‘We will give everything’: Sporting KC dedicates rest of season to Gadi Kinda
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Erik Thommy stepped to the podium Friday morning and sat down to begin what he called the hardest news conference of his career — after the hardest week in his career.
He had to pause for nearly two minutes as the emotion overcame him.
“You can see there was a lot of suffering and sorrow the last couple of days,” Thommy said, choking back tears.
Sporting KC as an organization mourned the death of former player Gadi Kinda this week at age 31. Kinda was, according to the soccer team Maccabi Haifa, facing an undisclosed complex medical situation.
Friday morning was the first time Sporting KC’s players spoke publicly about Kinda’s death. Thommy and Daniel Salloi, who played alongside Kinda, were the players who spoke at Sporting’s media session.
“All my thoughts and prayers are with his family,” Thommy said. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want us to be sad.”
Thommy’s usually straightforward and professional demeanor was different Friday. The pain of losing a friend was evident as he spoke.
It’s been a heavy week for many in the building. There are nine more players (11 total) on the roster who played with Kinda at the club, and countless other staff members, including the entirety of the coaching staff, who crossed paths with him.
“Just shocking,” Salloi said. “You don’t want to believe it. ... It’s a very heavy, emotional week for all of us who knew him. But even the guys who didn’t can see us hurting. We just can’t even imagine, obviously, the pain that his family is feeling. So we’re trying our best to honor him the right way this weekend.”
Salloi credited interim coach Kerry Zavagnin for giving the players freedom to grieve and feel what they need to feel.
“Everybody reacts differently to this (type of) news, so everybody needs something different,” Salloi said. “Some people need a day off. Some people need a distraction and to actually be on the field. And (Zavagnin has) been great with it.”
Kinda’s impact on the pitch was clear, particularly with Salloi. Kinda had five assists in his MLS career to Salloi, who said his career took a turn when he got to play with Kinda.
“He was such a smart, technical player,” Salloi said. “And the way he found me on the field, the way we connected was unique. He made me have a season where I was an MVP candidate, and I will never forget that.”
Thommy likened Kinda to a family member.
“He was not just a great soccer player, but a great teammate, a great friend,” Thommy added. “It feels like I lost a family member.”
During what ended up being Kinda’s final days, the team created a group chat on the messaging app WhatsApp with all of the players who played with Kinda at Sporting. They all sent him videos of their memories together and messages of encouragement.
“Looking through the group chat … there’s so many good memories it’s unbelievable,” Salloi said. I’m just thankful that even in a short period of time, he was my friend, my teammate. I wish it would have been longer, but I think there’s a lot of us who say that right now. Life is not fair sometimes and we just have to think back on all the memories and be thankful.”
The club has planned multiple ways to honor Kinda in Saturday’s match. The players put together a video tribute that will play on the scoreboard, and a moment of silence will be held before kickoff.
Additionally, the KC Cauldron and South Stand supporters have planned their own tribute. In the 10th minute, instead of the traditional “Sporting ... KC” call and response with the rest of the crowd, they will chant “Gadi Kinda,” who ended his time with Sporting wearing No. 10.
They also will chant his name during the 31st minute to honor his 31 years of life.
Sporting will take on the New England Revolution, who also has a former teammate of Kinda’s (at Maccabi Haifa) on the roster in Ilay Feingold.
Both Salloi and Thommy said the team is playing for Kinda tomorrow.
“We will give everything,” Thommy said. “We’re going to play for him tomorrow. And I would say not only tomorrow, (but) the entire season, minimum. That’s what he deserves because he gave us everything on and off the pitch.”
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.