Soni Mustivar does the heavy lifting for K.C.
things he’s been able to do,” Feilhaber told the Kansas City Star last month.
There was a funny part in that Star piece, explaining how Mustivar was mistaken, twice, for other K.C. players at a recent autograph signing. His own fans are still getting familiar with him but it’s safe to say the Caps know him now.
He was a huge thorn in their side at B.C. Place, although Carl Robinson’s team comes to K.C. in rampant form with 11 goals in three MLS games.
The Caps’ front four attackers are fully rested, too, with Robinson rotating his lineup in Montreal on Wednesday.
Vermes, by contrast, played a similar starting lineup Saturday in MLS and Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup play, Mustivar included.
“Vancouver is for me one of the best teams,” said Mustivar, who moved to Kansas City with his girlfriend and says he’s enjoying the friendly folks and light traffic in his new city.
“Individually and collectively, they’re doing well. It will be a tough game for us.”
A tough game for the Caps attackers, too — especially if Mustivar’s got a reserve tank for his third game in a week.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Soni Mustivar doesn’t impress himself easily.
The Sporting Kansas City defensive midfielder had a monster game at B.C. Place in July, when K.C. clipped the Whitecaps 1-0 on a day of missed opportunities for the home side.
Mustivar’s 19 interceptions tied an MLS single-game record during the Opta statkeeping era (since 2011).
And his 17 recoveries of loose balls ranked second in the five seasons MLS has been tracking such things.
He also had game highs in touches and completed passes, won 11 duels and made four tackles.
It was a dominant performance that had people around the league talking about the little-known 25-year-old French-born midfielder who joined K.C. in February. But was it his best game for the club? “For me, no,” Mustivar said Thursday, ahead of Saturday’s rematch against the Caps at Sporting Park.
“Because I lost too many balls. OK, I did recover a lot of balls, had a lot of interceptions, but if you’re not able to keep the ball, then it doesn’t mean nothing.”
Those high standards are great news for K.C. manager Peter Vermes, who plucked Mustivar out of Romania in the hopes of shoring up the defensive side of midfield and freeing up Benny Feilhaber more.
Mustivar, who has Haitian parents and has played for Haiti, was in France’s Ligue 2 with Bastia before three seasons at Petrolul Ploiesti in Romania.
There, he battled to avoid relegation, fought for a trophy, sometimes didn’t get paid and “learned a lot as a human”, he said, as well as a soccer player.
“I loved the fact he’d played outside his country,” said Vermes, whose team is unbeaten at home this season.
“It showed he can handle the (change in) environment.
“The best thing about him is he’s adjusted to our team faster than I thought he would. He’s got a really good engine. He’s fit into the way that we play.”
Mustivar has made 13 straight MLS starts since May 3. K.C. is 8-2-3 in that stretch.
Feilhaber, who is tied for the league lead with 12 assists, has been among Mustivar’s promoters, much like the Caps creative types are quick to thank Matias Laba for all his dirty work.
“I know a lot of the good things I’ve been able to do this year (are because) of the mweber@theprovince.com twitter.com/ProvinceWeber