game, as the USA took care of business 4-0 against Grenada. Click to continue reading...

In the past 3 days, Roger Espinoza has played 210 minutes for the Wizards in all competitions. A big accomplishment at this level.
The first minutes in all competitions this season that Kevin Hartman has not played.
Claudio Lopez and Herculez Gomez are the only players that have appeared in all 18 games this season. Click to continue reading...

Arnaud and Conrad will be joining the U.S. National Team for the upcoming Gold Cup.
Reports from Honduras have told us that Espinoza will be on Los Catrachos' Gold Cup team. Today, U.S. Soccer announced that teammates Davy Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad will be joining Espinoza in the competition (and the same group). Click to continue reading...

In the sweltering heat of Saint Louis where the temperature on the field was near 100 degrees, the Wizards and Atlas ended in a scoreless draw, in a game that left alot to be desired for an international competition.

Due to "scheduling conflicts" Kansas City traveled to Saint Louis to open their Superliga first round in a game against Mexican First Division squad Atlas.

Click to continue reading...

Pointed out to me in the comments section of my post yesterday about the weekly press conference, it's been confirmed that Roger Espinoza will be missing more time for the Wizards as he's been called up by Honduras for the Gold Cup. Espinoza only recently returned to the team after being called up for the recent World Cup qualifiers. Click to continue reading...

Today was the weekly press conference for the Wizards at their Swope Park training facility. During the press conference, Coach Onalfo talked about the game against New England and the up coming SuperLiga games as well. Coach is planning to use his entire depth in the tournament and the team is definitely taking it seriously. Click to continue reading...

From past commentaries most everyone who actually reads what I write knows that I am not a fan of Wizards coach Curt Onalfo. Adding fuel to the fire was the pathetic display that team showed last Saturday in a 2-0 loss vs. a 10 man Columbus Crew. After last Saturday's performance, KC has 1 win in their last 7 games (2 of those non wins came against teams with 10 players for almost 1/3 of the game).

Click to continue reading...

Saturday night's game at the CAB was just that. Ugly. The Wizards showed little creativity, little effort and little of anything as they fell (and got swept for the season) by the Columbus Crew 2-0. Here is my recap and commentary.

The Game:
Columbus was missing 2 of their best players in Alejandro Moreno and Frankie Hejduk while KC was missing part time started Roger Espinoza.

Click to continue reading...

Columbus and KC battle it out this weekend at the CAB. KC is coming from giving up a tie vs. a 10 man Galaxy team while the Crew tied its away game vs. a 10 man Seattle team.

The big story this weekend, as the Crew try to sweep the season series, is if the Crew will be able to overcome the international absences of Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela), Duncan Oughton (New Zealand) and Frankie Hejduk (USNT) for this game at Community America Ballpark.

Click to continue reading...

The U.S. touched down earlier today in Costa Rica. Picture courtesy of the Men's National Team blog. For more pictures and information from all Men's National Team games, head there or to ussoccer.com.
As we mentioned last week, the U.S. Men's National Team has a busy week ahead of it. Wednesday night, the Red, White and Blue take on Costa Rica at Estadio Saprissa at 9 p. Click to continue reading...

You have to feel for Bruce Arena. He has taken over the mess that is the LA Galaxy, tried to bring on new blood while mixing in veterans to serve as teacher and it's these veterans that keep putting LA in a hole they have to dig themselves out of. Last Saturday night was no exception, when Greg Berhalter, the experienced LA defender let Claudio Lopez passed him and was forced to commit a foul that denied a goal scoring opportunity and earned him a red card.

Click to continue reading...

Wizards midfielder Roger Espinoza has already been named to the Honduran roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the US and El Salvador. Now Espinoza has been named to the preliminary roster for Honduras for this summer's Gold Cup. Espinoza is one of 30 players on the original roster. That number will be cut down to 20 for the Gold Cup. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday after the Wizards game against the Brass, Thad and I had a chance to interview this week's poll winner, Michael Kraus, and runner up, Roger Espinoza. Kraus talked about what he needs to do to get more playing time with the first team. He talked about his versatility and how that helps him on the field (he played right back against the Brass). Click to continue reading...

Roger was the second highest vote getter in the interview poll this week. He had been playing a half consistently lately for the Wizards and has been named to the Honduran National Team for their upcoming qualifiers.We asked Roger: To tell us about the training he has done with the Honduran National team Does he think he will get some playing time this in this roundHow he thinks Honduras will do Click to continue reading...

Now that one huge international contest has played out, we're on to the next set. Starting June 3, the next round of FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers will start as the U.S. men travel to face Costa Rica at Estadio Saprissa. The U.S. then hosts Roger Espinoza and Honduras June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Click to continue reading...

Roger Espinoza continues to be a part of Honduras' plans in their current World Cup Qualifying cycle, as he was once again called up by Reinaldo Rueda for Honduras' two up coming World Cup qualifiers against the United States and El Salvador on June 6th and 10th respectively. Espinoza has yet to appear for Honduras in a World Cup qualifier, but does currently have 3 caps and 1 goal for Los Catrachos. Click to continue reading...

It off to the West to meet the up and down Real Salt Lake who it seems expended all it's ammunition in a 6-0 defeat of New England in April and now is on a slide, having scored only 3 goals in 4 games. It's going to be a tough visit for the Wizards who have struggled to score and don't seem to have found consistency from the ever changing starting 11 that Curt Onalfo sends out.

Click to continue reading...