Sporting KC’s Salloi scores in penalty shootout to help MLS All-Stars to victory

Daniel Salloi has taken a few penalties during his career, but he’s never been the guy for Sporting Kansas City to step up and take a spot kick.

So when the 25-year-old winger was the second to step up for a penalty during a shootout to decide the 2021 Major League Soccer All-Star game, there was an air of surprise. After all, Salloi was playing on a team of the best players in the league, many of those being players who take penalties on a regular basis.

But without a second thought, Salloi hammered his penalty into the top left corner, sending Liga MX All-Star goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán the wrong way in the process.

“I was thinking that this is my only chance to challenge Alan Pulido for the penalties at home, so I had to take one and score it tonight,” Salloi told The Star after the game. “I have the right to tell him that I can take PKs too, so that’s why I took it.”

Salloi played the second half of the MLS All-Star game Wednesday night at LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium, helping MLS defeat Mexico’s Liga MX All-Stars 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes.

Salloi was Sporting KC’s sole All-Star in 2021, being selected for his first All-Star Game as a coach pick by All-Star head coach Bob Bradley. The Hungarian winger currently has a league-best 18 goal contributions this season.

“I’m happy that my year has been recognized by the whole league and I got to be here representing Sporting Kansas City, it’s an awesome feeling, especially coming out of the academy,” Salloi said.

“Hopefully in the future, I can get more and more good seasons and I can do it just as many times as Graham Zusi did it.”

Zusi has appeared in seven MLS All-Star games while playing for KC, a record only tied by Preki from 1996 to 2003.

Salloi endured a relatively quiet 45 minutes on the field alongside forward Ricardo Pepi and winger Cowell to create a frontline composed solely of MLS Homegrown players.

He had a good opportunity blocked less than 10 minutes after coming onto the field that led to a corner kick for the MLS squad. LAFC’s Jesus Murillo scored MLS’s equalizing goal on the ensuing corner.

Salloi also made several excellent runs throughout the game, including a back door cut in the final seconds that looked destined for a goal if Orlando City’s Nani could make the final pass to him.

“It’s a different feeling playing with them on the same field and making passes for their movements, matching that,” Salloi said. “It’s not easy but obviously this is why this is a good game.”

Wednesday held several positives for Salloi, as he was also called up to the Hungarian National Team for the first time since September 2018 earlier in the day.

He will feature in Hungary’s squad for the beginning of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, starting with a home game against England on Sept. 2.

Salloi has been in touch with Hungary head coach Marco Rossi for a while. Rossi told the young winger that he’d been impressed with Salloi’s games this season and would call him up if he managed to stay healthy.

“It’s honestly going to be a dream come true to make my debut,” Salloi said. “I’ve been on the bench before but hopefully this time I can step on the field too.

“And the first game is at home against England in front of 70,000 people, so it’s going to be an amazing feeling and everybody dreams about this moment.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 6:36 AM with the headline "Sporting KC’s Salloi scores in penalty shootout to help MLS All-Stars to victory."