Sporting KC eager to keep building but faces tougher task vs. San Diego Saturday

In soccer, a draw can feel like a win, or it can feel more like a loss. It depends on how the game plays out.

For Sporting Kansas City, last week’s 2-2 draw surely felt more akin to victory than defeat. And that’s saying something, considering Sporting KC had held a late 2-1 lead.

The opponent gets arguably more challenging Saturday night, as reigning regular-season MLS Western Conference champion San Diego FC comes to Kansas City. The quality of last week’s opponent, Columbus, and the penalty-kick save to preserve a 2-2 final scoreline — these things contributed to a positive vibe for Sporing KC. As did the moments of evident growth that were on display that night.

For example, Sporting KC found itself down 1-0 due to a self-inflicted mistake. A week earlier, Sporing panicked after allowing an opening goal in San Jose, then fell behind 2-0 by halftime.

Sporting KC takes a record of 0-1-1 into Saturdays match.

“There’s going to be mistakes made,” Sporting KC defender Wyatt Myer said. “You see it at the top level, the bottom level. Mistakes happen, and it’s about how you respond to them.”

Instead of doing the same down 1-0 against Columbus at the 40-minute mark, Sporting KC dug in and came back to put itself in a winning position late.

According to first-year Sporting KC head coach Raphael Wicky, that showed the personality of this year’s team.

“If you play with personality, and I feel like against Columbus they have done that, then you can (make) a mistake,” Wicky said. “But then you have personality and you play again, and you ask (for) the ball again. That’s what I want to see. And I think that’s when we see growth from players. That’s when we see players developing.”

Sporting KC has gone from having one of the oldest rosters in Major League Soccer — with eight players over age 30 in 2024 — to having just two players over age 27 today.

Players over the age of 30 aren’t typically getting better week by week and month over month. But a roster with 15 players under age 25 should expect to see plenty of growth. With youth comes mistakes, of course, but then comes development.

San Diego, coming to town on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Sporting Park, will present a stiffer challenge than Columbus. San Diego defeated Pumas UNAM in the first round of Concacaf Champions League play, winning 4-2 on aggregate, and then won its first two MLS matches by a combined score of 7-0.

San Diego can cut teams apart in possession or on the counter and ruthlessly preys upon opponents’ mistakes. While Wicky has made his team aware of the danger presented by Saturday’s foe, he’s more focused on his team’s budding mindset.

“Who do we want to be and what do we want to do?” Wicky said. “I think that must be our approach, and believe that we can win a game against another tough opponent. I think the last game against Columbus gives us confidence …

“We didn’t win at the end, but it was there. And all of that is the positive from that game last weekend. I think we have to take that energy from (that match) and bring it to the stadium.”

There are a few player updates heading into Saturday’s action:

Zorhan Bassong — a Sporting KC captain alongside Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic — missed the first two matches of the season. But he was back in training throughout the week. Wicky said Bassong is questionable to play on Saturday.

Ian James will not be questionable. The 17-year-old center-back, who played very well against Columbus, seems to have picked up an injury in that game. He was not in training during the portions of training that were open to media this week. Lasse Berg Johnsen, who has yet to feature for Sporting KC, was said to be returning Friday with his visa in order. He would then be eligible to play and train with the team.

Wicky said there will be discussions between himself, the player and Sporting KC medical staff as to whether he’ll play any part this weekend. The coach noted that the “mid-term and long-term is more important than to have him (Lasse) tomorrow.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.