Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sporting KC hosts CD Olimpia in CONCACAF Champions League group stage finale on Wednesday at Sporting Park

SportingKC.com

Sporting Kansas City hosts Honduran club CD Olimpia in the team's final 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League group stage match on Wednesday night at Sporting Park.

The match will be aired on Univision Deportes 2 and Fox Soccer Plus beginning at 7 p.m. CT. A limited number of tickets are still available for the match and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the Sporting Park Box Offices on Wednesday.

Sporting KC was drawn into Group 2 earlier this year along with Nicaraguan side Real Esteli FC and Olimpia.

One of five MLS teams in the 2013-14 edition of the tournament, Sporting KC won their first two group stage matches on the road by a combined 4-0 scoreline.

Sporting KC remained unbeaten in the group stage when they tied Real Esteli 1-1 on Sept. 17 at Sporting Park.

Sporting KC sits in first place in their group, one point ahead of second place Olimpia. With a win or draw on Wednesday, Sporting KC will advance to the quarterfinal round of the competition.

The CONCACAF Champions League consists of 24 teams separated into eight groups of three teams that play a round-robin, home-and-away format. The winner of each group will advance to the quarterfinals to be played March 2014.

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg has allowed just one goal in three CCL matches and is second on the club's all-time chart for shutouts in international competition.

The last time these two teams met, Sporting KC forward Soony Saad scored both goals becoming the youngest player in club history to record a brace in international competitive matches.

Olimpia are led by Anthony Lozano, whose eight goals this season are second most in Liga Nacional. Lozano scored the game-winning goal in Olimpia's 1-0 win over Real Esteli and is the lone Olimpia player to have tallied at Sporting Park, when he scored a goal in the first 41 seconds of Honduras' 3-2 win over El Salvador in the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinals.

Olimpia are the most successful team in Honduran soccer history and are currently tied for first place in their domestic league, seeking a record 28th league championship.  Los Leones are one of only two teams to participate in all six editions of CCL since its restructure in 2008-09.

For in-game updates, follow @SKCGameday on Twitter or visit SportingKC.com/GameOn.

Sporting Kansas City returns to MLS action on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT when they take on the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park in their final regular season match of 2013.