Roger Espinoza wanted to come back. Sporting Kansas City wanted him back.
From 2008 to 2012, the Honduran built up a reputation as one of Major League Soccer’s top central midfielders — with a penchant for winning tackles and not giving an inch. He helped Sporting KC finish first in the Eastern Conference twice (2011 and 2012).
Then, he saw his chance to pounce on something that dreams, and often sappy soccer movies, are made of — playing for a top-level club in Europe.
In Espinoza’s case, it was Wigan Athletic in the English Premier League. He moved to Wigan, which is about halfway between Manchester and Liverpool, on a free transfer in January 2013.
Over the span of two years, he and the Latics had some once-in-a-lifetime ups and some gutting downs. The team, founded 83 years ago, finished 18th and was relegated from the Premier League. A year later, they pipped Manchester City for the FA Cup, a trophy rarely won by anyone but the big boys and never before held aloft by Wigan players.
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Now, he’s back in the “sporting blue” and “dark indigo” of Sporting Kansas City. Here are three things to know about the 28-year-old since we last saw him in Tucson (not including that his hair is a lot shorter):
1. He went to the World Cup — a second time.
For the second straight World Cup, Espinoza was a mainstay for Honduras. While the team failed to take home a point from three matches in Brazil 2014, Espinoza still relished in the surroundings.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling” of being in the World Cup, Espinoza said. “It’s an emotional feeling just because when you are little, you just think about or dream about being in a World Cup. So just being there, you start thinking about all the moments when you were growing up, playing for your high school team, your college team, coaches, family, friends — everyone that has supported you all these years. … That’s why you play and that’s what you work so hard for.”
2. He’s expected to be a leader.
During Espinoza’s first stint, Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes needed a player he could count on match in and match out to be involved all over the field and help with the attack.
For stint No. 2, the seventh-year coach wants that same attitude on the field, but with the added leadership that comes from a veteran with the eminence of someone who has risen to the pinnacle of the sport.
“He’s older. He was gone for 2ƒ years. He grew up,” Vermes said. “There’s no doubt I expect more from him in a leadership aspect. I think he is now a true professional in the sense that it’s not that he wasn’t before but what he has now is his routine, he understands what his place is in the team and on the field. There’s a comfortability within himself and also has a confidence that allows him to be more of a guy that can help in the locker room, help young kids and then in the hard moments help the entire team. I want to see more of that from him.”
3. He hasn’t forgotten about his roots, and one of his toughest foes.
He ruled the pitch while playing at Yavapai College in Prescott in 2005 and 2006, winning the national player of the year honor.
His two-year stay in Arizona included a few trips down to Tucson to play Pima College.
“That’s probably the second-best team,” a smiling Espinoza said of Pima. “They’re a great team. Pima has a great coach. They have always had great players. I always get that great feeling when coming down to Tucson — of riding in the bus and coming down to the game here in really hot conditions. You kind of get emotional when you come into the city, because this is where I developed my game a little bit.
