# 2013 Sporting Kansas City season

The 2013 Sporting Kansas City season was the eighteenth season of the team's existence in Major League Soccer and the third year played under the Sporting Kansas City moniker.
Sporting Kansas City entered the season as the defending U.S. Open Cup champions and as back-to-back Eastern Conference Regular Season Champions. By winning the 2012 U.S. Open Cup, they were qualified for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League for the first time in franchise history.
Ivy Funds became the club's kit sponsor, a first for the franchise.
Sporting Kansas City qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the 12th time in the team's 18-year history and third straight season, moving into a three-way tie for fourth most MLS Cup Playoff appearances with the Chicago Fire and FC Dallas, trailing only the Colorado Rapids (13), New York Red Bulls (14), and Los Angeles Galaxy (15). The team defeated New England Revolution, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake to win the 2013 MLS Cup.

## Squad
### First team roster

| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Jimmy Nielsen (Captain) | Denmark |
| 2 | DF | Erik Palmer-Brown (HGP) | United States |
| 3 | DF | Ike Opara | United States |
| 4 | DF | Kevin Ellis (HGP) | United States |
| 5 | DF | Matt Besler (XI) | United States |
| 6 | MF | Paulo Nagamura | Brazil |
| 7 | DF | Chance Myers | United States |
| 8 | MF | Graham Zusi (XI) | United States |
| 9 | FW | Teal Bunbury | United States |
| 10 | MF | Benny Feilhaber | United States |
| 12 | MF | Mikey Lopez (GA) | United States |
| 13 | DF | Lawrence Olum | Kenya |
| 14 | FW | Dom Dwyer | England |
| 15 | DF | Seth Sinovic | United States |
| 16 | FW | Claudio Bieler (DP) | Argentina |
| 17 | FW | C. J. Sapong | United States |
| 18 | GK | Eric Kronberg | United States |
| 19 | MF | Peterson Joseph | Haiti |
| 20 | MF | Oriol Rosell | Spain |
| 21 | GK | Jon Kempin (HGP) | United States |
| 22 | FW | Soony Saad | Lebanon |
| 23 | DF | Federico Bessone | Argentina |
| 24 | DF | Mechack Jérôme | Haiti |
| 25 | MF | Christian Duke | United States |
| 27 | DF | Kyle Miller | United States |
| 31 | DF | Josh Gardner | United States |
| 33 | DF | Brendan Ruiz | United States |
| 37 | MF | Jacob Peterson | United States |
| 78 | DF | Aurélien Collin | France |
| 94 | MF | Jimmy Medranda | Colombia |

## Player movement
### In

| Date | Player | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| December 5, 2012 | Josh Gardner | MF | Montreal Impact | Trade for 2nd Round Pick in 2013 MLS SuperDraft |
| December 11, 2012 | Benny Feilhaber | MF | New England Revolution | Trade for allocation money, 1st Round Pick in 2014 MLS SuperDraft and 2nd Round Pick in 2015 MLS SuperDraft |
| December 12, 2012 | Ike Opara | DF | San Jose Earthquakes | Trade for 2nd Round Pick in 2013 MLS SuperDraft |
| December 13, 2012 | Yann Songo'o | DF | Pobla de Mafumet CF | Free transfer |
| December 18, 2012 | Claudio Bieler | FW | LDU Quito | Transfer (undisclosed fee) |
| January 17, 2013 | Mikey Lopez | MF | University of North Carolina | 2013 MLS SuperDraft |
| February 28, 2013 | Mechack Jérôme | DF | Orlando City | Transfer (undisclosed fee) |
| February 28, 2013 | Christian Duke | DF | University of San Diego | 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft |
| August 2, 2013 | Erik Palmer-Brown | DF | Sporting Kansas City Academy | Home grown player |
| August 9, 2013 | Brendan Ruiz | DF | Figuerense | Transfer (undisclosed fee) |
| September 13, 2013 | Federico Bessone | DF | Oldham Athletic A.F.C. | Transfer (undisclosed fee) |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | New club | Fee/notes | Date |
| MF | Júlio César | Toronto FC | Option declined | November 19, 2012 |
| DF | Cyprian Hedrick | Phoenix FC | Option declined | November 19, 2012 |
| DF | Neven Marković | Servette FC | Option declined | November 19, 2012 |
| DF/MF | Konrad Warzycha | Columbus Crew | Option declined | November 19, 2012 |
| DF | Korede Aiyegbusi | FC Haka | Option declined | December 3, 2012 |
| DF | Michael Harrington | Portland Timbers | Trade for Allocation money | December 3, 2012 |
| MF | Roger Espinoza | Wigan Athletic | Free | January 4, 2013 |
| FW | Bobby Convey | Toronto F.C. | Trade for 2014 MLS SuperDraft Third Round Pick | May 16, 2013 |
| DF | Yann Songo'o | Blackburn Rovers | Released | June 28, 2013 |
| MF | Michael Thomas | Toronto F.C. | Trade for 2015 MLS SuperDraft Second Round Pick | July 2, 2013 |
| FW | Kei Kamara | Middlesbrough F.C. | Transfer for $2.1 million | September 2, 2013 |

### Loans
#### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned From | Start | End | Source |
| 94 | MF | Jimmy Medranda | Deportivo Pereira | August 9, 2013 | February 13, 2014 | |

#### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned To | Start | End |
| 23 | FW | Kei Kamara | Norwich City | January 30, 2013 | May 6, 2013 |
| 14 | FW | Dom Dwyer | Orlando City | March 14, 2013 | June 27, 2013 |
| 2 | DF | Yann Songo'o | Orlando City | March 14, 2013 | June 28, 2013 |
| 21 | GK | Jon Kempin | Orlando City | March 14, 2013 | September 8, 2013 |
| 25 | MF | Christian Duke | Orlando City | March 14, 2013 | September 8, 2013 |
| 17 | FW | C. J. Sapong | Orlando City | July 11, 2013 | July 18, 2013 |
| 4 | DF | Kevin Ellis | Orlando City | July 11, 2013 | September 8, 2013 |
| 17 | FW | C. J. Sapong | Orlando City | August 2, 2013 | August 5, 2013 |
| 14 | FW | Dom Dwyer | Orlando City | September 4, 2013 | September 8, 2013 |

## Competitions
### Match results

Win  Tie  Loss

### Major League Soccer
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New York Red Bulls (S) | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 59 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 2 | Sporting Kansas City (C) | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 58 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 3 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 57 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 4 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 56 | |
| 5 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 53 | |
| 6 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 52 | |
| 7 | New England Revolution | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 51 | |
| 8 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 38 | +7 | 51 | |
| 9 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 51 | |
| 10 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 35 | 42 | −7 | 51 | |
| 11 | Montreal Impact | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 49 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 12 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 47 | 52 | −5 | 49 | |
| 13 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 48 | |
| 14 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 46 | |
| 15 | FC Dallas | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 48 | 52 | −4 | 44 | |
| 16 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 12 | 17 | 5 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 41 | |
| 17 | Toronto FC | 34 | 6 | 17 | 11 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 29 | |
| 18 | Chivas USA | 34 | 6 | 20 | 8 | 30 | 67 | −37 | 26 | |
| 19 | D.C. United | 34 | 3 | 24 | 7 | 22 | 59 | −37 | 16 | CONCACAF Champions League |

#### Eastern Conference standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 59 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 2 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 58 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 3 | New England Revolution | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 51 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 4 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 51 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 5 | Montreal Impact | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 49 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 6 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 47 | 52 | −5 | 49 | |
| 7 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 46 | |
| 8 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 12 | 17 | 5 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 41 | |
| 9 | Toronto FC | 34 | 6 | 17 | 11 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 29 | |
| 10 | D.C. United | 34 | 3 | 24 | 7 | 22 | 59 | −37 | 16 | |

#### Regular season

Kickoff times are in CDT (UTC-05) unless shown otherwise

#### MLS Cup Playoffs
##### Bracket

| Knockout | Knockout | Knockout | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | MLS Cup | MLS Cup | MLS Cup |
| | | | E1 | New York | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Houston | 3 | E4 | Houston (a.e.t.) | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Montreal | 0 | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E4 | Houston | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| | | | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Kansas City | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| | | | E2 | Kansas City (a.e.t.) | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | E3 | New England | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | E2 | Kansas City (p) | 1 (7) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | W2 | Salt Lake | 1 (6) |
| | | | W1 | Portland | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Seattle | 2 | W4 | Seattle | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Colorado | 0 | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Portland | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | |
| | | | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | Salt Lake | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | |
| | | | W2 | Salt Lake (a.e.t.) | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |

##### Results
###### Conference Semifinals

Sporting Kansas City won 4-3 on aggregate

###### Conference Finals

Sporting Kansas City won 2–1 on aggregate

#### MLS Cup
##### Result
### CONCACAF Champions League (2013–14)

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Sporting Kansas City | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Olimpia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Real Estelí | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
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