Sporting KC MLS Cup 2013: Where are they now?

In 2013, Sporting Kansas City won the MLS Cup for a second time in their history, but where are the 18 members from that Sporting KC squad now?

In 2013, Sporting Kansas City won the MLS Cup for a second time in their history, repeating their triumph from the 2000 campaign. To do so, they overcame Real Salt Lake in the longest penalty shootout in MLS Cup history at Sporting Park on December 7, 2013.

SKC beat RSL 7-6 after 20 spot-kicks had been taken, following on from 120 minutes of action where the teams could not be separated. That was nearly six years ago, but where is that SKC squad now, and how many still play in MLS to this day?

I have a look back at that Sporting Kansas City team here.

GK – Jimmy Nielsen – Retired

Danish goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen played every minute of Sporting KC’s 39 games over the course of the 2013 season, with 14 shutouts throughout the campaign. The Dane’s first professional contract came with Millwall in the English leagues, but he did not play a game for the club, before moving back to his homeland.

Nielsen then spent the next twelve seasons with Aalborg, playing over 350 times for the club, including appearances in the Champions League as the team became the first Danish side to play in Europe’s premier club competition.

During his time with the club, Aalborg won the Danish Superliga in 1999 and played for the side through to the end of the 2006-2007 season. After half a season with Leicester City, where he did not play a game, Nielsen returned to Denmark, signing for Vejle.

The shot-stopper made the move to the States in February 2010, signing for the Kansas City Wizards, where he would play for the next four seasons. At the start of the 2011 season, the team rebranded themselves as Sporting KC, their current guise. In his time in KC, Nielsen played nearly 150 games for the club, keeping 49 shutouts in MLS action. He was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2012, along with being named to the MLS Best XI that season. The side won the U.S. Open Cup that year, before going on to win the MLS Cup in 2013.

Nielsen played a big part, being ever-present in between the sticks, and he played a vital part in the final, as four Real Salt Lake players missed penalties in the shoot-out. The Danish goalkeeper retired after the MLS Cup win in 2013 and has gone on to be the manager of Oklahoma City Energy and now the boss of Hartford Athletic.