Sporting KC breakout star Logan Ndenbe has ACL injury, is done for MLS postseason

Sporting KC’s clean sweep of their rivals, St. Louis City SC, in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs will unfortunately come with a cost.

Logan Ndenbe — who scored in each of SKC’s playoff matches with St. Louis — suffered a torn ACL during Sporting’s 2-1 win on Sunday, ending his season. Peter Vermes announced the injury during Sporting’s Wednesday media availability.

“It’s unfortunate for Logan ‘cause he’s not only playing so well, but he worked so hard to get back and get into such great form,” Vermes said. “But this is the business we’re in. You gotta find a way to deal with the situations that you’re in.”

Earlier in Sunday’s 2-1 win, the 23-year-old had scored his second goal of the MLS postseason after not scoring at all during the regular season. Ndenbe scored during Sporting KC’s opening first-round match against St. Louis.

The club described the injury as a “torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.”

Sporting KC said in a news release that Ndenbe sustained the injury in the 62nd minute Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park, noting, “The left back will undergo surgery in the near term and is expected to be sidelined for 7 to 9 months.”

Ndenbe, a 23-year-old Belgian national, played during Sunday’s series-clinching home victory over St. Louis City SC — even after the injury occurred. He stayed down, and play was stopped. The trainers came on and evaluated him, but he got up and walked off, playing for the next 44 minutes.

“I don’t know how, to be honest,” Ndenbe said. “I was feeling great.”

But by Tuesday, he was feeling it, his leg had swelled up, and the scans revealed the worst.

Ndnebe says he sustained a torn ACL early in his career before joining Sporting, but it was on his left knee. Having gone through the recovery process once, he feels confident that he can return to the level he had reached this season.

“I just know I will come back stronger,” Ndnebe said.

After Sunday’s win against St. Louis, Ndenbe said he had been waiting for his opportunity to play in the playoffs since he came to Kansas City in 2022. And he certainly capitalized on that chance.

He scored the first goal in each of Sporting’s postseason victories against St. Louis.

Ndenbe had turned in one of his best professional seasons in 2023, managing a few hamstring injuries before locking down the left side of Sporting’s back line through their stretch run. The goals were an added bonus, making him somewhat of a postseason cult hero, labeled “Playoff Ndenbe.”

As for who will step up in the interim, that will likely be Tim Leibold. The German left back was held out with a groin injury over the past few weeks, and while he appeared on the injury report as questionable during Sporting’s series with St. Louis, Vermes said he would be good to go.

“He’s in a really good place,” Vermes said. “And we have a couple of different players that we could play there as well. But he’s ready to go.”

Dany Rosero suffers broken nose

Dany Rosero was subbed off late in Sunday’s win after taking a knee to the face in a collision with St. Louis winger Célio Pompeu. Rosero was stretchered off the field and evaluated, revealing a broken nose. Vermes expects him to recover through the rest of the week and return to training next week.

Sporting will have to wait until November 25 or 26 to play their Western Conference Semifinal opener, and they still don’t know their opponent. They will play the winner of the Houston Dynamo vs. Real Salt Lake.

Those teams are tied at one win apiece, with the rubber match coming this Saturday night.