By Sam Kovzan – SportingKC.com
Sporting Kansas City was eliminated from the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup following a 3-1 loss at Inter Miami CF on Tuesday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Second-half substitute Memo Rodriguez opened Sporting’s 2025 scoring account with a long-range strike in the 63rd minute, but Miami secured a 4-1 aggregate victory in the Round One series behind first-half goals from Lionel Messi, Tadeo Allende and Luis Suarez to reach the Round of 16.
Manager Peter Vermes’ men will now turn their full focus to the MLS regular season campaign, which continues Saturday with a highly anticipated home tilt against the San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek and live broadcasts in English and Spanish on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Concluding a stretch of three matches in seven days, Sporting deployed a 4-3-3 setup that included six personnel changes—two each in defense, midfield and attack—from Saturday’s MLS opener at Austin FC. Most notably, Designated Player Manu Garcia and winger Shapi Suleymanov earned their first starts for the club after arriving from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki earlier this month. Fellow Designated Player Dejan Joveljic, midfielder Zorhan Bassong, center back Dany Rosero and left back Tim Leibold also earned starting nods, while five players retained their places in the lineup: goalkeeper John Pulskamp, right back Jake Davis, center back Robert Voloder, homegrown midfielder Jacob Bartlett and captain Erik Thommy.
The visitors were lively and energetic in the early stages, but Miami opened the scoring against the run of play on 19 minutes. After springing Suarez free down the left channel, Messi received a lofted return pass from his longtime FC Barcelona teammate, chested the ball down on the edge of the box and sent a lethal left-footed finish inside the near post for his second goal in the series.
Sporting responded admirably, however, and manufactured a flurry of chances near the half-hour mark. In the 29th minute, Leibold’s searching delivery to the far post was steered by Suleymanov into the path of Bassong, who teed up Joveljic at the penalty spot. The Serbian international’s first-time effort was bound for the back of the net, but Miami defender Maximiliano Falcon sprawled low for the goal-saving block. A minute later, Garcia had an audacious attempt tipped over the crossbar by Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari and Thommy had a 12-yard strike blocked amidst traffic.
Ustari was forced into action twice more toward the end of the first half, corralling a long-range blast from Davis and an 18-yard curler from Suleymanov. Sporting then thought they had leveled terms in the 40th minute when Joveljic did brilliantly to settle an incisive pass from Suleymanov, round the keeper and fire into the roof of the net, but the offside flag went up and the goal was disallowed.
The game was effectively decided in first-half stoppage time as Miami extended its lead to 3-0. Allende doubled his team’s advantage by finishing off a low cross from Jordi Alba before Suarez slotted low into the far corner from a tight angle on the right edge of the six-yard area.
Pulskamp produced a phenomenal save to deny Messi on the doorstep six minutes into the second period. The game’s tempo slowed from there, with Rodriguez, William Agada and Daniel Salloi entering as reinforcements at the hour juncture. Rodriguez wasted no time making a palpable impact, bagging Kansas City’s first goal of the season with a 20-yard thunderbolt that deflected off Falcon and nestled into the back of the net. Bartlett tabbed an assist on the play, the 19-year-old becoming the club’s youngest player to record an assist in an international match.
Trailing 3-1 in the dying embers of the contest, Sporting saw a pair of defenders make their club debuts: 29-year-old outside back Andrew Brody replaced Davis in the 74th minute and 16-year-old homegrown center back Ian James relieved Dany Rosero 10 minutes later, becoming the second youngest player to appear in a competitive match in club history.
Sporting was unlucky not to grab a consolation goal on one of the final plays of the game. Rodriguez’s in-swinging corner kick was met by Agada, but his lunging header hit the left post and the score remained 3-1 in favor of Miami.
2025 Concacaf Champions Cup | Round One | Leg 2
Chase Stadium | Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Attendance: 18,280
Weather: 68 degrees and clear
Sporting Kansas City 1-3 Inter Miami CF
| SCORE | 1 | 2 | F | AGG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sporting Kansas City | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Inter Miami CF | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jake Davis (Andrew Brody 74′), Dany Rosero (Ian James 84′), Robert Voloder, Tim Leibold; Jacob Bartlett, Zorhan Bassong, Manu Garcia (Memo Rodriguez 58′); Shapi Suleymanov (Daniel Salloi 58′), Dejan Joveljic (William Agada 58′), Erik Thommy (C)
Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Logan Ndenbe, Nemanja Radoja, Stephen Afrifa, Mason Toye
Inter Miami CF: Oscar Ustari; Ian Fray, Maximiliano Falcon (Gonzalo Lujan 80′), Tomas Aviles (Noah Allen 57′), Jordi Alba; Federico Redondo, Sergio Busquets (David Ruiz 81′), Telasco Segovia; Lionel Messi (C) (Benjamin Cremaschi 68′), Luis Suarez (Robert Taylor 81′), Tadeo Allende
Subs Not Used: Rocco Rios Novo, Tyler Hall, David Martinez, Ryan Sailor, Julian Gressel, Sanitago Morales, Leo Afonso
Scoring Summary:
MIA — Lionel Messi 2 (Luis Suarez 1) 19′
MIA — Tadeo Allende 1 (Jordi Alba 1) 45+1′
MIA — Luis Suarez 1 (unassisted) 45+3′
SKC — Memo Rodriguez 1 (Jacob Bartlett 1) 63′
Misconduct Summary:
None
Match Statistics
| STAT | SKC | MIA |
|---|---|---|
| Fouls | 17 | 12 |
| Offsides | 3 | 1 |
| Corner Kicks | 7 | 5 |
Referee: Ismael Cornejo
Assistant Referee: Juan Francisco Zumba
Assistant Referee: Geovany Garcia
Fourth Official: Jaime Herrera
VAR: Erick Miranda
AVAR: Guillermo Pacheco
