Sporting KC set to open 2016 training camp Saturday

The longest penalty-kick shootout in Major League Soccer history took place on Oct. 29, on a weeknight at Providence Park in Portland. After the conclusion of 11 rounds of kicks, the 2015 Sporting Kansas City season was finished, complete with the memories of two potential game-winning attempts that collided with the post.

“Those posts still haunt me,” Sporting KC winger Graham Zusi said Friday.

The process of moving on officially begins Saturday, when Sporting KC arrives in Tucson, Ariz., for the first leg of its preseason training camp.

The club has returned the bulk of its roster — including all 13 players who appeared in 17 games last season — and it added longtime MLS attacking options Justin Mapp and Brad Davis, a World Cup veteran.

Sporting KC concluded the 2015 season without two of its core players due to injuries — midfielder Roger Espinoza and defender Ike Opara — but both are “100 percent clear and ready to go,” coach Peter Vermes said this week. Opara missed the final six months last year with an Achilles’ injury, and Espinoza missed 10 weeks with a foot injury.

After a three-week break following the season, Espinoza went through a normal offseason program, he said, though Sporting KC re-designed its player workouts in preparation for a busier 2016 schedule that will include the CONCACAF Champions League late in the year.

“I feel good, man. I’m happy to be back,” Espinoza said. “Missing all the months kind of makes you want to come back right away.”

Additions on the way

In a phone call with reporters last week, Vermes said the Sporting KC roster will undergo some changes before its March 6 regular season opener in Seattle — alterations that will come in the form of both additions and subtractions. On Thursday, he offered an indication of where the supplements will fit in.

Asked if he planned to enter the season with his current center back situation — which features captain Matt Besler and Opara as the projected starters, with Kevin Ellis as the primary back up — Vermes replied, “No. There’s some additions to be announced. Our roster is not finished yet, for sure.”

Goalkeeper battle

For the first time in his seven-year professional career, goalkeeper Tim Melia will enter an MLS training camp atop the depth chart.

Vermes anointed Melia the No. 1 goalkeeper entering camp.

“This is, for me, an even more important season,” Melia said. “Last year was a get-my-foot-in-the-door (season), and now I need to stomp down on the spot and make it my own.”

That would leave 22-year-old homegrown Jon Kempin as the likely top backup. Vermes said he expects a step forward this season from Kempin, who first signed with the senior team in Aug. 2010.

“He’s not the little kid on the team anymore. He’s a man, and he needs to take that next big step, whether it’s this year or whether it’s next year, (in order) to (have) the future that he’s supposed to (have),” Vermes said.

Contract details

Sporting KC’s contract extension with midfielder Soni Mustivar is for three seasons. The deal was made official earlier this month.

Midfielder Benny Feilhaber will be out of contract at the end of the 2016 season. Vermes said he has already spoken with Feilhaber’s representatives about an extension, but added, “It’s not like we’re on some rush to get something done at the moment.”

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Sporting KC set to open 2016 training camp Saturday."