The Kansas City Wizards endured an intense training session this morning in preparation for their last match in Bradenton against the U.S. U-17 squad next Tuesday, Feb. 27. Kansas City Wizards Head Coach Curt Onalfo said the players were pushed to defend and attack aggressively in 1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2 situations.
"Today we put players in situations where they had to be aggressive and sharp," Onalfo said. "I want our attacking players to be very dangerous and I felt like the practice translated well when they went to the goal."
The Wizards will continue training in Bradenton tomorrow, and will have a day off from practice on Sunday. Check back with www.kcwizards.com for the latest updates.
From a Player's Perspective: Nick Garcia and Kurt Morsink
In the words of Nick Garcia:
"Yesterday afternoon, Jose (Burciaga, Jr.) and I decided to play a practical joke on a few of the rookies. After lunch, Kurt (Morsink) came up to me and said, 'Do you think I can borrow the car to go run some errands?' I told him it was no problem and to take the keys and bring them back by no later than 4:30 p.m. So 4:30 arrived, then 4:45, then 5:00. And still no Kurt. So Jose and I set to work trying to come up with a joke to play on Kurt. We put on our Wizards polos that we wear to appearances and finally got a hold of Kurt and told him he was making us miss our elementary school appearance at 5:45.
"So Kurt started freaking out and to make things worse he was battling traffic. When he got back, we grabbed the keys from him, didn't say a word and peeled out of the parking lot in the van. Kurt was trying to make it up to us and offering to buy us dinner, so I told him he could clean our entire apartment. He, A.J. (Godbolt) and Willy (Guadarrama) went inside and Ryan (McMahen) was there telling them they had picked the wrong people to make mad. Our apartment was filthy, and they washed the dishes, did our laundry, vacuumed and cleaned the counters while Jose and I hung out at Starbucks and Best Buy. When we got back, we overheard Kurt telling other rookies that they had really messed up. The next day at practice, I guess Kurt hadn't slept well at all and Coach Onalfo addressed the team, saying that there had been issues with the rookies the day before and that Kurt and the guys would have to do the appearance instead of us. He continued saying that the front office had heard about the missed appearance and was really upset. Then I stepped in and thanked them for cleaning our apartment and said that I hoped they had learned their lesson through the practical joke we just played on them."
In the words of Kurt Morsink:
"A.J. (Godbolt), Willy (Guadarrama) and I borrowed the van to go run some errands yesterday. We told Nick we would have the van back by 4:30, but we didn't get home until 5:30. So Nick (Garcia) and Jose (Burciaga, Jr.) decided to put on this act and make us believe that they had this player appearance and they had missed it because we didn't have the van back in time. Our coaching staff and our team administrator, Rick (Dressel), was in on it too, but I didn't know that so I called Rick and told him what had happened.
"Meanwhile, Nick and Jose were dressed in their Wizards warm-ups and just walked out, didn't say anything and got in the van. I asked Nick what I could do to make it up to him and he said we could clean his apartment. So the three of us cleaned his entire apartment and the whole night Rick and the guys were saying that Coach knew about it and the front office was really mad that we made Nick and Jose miss a player appearance. This morning at practice, Coach got all of us together and went over what we were doing for the day. And at the end, he asked Nick if he had anything to say to the team. Nick just said he wanted to thank us for cleaning his entire apartment and that that whole thing was a joke. I wasn't mad we cleaned the apartment, I was just relieved because I didn't want to be in trouble."
Kansas City Wizards SuperDraft pick Harrington plays key role on U.S. Men's U-23 Squad in Japan
Kansas City Wizards defender Michael Harrington played all 90 minutes in the U.S. Men's U-23 squad's 2-2 draw with Japanese side Rosso Kumamoto.
Harrington played a last-second cross to an on-coming Sean Franklin whose header was stopped only by an acrobatic save from Kumamoto late substitute 'keeper Youichi Futori, narrowly missing an opportunity for a game-winning assist.
The U-23s, who were up 2-0 on two second-half goals from striker Adam Cristman, appeared to have the game in hand up until Kumamoto found two goals in two minutes off restarts. New England Revolution forward Cristman scored goals in the 46th and 57th minutes on assists from strike partner Sal Zizzo.
The first came as a Zizzo shot was deflected by goalkeeper Hiroki Kobayahsi to Cristman, who calmly slid it in the open net. U.S. captain Sacha Klejstan set up the second goal with a floating ball over the defense. Zizzo outraced two defenders, won the end line and played a pass across the six-yard area for Cristman, who slid to redirect the ball past Kobayahsi.
Kumamoto brought itself within a goal in the 82nd minute as substitute Daishiro Miyazaki calmly curled a bending free kick to the upper left corner. A minute later, the U-23s surrendered a free kick 40 yards from the goal. The ensuing restart came down at the U.S. penalty spot and Kumamoto defender Yusuke Suzuki beat Rob Valentino and 'keeper Justin Hughes to head the ball into an open net.
The Red, White and Blue attacked furiously for the next 10 minutes trying to regain the lead and victory to no avail. Kumamoto brought on regular goalie Futori in the 87th minute and his last-second save after Harrington's cross to Franklin preserved the tie.
Harrington is expected back in Kansas City camp Saturday evening and will begin training Monday.
