Sporting KC’s Kortne Ford likely to miss ’23 season; club adds draft pick Chris Rindov

Sporting KC’s depth at center-back was already razor-thin, even with the addition to the roster of second-round draft pick Chris Rindov on Friday.

That’s because Sporting also got some unwelcome news this week: Kortne Ford ruptured an Achilles tendon during Wednesday’s preseason scrimmage against Real Salt Lake out in Arizona and will likely miss the entire 2023 season.

An Olathe native, Ford joined Sporting KC last year as he was coming off a severe knee injury that had plagued him for multiple seasons. He had started to emerge as a trustworthy member of the back line until he missed 10 games, serving a suspension for violating Major League Soccer’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Policy.

Ford had looked like a lock to start next to Andreu Fontas this year ... until Wednesday’s injury. Ford underwent successful surgery for the injury Friday morning, but his recovery process will all but certainly preclude him from playing this year.

Sources tell The Star that the signing of Rindov and Ford’s injury are not directly related, noting that the process to sign Rindov began before Ford got hurt.

But that doesn’t change this reality: Sporting KC enters the final stretch of its preseason prep with just two center-backs with professional experience.

Further compounding the dilemma, both of those defenders are left-footed. Sporting tried such an arrangement with Matt Besler and Fontas in 2019 and they just didn’t complement each other well.

The rookie Rindov, Sporting KC’s second draft pick in December, is the only right-footed center back on the roster.

Sporting KC director of player personnel Brian Bliss said he’d had his eye on Rindov for a while ahead of the December MLS SuperDraft. But the last time Sporting KC signed a draft pick was in 2018, with Graham Smith and Eric Dick. No selection had been signed since.

In an interview with The Star, Rindov said he looked up how recent draft picks had fared after Sporting KC selected him.

“It’s been a little while (since one was signed), but it didn’t deter my confidence,” Rindov said. “I knew my ability, and I knew what I was going in with, so I just wanted to tackle it day by day.”

Rindov said he spoke with Bliss and other Sporting KC staff during the league’s college showcase combine. But he still wasn’t sure what would happen on draft day. Ultimately he landed with a team that believes he could be a fit, and now he just needs to prove it.

Rindov is confident in his abilities and knows how to play a style that will appeal to manager Peter Vermes, thanks to the system in which he played at Maryland.

“We didn’t want to kick the ball long and give it away. We wanted to keep it,” Rindov said. “So from that perspective, my shorter passing and ability to find those little pockets can translate (with Sporting KC).”

And he’s a strong defender. Standing 6-foot-2 and having also played volleyball, he has the vertical ability to challenge opponents in the air.

Rindov is the son of Bulgarian immigrants and holds citizenship in both Bulgaria and the U.S. He points to the 2006 World Cup as the event that made a 5-year-old kid in Maryland fall in love with the game.

He never played with a significant academy, but his club coach saw his talent and potential and helped him gain exposure. Eventually, he earned his place in college with the Terrapins.

Having to earn a roster spot and a pro contract hasn’t fazed Rindov. He walked on at Maryland, one of the country’s most storied collegiate soccer programs, but went on to start every match there in his final two seasons and become a captain during his senior year.

Now, he gets to play alongside another Maryland legend in Graham Zusi.

“Talking to him, learning from him and playing beside him has been valuable because he has so much knowledge and he knows exactly what Peter wants,” Rindov said of Zusi. “(He’s) been giving me these little things here and there.

“It’s awesome to play with him and obviously now be a teammate with him, and hopefully a friend.”