In one sense, midfielder Roger Espinoza’s career is as entwined with Sporting KC as much as any current player.
In 2008, the club then known as the Wizards picked him 11th overall in the MLS SuperDraft and nurtured him into its nucleus.
That coincided with the franchise’s metamorphosis in identity, home and purpose that funneled into winning the 2013 MLS Cup.
But for all Espinoza contributed to the foundation of that triumph, he could only gaze on from afar at the pinnacle:
After his MLS All-Star 2012 season, he was realizing his dream of playing in the English Premiere League, sandwiched between representing his native Honduras in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 World Cup.