KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It was the sort of moment that, in some stadiums, would send the home fans streaming for the exits to beat the traffic.
Sporting Kansas City had already struggled for more than an hour to complete passes, hang onto the ball under pressure and defend against Vancouver's dangerous counterattacks. They'd managed to pull one back from a 2-0 halftime deficit, though – and then Pedro Morales' free kick bent over the wall, settled into the net, and put the Whitecaps up 3-1 in the 77th minute on Saturday night.
But the fans stayed, and sang, and screamed. And Sporting responded. Dom Dwyer's header in the 81st minute pulled them within 3-2, and then Paulo Nagamura's blast from distance equalized the match in the 87th.
In that moment, Kansas City's unbeaten record at home across all competitions seemed safe. But the team didn't let up, and neither did their supporters. They grew louder, then louder still.
“At one point,” manager Peter Vermes would recall afterward, “it definitely felt like we were in MLS Cup, it was so loud.”
And yet, somehow, the sellout crowd found even more volume when Nagamura's header in the fourth minute of stoppage time found the back of the net to complete Kansas City's improbable comeback for a 4-3 victory.
“There's no doubt that the third and fourth goal are all because of the crowd,” Vermes told reporters during his postmatch news conference. “The crowd is what pushed the guys on. They kept the faith and the way they brought the energy, I think there's no doubt that it spilled onto the guys on the field. The 12th Man was unbelievable tonight. That's what really got us the three points. There's no doubt about it in my mind.”
Nagamura had, perhaps, more reasons than anyone else to celebrate his late brace.
One is that he's 32, the oldest player on Sporting's roster, and has struggled with injuries in recent seasons – including this year, which has seen him limited to 13 appearances across all competitions. Were it not for the broken sesamoid bone in Roger Espinoza's left foot, Nagamura might not even have been on the pitch for his full-90 outings this week – first in Wednesday's 3-1 Open Cup win over Real Salt Lake and then in Saturday's stunning comeback.
“It's about patience and respecting the teammates, the team that you're on,” he said. “I respect the coach's decision, and I was just waiting for my opportunity. You've got to be prepared. You've got to be ready when the opportunity comes. You've got to make the most of it, and I'm trying to do that. I'm trying to make the most of my opportunity to keep playing and keep helping the team succeed on the field.”
The other reason for celebration? It was Nagamura's handball that set up Morales' free kick for what the Whitecaps thought was an insurance goal.
“I didn't feel more pressure, but I felt disappointed that I let our team down,” he said. “It was a handball. It was a correct call, and they scored off of that. That gave me extra motivation and extra belief to get a comeback, and it worked. We came back at the end.”
They made club history doing it, too. Before Saturday night, Kansas City had never come back from two goals down in the 80th minute to win – and Sporting became only the second MLS team ever to accomplish that feat in regulation, after D.C. United did it in a 4-2 win at New England in 2003.
“It's a character check,” said right back Chance Myers, who came on as a second-half sub and delivered the final cross on Nagamura's first goal. “Everybody stepped up to the plate. Everybody battled through. Sometimes when you don't play well and you find a way to win, sometimes that's more pleasing than having a good game and squeaking out a 1-0 win – especially in this last stretch of the season, when we're down to our last 10 games or so.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
