Kansas City Wizards 5 - 0 Arizona Sahuaros

Update: The team will be putting a post up later today but I was told that some of the information that I provided was incorrect.

The last goal was scored by Casian, not Pizzaro. Escobar is not there yet so he was not the one that got a red card. The unknown defender was not McKenzie, he has been waived.

Kansas City defeated the Arizona Sahuaros in the Wizards first preseason game. Kansas City played 3 full teams for 30 minutes each. The first team scored 4 goals and the third team added one as well.

Thanks to Dennis St. Lawrence for providing these details.

The goals were as follows:
6:00 – Wolff - Wizards played a short corner from Espinoza to Arnaud and
back to Espinoza who crossed it into Wolff who headed it in.
9:00 – Wolff – Zoltan sent a nice ball in the middle which Wolff one-timed
in.
10:00 – Zoltan – Fuzetti had a nice assist
16:00 – Fuzetti scored pounding a ball in from the back side.
77:00 – Pizzaro – diving header from the left side

Here were the line-ups for each thirty minutes:
GK – Crayton
Leathers, Conrad, Holbein, Harrington
Arnaud, trialist X, Fuzetti, Espinoza
Wolff, Zoltan

Zoltan looked really good, and Wolff was finishing. There were
several bad passes (poor decisions) by veterans, that would have cost
us if playing a higher level team.

30-60 Minutes:
GK – Alex Horwrath
??? (possibly McKenzie), Cardenas, Besler, Aiyegbusi
Casian, Auvray, Hirsig, Smith
Bunbury, Kamara

The second group just did not seem to all be on the same page and both
Kei and Teal appeared to be frustrated – really not many opportunities
to show themselves. Cardenas played well on defense with that group as
did Besler. Smith made some good runs and Casian showed potential.

60-90 Minutes:
GK – Boris Pardo
Kostrov, Sarkodie, Gehring, Escobar?
Zusi, Myer, Souter, Pizarro
Kraus, Brown
I think it was Zusi created the play that Pizarro scored on. Escobar
was red-carded for a rough tackle in the 80th minute. This group did
created scoring chances.

Morsink was nursing some injury so did not play.

It was in the 60’s and rained some during the middle and end of the game.
It was evident that it was early in the season and that they have not
played together much.

Player update - 2/4/2010

It is my understanding that another keeper may be joining the Wizards soon if he is not there already. I do not know a name but was told that he is a "big time" keeper and that he played in Europe. This is not Walker, he is in camp and training.

With the current keepers in camp and the potential of another joining them soon, it seems we may have seen the last of Kevin Hartman.


Wizards players in camp:
Arnaud, Davy - M/F
Auvray, Stephane - M
Besler, Matthew - D
Conrad, Jimmy - D
Espinoza, Rodger - M
Harrington, Michael - D/M
Hercegfalvi, Zoltan - F
Hirsig, Santiago - M
Hohlbein, Aaron - D
Kamara, Kei - F, re-signed
Kraus, Michael - F
Leathers, Jonathan - D
McKenzie, Rauwshan - D
Morsink, Kurt - M
Myers, Chance - D/M
Pardo, Boris - G
Souter, Kevin - M
Wolff, Josh - F
Zusi, Graham - M

Wizards players back in KC:
Jewsbury, Jack - M/D recovering from off-season surgery
Watson, Lance - D/M recovering from injury

Draft picks:
Bunbury, Teal - F 2010 1st round pick
Aiyegbusi, Korede - D 2010 2nd round pick reporting in Arizona, not sure if he is there yet
Cardenas, Nicholas - D 2010 3rd round pick
Fuzetti, Mauro - M 2010 3rd round pick
Sarkodie, Ofori - D 2010 4th round pick


New Wizards:
Escobar, Pablo - D should join team in Arizona, visa approved waiting to get stamped

Wizards gone:
Cristman, Adam - F Traded to DC United
Gomez, Herculez - M/F Signed with Puebla FC
Marquess, Matt - D Retired

Other Wizards:
"Other left side attacking player" - M have to assume he does not have a visa yet
Hartman, Kevin - GK not in camp, not under contract
Kronberg, Eric - GK in camp, not participating, likely not under contract
Lopez, Claudio - M not under contract (may not see him back)

Trialists in camp:
Brown, Kyle Aaron - F, Austin Aztex, Houston, Real Salt Lake, New England (drafted)
Casian, Alexei - M Moldovan Trialist #2
Crayton, Louis - GK DC United, Liberian National Team
Gehrig, Eric - M Loyola
Horwath, Alex - GK Wisconsin
Kostrov, Igor - M, Moldovan Trialist #1
Pizzaro, Nelson - M Miami FC, Kansas City Wizards
Smith, Ryan - M Crystal Palace, Arsenal youth, trialing with Wizards in Arizona
Walker, Ian - GK Bolton, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur

No longer in camp:
Glaeser, Matt - GK Hartford, Pallo-Iirot
Kemenes, Szabolcs - GK MTK Hungaria, Hungarian U-21,20,19,17 teams

Since I am not in Arizona at the moment, this is as accurate as can be.

Adam Cristman traded to DC United

Adam Cristman was traded to DC United today. The Wizards receive an International slot for two years.

Adam at practice on a cold day, Coach Onalfo must have missed your sense of style...

Player update - 2/2/2010

With all the player news lately, I thought I would roundup who I know is in camp, who is not and some more potential news/speculation.

While the announcement of Ryan Smith being in camp last night is interesting, that is not the "left sided attacking player" that Robb talked about during the draft. So we are still looking to see who that is and how he fits in.

The Moldovans were named last night as well. Casian and Kostrov. Of course there is confusion on the proper spelling of the names when they are translated to English. Both of them look skilled and technical. In the scrimmages I saw, Casian seemed to play wider and further back, Kostrov more central.

Apparently there was speculation that the Wizards might be interested in Stern John returning to MLS. Late last week, Robb had told me that the team was still looking at another central defender and another forward. They were closer on the defender than the forward and neither one was imminent. I was told last night that with the signing of Kei, the work on that forward would be put on hold. I do not know if the Wizards were seriously considering Stern John or not but that does jibe with the article in SoccerAmericaDaily.

In the off season, Coach Vermes said they were going to look at a lot of players and the roster would probably look quite different for 2010. I do not think there is any doubt about that now.

So with all the name revealing and signings, here is my best current list of all the players of interest at the moment.

Returning players in camp:
Arnaud, Davy - M/F
Besler, Matthew - D
Cristman, Adam - F
Conrad, Jimmy - D
Espinoza, Rodger - M
Harrington, Michael - D/M
Hercegfalvi, Zoltan - F
Hirsig, Santiago - M
Hohlbein, Aaron - D
Jewsbury, Jack - M/D recovering from off-season surgery
Kamara, Kei - F, re-signed (got to Arizona already)
Kraus, Michael - F
Leathers, Jonathan - D
McKenzie, Rauwshan - D
Morsink, Kurt - M
Myers, Chance - D/M
Pardo, Boris - G
Souter, Kevin - M
Watson, Lance - D/M recovering from injury
Wolff, Josh - F
Zusi, Graham - M

Draft picks:
Bunbury, Teal - F 2010 1st round pick
Aiyegbusi, Olukorede - D 2010 2nd round pick reporting in Arizona, not sure if he is there yet
Cardenas, Nicholas - D 2010 3rd round pick
Fuzetti, Mauro - M 2010 3rd round pick
Sarkodie, Ofori - D 2010 4th round pick


New Wizards:
Auvray, Stephane - M Started practicing last Thursday
Escobar, Pablo - D should join team in Arizona, visa approved waiting to get stamped

Other Wizards:
"Other left side attacking player" - M have to assume he does not have a visa yet
Hartman, Kevin - GK not in camp, not under contract
Kronberg, Eric - GK in camp, not participating, likely not under contract
Lopez, Claudio - M not under contract (may not see him back)

Trialists in camp:
Brown, Kyle Aaron - F, Austin Aztex, Houston, Real Salt Lake, New England (drafted)
Casian, Alexei - M Moldovan Trialist #2
Crayton, Louis - GK DC United, Liberian National Team
Gehrig, Eric - M Loyola
Glaeser, Matt - GK Hartford, Pallo-Iirot
Horwath, Alex - GK Wisconsin
Kemenes, Szabolcs - GK MTK Hungaria, Hungarian U-21,20,19,17 teams
Kostrov, Igor - M, Moldovan Trialist #1
Pizzaro, Nelson - M Miami FC, Kansas City Wizards
Smith, Ryan - M Crystal Palace, Arsenal youth, trialing with Wizards in Arizona
Possibly more joining them in Arizona

On Trialist list but not in camp (at least as far as I know):
Walker, Ian - GK Bolton, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur

Just for fun, here is Auvray at his first practice with the Wizards...

Moldovans trying out with Kansas City

Alexei Casian and Igor Kostrov are the two Moldovans on trial with the Wizards that I had mentioned in a previous post. A couple shots from practice last week when the Wizards were using the Chiefs indoor practice facility.

This is Igor Kostrov...


Alexei Casian trying to play American Football?


Igor wondering why the ball is not round?

Ryan Smith joins Wizards in Arizona

Robb Heineman tweeted that Ryan Smith has joined the team in Arizona. While this is an attacking left sided player, it seems that it is not the same one that Robb mentioned during the draft.
Smith has one appearance with the England U-20 team. He started his professional career at 16 with Arsenal with a few games in the Carling Cup. He has spent time with Leicester City, Derby County, Millwall, Southhampton and Crystal Palace. All that and he is still 23.

It seems that he showed a lot of talent and promise as a youth player but has slid down the depth chart at each team he joined. It will be interesting to see how he fares in Wizards training camp and if he can earn a spot.

Kei Kamara signs new contract

Robb Heineman tweeted that Kei Kamara signed a new contract with the Wizards today. Camp get even more crowded now. Kamara, Wolff, Zoltan, Bunbury, Cristman, Kraus, Arnaud and a couple players trying out can all play forward.

Kamara was acquired from Houston last year for Abe Thompson and allocation money. Makes that trade look even better now.

Kei at a practice last year...