The Kansas City Current are 2 wins from a championship. Challenge Cup semifinal preview
As the dust settled on the Kansas City Current’s 18th match of the NWSL regular season, KC sat at the bottom of the table, seven points off the playoff line with only four matches remaining.
In all likelihood, the Current will miss out on the postseason in 2023. But that doesn’t rule out the chance for a trophy.
The Current will play host to the North Carolina Courage in the Challenge Cup semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
North Carolina has been a tough opponent for the Current this season. The teams have split 1-0 results, with the home team winning each game. Interim coach Caroline Sjöblom thinks that competitiveness will continue with a championship-game berth on the line.
“I expect it to be a very tough game,” Sjöblom said. “I have a lot of respect for the team. They have been playing very consistent for many years.”
In the 2022 Challenge Cup, the Current made the semifinals and faced the Courage at home. Debinha and Kristen Hamilton — who are tied for the most goals (12) in the tournament’s history — scored in that match. But Debinha did so in a Courage uniform. The Current fell 2-1.
This time, the Current will have Debinha on their side. And Sjöblom hinted that the Brazilian star has been giving the Current some insight on their opponent.
“She knows about their weaknesses,” Sjöblom said. “We have been using Debinha’s brain for this game because she knows the small details.”
The Current have found more success in this year’s Challenge Cup — which mirrors the World Cup setup with a group stage, followed by knockout rounds — than the regular season.
KC is 4-1-1 in cup play and tied for the best goal differential (plus-10). In six Challenge Cup games, the Current have scored 14 goals. They’ve scored 19 total goals through 18 NWSL regular-season matches.
Why the discrepancy?
“It’s something different when we play cup games,” Sjöblom said. “It’s like they get this little bit of extra energy. I don’t know if it’s about the prize money or it’s the cool thing with the cup, but they really enjoy playing in this.”
Victory on Wednesday night would mean the Current host the championship match regardless of who wins the other semifinal.
The Current were the second seed (to OL Reign) out of group play. However, because of the NWSL’s locked-in national broadcast time (11:30 a.m. Central on CBS), and a stipulation in the NWSL CBA stipulating a game cannot start before 11:30 a.m. local time, OL Reign cannot host the final.
So — a win on Wednesday and the Current have the opportunity to raise a trophy in front of their home fans on Saturday. The focus is on Wednesday’s match first, but the players and coaches know there’s a big opportunity right around the corner.
“We have all the focus on this cup game right now,” Sjöblom said. “We want to go to the final.”
