They’re reunited, and it feels so good for Sporting KC. Call it a Catalan connection

The 2021 season has brought a sense of déjà vu for Sporting Kansas City’s Ilie Sanchez and Andreu Fontas.

For the first time in about 15 years, the duo is competing in the same position on the same team. It’s reminiscent of their teenage years in the Barcelona academy, when they competed for the starting role at center defensive midfield.

This time, however, they’re not competing for a starting spot, but rather working alongside each other. They’re also operating together farther down the field at centerback.

“He’s my friend before we both came here,” Fontas said. “Now, of course, we spend more time together than any other time in our lives, but I know how he plays and I know all his qualities and I hope he knows mine.”

The pairing is one of the best ball-playing centerback partnerships in the league. Fontas has become a mainstay in the SKC defense after overcoming season-ending Achilles surgery in 2019; Sanchez dropped from his typical defensive midfield role to centerback as cover for injuries, but has massively impressed.

The pair have started together in two games for Sporting this season, conceding just one goal. Sanchez also joined Fontas in defense for the final moments of Sporting KC’s 2-1 victory over Austin FC.

Now in their early 30s, their paths diverged before they reunited in Kansas City. Their bond first began in the mid-2000s, when they joined the Barcelona academy at the same time.

“I was 15 and he was 16, we were both in the Catalan National Team for under-18 and that was the first time (we played together),” Sanchez said. “We actually fought for the same position — we both played at the six at that time.”

They played in that system together for several years until Fontas was called up to the Barcelona B squad and transitioned to a centerback role under future Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.

But their bond has remained all these years later ... and has only strengthened since arriving in Kansas City.

Both players grew up in Catalonia, a small region in northeast Spain that bursts with national pride — not for Spain, but for Catalonia itself. The region made an unsuccessful bid for independence in 2017.

The pair eat breakfast and lunch with one another most days and speak Catalan in each other’s company. That kinship of language sometimes seeps onto the field, too, with the pair communicating in Catalan during games.

“It is just the language we use at home and between each of us,” Sanchez said. “I don’t know if it’s an advantage, but definitely it is faster for us to communicate in Catalan. And I feel it’s a little bit more natural when you can do it on the field, too.”

Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes, a former forward-turned defender himself, has provided Sanchez some tips, but Vermes believes Sanchez possesses the natural ability to easily transition to centerback.

Fontas also has a similar opinion, calling Sanchez a “super-smart player” and “tactically very good.”

Sanchez was forced to play without his countryman in Kansas City’s recent 3-1 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes, with Fontas left home because of an adductor-muscle injury.

Fontas was the first to text Sanchez immediately after the game.

“He gave me congratulations because it wasn’t easy to play, especially in that place against that team and with a few young players around my position,” Sanchez said. “He knows exactly how it feels, being back there and being the last man after the goalkeeper on the line.”

Sanchez will most likely transition back to midfield on a more regular basis as KCs regular centerbacks return from injury. But Vermes was quick to point out that putting Sanchez on the backline wasn’t a decision made purely out of necessity; the club also has Kaveh Rad and Graham Smith available for selection.

It was a tactical decision that has seen Sporting look comfortable on the ball across the entire backline. And even when players such as Roberto Puncec and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin return to fitness, there’s no guarantee that they’ll start every game over Sanchez.

“There are certain games that we’ve played here recently, it was a place for us to play with the ball,” Vermes said. “And so if you’re going to do that, you need to make sure that you have players who can all play in those positions.

“We’re going to keep trying to progress with that at the moment and see where it keeps going.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "They’re reunited, and it feels so good for Sporting KC. Call it a Catalan connection."