July 13, 2024
By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@gmail.com
When the highly anticipated 2024 Kansas City Current season schedule came out fans knew when to pack the brand new 11,500 CPKC Stadium located along the Berkley riverfront in Kansas City. Something else Current fans may have noticed is after July 6th their next league came is not until August 25th. That is not a typo as the Current and all the NWSL teams now enter into an Olympic break to allow those players selected for national teams to compete in the 2024 Summer games being played in Paris, France.
The Current had two players selected to play in the upcoming Olympic games in defender Lauren and forward Nichelle Prince. Lauren will be joining the Brazilian national team as one of four alternates for the 2024 games. The second year defender will be attending her first Olympics tournament. For Prince this is her third Olympics having won a bronze medal in 2016 and won a gold medal at the 2021 games in Tokyo, Japan.
The Olympic soccer tournament will take place from July 24 through August 10 and played in several cities in France. There will be 12 teams playing divided into three groups. The first set of games will be played on Wednesday, July 24, two days before the games official opening ceremony in Paris.
For those staying back home in the United States they will continue playing games as the NWSL wanted to keep teams in shape for the long regular season that will continue through November 3rd. Up next for the Current is action in the NWSL vs Liga MX Femenil Cup. This summer break slate of games pits the US women’s league teams against the best teams from Mexico.
The first game for the Current is at home against Houston on Saturday, July 20 with a 7 p.m. game time at CPKC Stadium. Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski commented on the upcoming cup games, “We do something different.” Heading into the Olympic break the Current sit in second place in the NWSL holding a record of 10-1-5 with 35 points. The team’s lone loss was to first place Orlando a 2-1 defeat on Saturday, July 6. The defeat ended the Current’s 17 match unbeaten streak. Individually KC forward Temwa Chawinga is tied atop the NWSL Golden Boot leaderboard with 12 goals on the season. Whether they spend the next few weeks in Paris or at home in Kansas City the Current players hope to enjoy the Oympic break by continuing their winning ways.
