Sporting KC veteran Roger Espinoza talks MLS stoppage, state of international soccer

Major League Soccer announced earlier this week it’s “extremely unlikely” it will resume play on a previously targeted date of May 10.

MLS said in a statement that the league “continues to regularly evaluate” the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and expects to have additional information in coming weeks as to when it expects play to resume.

There’s increasing uncertainty about whether professional sports will return at all in 2020. Even the league’s training moratorium — banning teams from practicing together — remains in place through April 24 and will likely be extended.

The embargo on team practices is league-wide, meaning teams in less-affected states — clubs like Sporting Kansas City — are feeling the effects of the ban the same as those in states harder hit by the coronavirus.

“I was definitely not surprised (by the extension) because we exactly don’t know what’s going on,” Sporting KC’s Roger Espinoza said.

“All I can do is work hard and stay ready whenever that day comes. Health is first above and beyond anything, so if that’s what it’s going to take then I’m OK with it.”

Kansas City’s 33-year-old veteran has spent much of his stuck at home working out and viewing old soccer highlights — he recently watched his former club Wigan Athletics’ FA Cup final victory in 2013 — and learning how to cook. He said with a laugh that he burns most of the food he makes and takes up to three hours preparing dinner each night.

Aside from spotlighting his cooking abilities, the suspension in play has presented him an opportunity to ponder international soccer.

Espinoza is part of a small group of players in Kansas City who’ve played on the highest stage — the World Cup. Espinoza represented his home nation, Honduras, in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

“The World Cup is definitely the most important,” Espinoza said. “It’s the one that kids around the world (watch) and a lot of soccer is played during that time — a lot of kids become in love with soccer and it changes their lives forever in a lot of countries.”

Espinoza usually keeps an eye on many international tournaments around the world. Some of those are sure to be affected by the pandemic.

The 2020 European Championships have already been pushed back to 2021, the 2020 Olympics have been suspended, the 2020 UEFA and CONCACAF Nations League will likely be affected, as will qualification for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America and 2022 World Cup.

While these tournaments sound like they’re in the distant future, qualification begins far in advance — qualifications for the 2022 World Cup started as early as June 2019 for African and Asian countries, while South American qualification was supposed to begin this month.

A lengthy delay in international competition could result in gridlock.

International games typically take place a couple of times throughout the regular season, requiring players to leave their club teams for as much as a week apiece. A new plan will be required for international tournament qualification, or players will be departing from their clubs every month in order to play internationally.

For Espinoza, the importance of the World Cup trumps everything.

“If you have all that, something’s going to have to change, but the World Cup is the most important event in the world,” he said. “And it’s where stars come out, so it’s definitely something that I’ll be paying attention to.”

Espinoza retired from international competition in 2019 and instead will be watching Honduras from the comfort of his own couch in Kansas City — a piece of furniture he’s gotten to know all too well in recent weeks.

He still wants to see the World Cup take place in 2022. And perhaps the competition’s saving grace is that it will be taking place during the winter for the very first time due to the extreme summer heat in host nation Qatar. This will give international soccer bodies an extra five months to work with.

“I think somehow you need to figure out a schedule,” Espinoza said. “Move some other stuff out in order to make the World Cup happen.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Sporting KC veteran Roger Espinoza talks MLS stoppage, state of international soccer."