KC players and the All-Star game haven’t exactly been a great mix these last few seasons. In 2012, Collin missed two weeks of MLS action after suffering facial fractures. Last year, Zusi missed four matches after picking up a quad strain in the All-Star game.
It would be helpful for Vancouver if lightning was to strike thrice, but that’s not something Zusi is even letting enter his mind (although we tried to put it there!).
"I think if you're thinking about not getting injured, that's when it tends to happen more,” Kansas City’s DP told AFTN at training on Tuesday. "It's something I'm not going to really think about. I'm going to prepare like I always do for a game. Ultimately, this weekend is the important one so I think Caleb is going to be very smart about minutes and together we'll play very similar minutes and definitely be ready for the weekend."
The KC numbers for the game were boosted at the weekend when in-form Dom Dwyer got a late call up to the match after TFC’s Jermain Defoe had to scratch with a groin injury.
The English striker should have been in the All-Star squad to begin with after his form this season, so it was just reward for his goalscoring exploits this year and he’s glad to be a part of it.
"I thought I would just miss out," Dwyer told reporters yesterday. "I was a little bit disappointed, but then I just carried on with it and focussed on the season and then the phone rang at the weekend and I'm here, so it's pretty cool.
"It's pretty fun. It's something different and I'm getting to play with the best players in the league. It's a cool thing to be a part of and you get to meet new guys and you're on another team, so it's fun."
Dwyer doesn’t feel that the game will have any detrimental effect on him or his Sporting KC teammates however, in terms of the match with the Caps on Sunday.
"If we weren't here this week we'd be training back in Kansas City,” he told us. “Our training is intense. I train the same way that I play."
Tonight's match will be Dwyer's first, but teammate Matt Besler will be earning his second straight All-Star honours, and his third in his career. He's not even thinking about the Caps game at the weekend yet.
"All of our focus is on the Wednesday game right now," Besler told us. "We'll train today and then we'll try and put in a great performance on Wednesday night. Once the game's over all of our focus just moves on to Sunday."
If Vancouver fans were hoping for some more tiring travel for the KC quartet, those hopes were somewhat dashed. The four players will remain in Portland tomorrow after the game to rest and then head straight up to Vancouver to join up with their teammates.
"We'll be joining the team on Friday," Besler added. "We're actually not going to fly back to Kansas City but we're going to stay up here in the northwest and then join the team on Friday in Vancouver."
Will Kansas City's All-Star jinx strike again? It's always nice to be your full strength opponents, but with the stretch of draws and no wins that Vancouver have had of late, we'll take any advantage given to us to get another tick in the win column.
Let's hope for a robust and sapping encounter in Portland tonight.
[** Thanks to AFTN contributor Zachary Meisenheimer for attending training yesterday and getting these quotes for us **]