Sporting Kansas City to face Real Salt Lake in MLS Cup

Two teams that were duking it out for the Supporters Shield for a significant part of the summer will now meet for the MLS Cup.

Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake will meet on December 7th at Sporting Park as the two teams fight for the MLS Cup trophy in their second meeting of the year.

The first time these two squads met it was a brutal, physical match that saw Real Salt Lake man Chris Wingert set off for two yellow cards during the course of the match. The ending, of course, will go down as one of the best moments in 2013 for Sporting KC as Ike Opara rose above everyone else and headed home a corner kick in the 97th minute to give Sporting Kansas City the 2-1 road victory.

Sporting Kansas City made it to the MLS Cup by defeating the Houston Dynamo 2-1 on aggregate, all goals being scored during the second leg. Real Salt Lake disposed of Portland by winning 4-2 in the first leg, then adding another goal in Portland to give them a 5-2 aggregate victory.

This is Sporting Kansas City's third overall MLS Cup appearance and their first since 2004. This will also be the first time that Kansas City has hosted an MLS Cup in the league's history. Real Salt Lake will make their second trip to the MLS Cup since coming into the league in 2004, winning the 2009 edition.

Also on the line for both teams could be a spot in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League. As the current rules stand, both teams would make the tournament, joining the New York Red Bulls and DC United. If the proposed USSF rules are approved by CONCACAF, however, only the winner of the MLS Cup would make the tournament while the final spot would go to the Western Conference regular season winners Portland.

The MLS Cup will be on ESPN at 3 pm central on December 7th.