Sporting KC’s Kortne Ford likely to miss ’23 season; club adds draft pick Chris Rindov

Sporting KC’s depth at center back was already razor thin, even with the addition of second-round draft pick Chris Rindov on Friday.

That’s because Sporting also got some unwelcome news this week: Kortne Ford tore an Achilles tendon during Wednesday’s preseason scrimmage against Arizona’s Real Salt Lake and will likely miss the entire 2023 season.

The Olathe native Ford joined Sporting KC last year while recovering from a serious knee injury that had plagued him for several seasons. He had emerged as a trusted member of the back line until missing 10 games and serving a suspension for violating Major League Soccer’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) policy.

Ford had looked like a suspension this year to start alongside Andreu Fontas… until Wednesday’s injury. Ford underwent successful surgery for the injury on Friday morning but his recovery process will almost certainly prevent him from playing this year.

Sources tell The Star that the signing of Rindov and Ford’s injury are not directly related, noting that the process of signing Rindov began before Ford was injured.

But that doesn’t change anything about this reality: Sporting KC is going into the final stretch of the pre-season with only two experienced central defenders.

To further compound the dilemma, both defenders are left-footed. Sporting attempted such an arrangement with Matt Besler and Fontas in 2019 and they just didn’t complement each other well.

Rookie Rindov, Sporting KC’s second draft pick in December, is the only right-footed centre-back in the squad.

Sporting KC Director of Player Staff Brian Bliss said he had his eye on Rindov ahead of December’s MLS SuperDraft. But the last time Sporting KC signed a draft pick was in 2018 with Graham Smith and Eric Dick. No selection had been signed since then.

In an interview with The Star, Rindov said he checked how recent draft picks fared after Sporting KC picked him.

“It’s been a while (since one was signed) but it hasn’t affected my confidence,” Rindov said. “I knew my skills and I knew what I was going to do, so I wanted to take it day by day.”

Rindov said he spoke to Bliss and other Sporting KC staffers during the league’s college showcase combine. But he still wasn’t sure what would happen on draft day. Ultimately he ended up with a team that thinks he could fit and now all he has to do is prove it.

Confident in his abilities, Rindov knows how to play a style that will appeal to manager Peter Vermes thanks to the system he played in Maryland.

“We didn’t want to kick the ball for a long time and give it away. We wanted to keep it,” said Rindov. “From that perspective, my shorter passing game and ability to find those little pockets (with Sporting KC) can be translated.”

And he’s a strong defender. Standing at 6ft 2 and having also played volleyball, he has the vertical ability to challenge opponents in the air.

Rindov is the son of Bulgarian immigrants and holds both Bulgarian and US citizenship. He points to the 2006 World Cup as the event that made a 5-year-old child in Maryland fall in love with the game.

He never played in a major academy but his club manager saw his talent and potential and helped him to become well known. Eventually, he earned his place in college with the Terrapins.

Having to earn a roster spot and a pro contract hasn’t fazed Rindov. He continued to play in Maryland, one of the nation’s most storied collegiate football programs, but played in every game there for his last two seasons and became captain his senior year.

Now he gets to star alongside another Maryland legend in Graham Zusi.

“Talking to him, learning from him and playing alongside him was valuable because he has so much knowledge and knows exactly what Peter wants,” Rindov said of Zusi. “(He gave) me these little things here and there.

“It’s great to play with him and now obviously be a teammate with him and hopefully a friend.”