Sporting KC will enjoy Thanksgiving after learning playoff foe late Tuesday night
.JPG "Sporting Kansas City midfielder Ilie Sanchez is pulling double-duty this season as a staple on the first team and assistant coach with a Sporting KC Academy youth squad.")
Ilie Sanchez plans to be careful with what he puts on his plate this Thanksgiving.
Of course, a couple of slices of turkey will be the main course. Some sides, including green beans and kale, will accompany the bird, along with some gravy (although not too much). Oh, and his family have to eat Thanksgiving dinner around 3 p.m., because that fits into the lunchtime window for his strict meal plan.
After all, he has a pretty big game coming up on Sunday. For the second straight year, Sporting Kansas City must prepare for a win-or-go-home playoff showdown right after Thanksgiving.
“I’m looking forward to Thursday,” he said. “But it’s also in the most important part of the season so you have to be careful with what you eat and how you rest.”
It’s a weird week for Sporting KC and other teams that still alive in the Major League Soccer playoffs. Sporting KC advanced to the conference semifinals with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend.
Kansas City’s conference semifinal game will kick off at 2 p.m. Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park after No. 7 seed Real Salt Lake upset No. 2 seed Seattle on Tuesday night 6-5 on penalty kicks after the teams played to a scoreless draw.
“We’re trying to get back after one day off on Monday,” Sanchez said. “And even not knowing the opponent on Sunday, we start focusing on ourselves and trying to be the dominant team that we want to be for the next games.”
Sporting KC will start game-planning for its next opponent Wednesday and coach Peter Vermes is giving the team the day off Thursday.
“Because we’re playing on Sunday,” Vermes said, “it works out fine. We’re OK. It’s not a bad thing to go a little harder tomorrow and then give them a break on that Thursday and then back to training and really focused on our opponent (Friday). It’ll be fine.”
Not every player will be taking the day off Thursday. Although Ilie will be celebrating Thanksgiving with visiting family from Spain, Sporting KC captain and Scotland native Johnny Russell doesn’t celebrate the holiday as heartily as others.
“I’ll do a bit of a ‘friendsgiving,’ I think you call it here,” Russell said with a laugh.
Russell also planned to find some time during the day to work out.
“I like to stay pretty active anyway,” he said. “So I’ll do a little — nothing too strenuous, or anything like that — but I’ll just keep my body ticking over. I think most guys will do the same as well.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Sporting KC will enjoy Thanksgiving after learning playoff foe late Tuesday night."