Sporting KC: Top 10 Players of the Decade
By Nathan Dunn
4. Roger Espinoza
Drafted out of the Ohio State University by the Kansas City Wizards with the 11th overall pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, Roger Espinoza has had two separate stints with the organization. From 2008-2012, the Honduran international played in 113 games where he saw time playing at left-back and midfield. After spending 2013 and 2014 with Wigan Athletic, where he was part of the team to beat Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup Final, Espinoza returned to SKC.
The only downside of Espinoza’s style is his technical ability. He is a very dramatic left-footed bulldozer. His lack of technical ability has caused some of his troubles with ejections, as he has seen a club-high 11 red cards (second on the list is Nick Garcia with five red cards) and 54 yellow cards. But Espinoza’s endless work rate and bulldog-like approach to every game is hard not to like, and he is also currently the secondary captain to Matt Besler.
Espinoza ranks fourth with 238 games played, collecting 19,064 total minutes, and sits seventh with 35 assists. Espinoza has been apart of three of the club’s four championships in the past 10 years, missing out on the 2013 MLS Cup.