KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Being a first-year MLS SuperDraft pick with Sporting Kansas City usually means doing a lot of learning and not a great deal of playing.
It's starting to look like a year of rare exception – and not just for rookie fullback Amadou Dia, the third of Sporting's three first-round picks in January.
Dia has seven appearances and three starts through 11 matches for Sporting, including a spot in the XI for Wednesday night's 4-2 home win over New England, a match in which manager Peter Vermes also called on winger Connor Hallisey and defender Saad Abdul-Salaam to help close things out against the determined Revolution.
It was the first time since Nov. 8, 2008, in a 2-0 loss at Columbus in the Eastern Conference semifinals, that Kansas City – then the Wizards – had three rookie draft picks (Jonathan Leathers, Roger Espinoza and Matt Marquess) on the pitch at the same time against an MLS opponent.
“Obviously, we have a bunch of injuries right now, and it's our job to step up when we get called upon,” said Hallisey, who has made three appearances off the bench this year. “Any time that the coaches put the trust in us to do that, it feels good, and then it just gives you the confidence to go out on the field and do what they tell you to do.”
For Hallisey, that meant keeping the ball in New England's end and preventing breakouts for counterattacks as the match wound down.
“I thought Hallisey was incredibly intelligent to take the ball down into the corner, and try to waste time, and get a throw in at the end,” Vermes said in his postmatch news conference. “It shows a lot of maturity from that kid. I’ve said this before, he has a lot of potential ahead of him.”
Dia, starting at left back because of injuries to Seth Sinovic and Marcel de Jong, turned in a solid effort at both ends of the pitch.
“He's proven we can rely on him,” center back and captain Matt Besler, who played next to Dia in the back line, told reporters. “He's a guy that just puts his head down and does his job. That's a really good attitude to have as a rookie.”
Sporting's veterans have helped him make that transition from untested draft pick to dependable option, Dia told reporters.
“I don't think they could have done a better job,” he said. “When I came to MLS, I thought it would be all competition and not being really friendly, but they totally changed my opinion on that. Everybody's super friendly. Everybody tries to make you a better person off and on the field every day. I love it so far.”
Of all three rookies who played on Wednesday, none took a more circuitous route to the pitch at Sporting Park than Abdul-Salaam.
The young defender was recalled early in the week from a loan to the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions, for whom he played 90 minutes in a weekend match, solely so injury-riddled Sporting could suit up 17 players against the Revs. He didn't even get any training in with Kansas City prior to making his MLS debut as a stoppage-time sub for winger Krisztian Nemeth.
“Crazy last few days, just traveling around,” he told MLSsoccer.com, “but I'm happy they called me back and I got into the game to show what I can do.
“It just shows that [Vermes] trusts us, and we have the quality to go out there and help the team out and preserve the win.”
Even if not everyone recognized him at first, or even knew he was in the match.
“It's funny, because I wasn't paying attention during the third substitution,” Besler said, “but we continued play for about two or three minutes and all of a sudden I see this guy that I haven't seen for six weeks, and he's out on the field.
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“I did a double-take. I wasn't quite sure who it was out there. But obviously, I realized it was Saad. I'm very happy for him, and I hear he's doing well down in San Antonio.”
Vermes, who brought Abdul-Salaam on to provide another tall presence in the penalty area as New England launched a late barrage of set pieces, doesn't usually loan rookies out, preferring to keep them close at hand so they can learn Sporting's system.
“My big thing with him is he missed so much of preseason, I wanted him to go out with a team and get 90-minutes fit,” Vermes said. “And I think that he feels really good right now at the place that he’s playing, and I think he had a lot of confidence.”
And after Wednesday's performance, Sporting have even more confidence in their first-round class of 2015.
“It’s very rare that you get rookies who can come in and contribute right away,” forward Dom Dwyer told reporters. “Credit to them, they’ve all been brilliant. They’re all good characters in the dressing room. This is a very close team. Everyone gets along and is here to win. There are no big egos. Everyone is together.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
