Benefield: Vikings alum Eric Kronberg fights for No. 1 gig, again

Eric Kronberg gave himself one moment. One damn-it-all moment, sitting there behind the curtain when the technician called out the results of his X-ray.

Broken.

That crackling noise in Kronberg’s left hand? That’s the fourth metacarpal wiggling where it should definitely not be wiggling.

Kronberg, the Montgomery High School and Cal goalkeeper, had spent eight years waiting in the wings for a starting spot with his Major League Soccer squad. He played understudy to successive keepers at Sporting Kansas City for years before being given the nod to man the net this season.

Good call, Sporting K.C. Kronberg shone.

He anchored the stingiest defense in the Eastern Conference, averaging just .88 goals allowed per game and seven shutouts. Only the Los Angeles Galaxy had allowed fewer goals across the 19-team MLS. They were in a dogfight with D.C. United for first place in the eastern conference.

Then Kronberg, 31, jammed his left hand into the goal post during training July 9.

“I thought it was a stinger,” he said. “I have had a thousand of those.”

It wasn’t a stinger. Unless a stinger is a dagger to your heart. A punch in the gut when everything was rolling - finally rolling.

Pull a muscle? Maybe you play through it. A keeper who breaks his hand? Have a seat on the end of the bench.

Back to Kronberg sitting behind that curtain waiting for the technician’s verdict.

“I kind of choked up for a minute,” he remembered

Why now?

It had been a long haul but Kronberg was now - finally - the man for Sporting K.C. He was the guy directing the defense - the last brick in the wall.

And in a blink he’s got a broken hand and a suddenly uncertain future.

But he’d been there before. To call what Kronberg had done “waiting” for his shot in the pros is not accurate.

Waiting is thumbing through Good Housekeeping at the dentist’s office. What Kronberg had done for years was grind, drill, work - all with the same guys who had what he wanted: The starter’s job.

That’s one of the head scratchers here. Goalkeepers, while teammates with the squad en masse, are also their own little posse. They work out separately for large chunks of training because what they do is so different from field players. And they are teammates but also competitors amongst themselves.

If a team has two good field players at the same position, adjustments are made and coaches alter lineups to get both players in. Not so at keeper where lineup changes are infrequent and substitutions nearly unheard of. Kronberg, the longest tenured player on the club, endured six seasons where he didn’t see a minute of playing time.

So the guys he trained with now understandably thought his broken hand was their big break. There is no shame in that, this is the big leagues and that’s the way things go.

Kronberg’s emotional roller coaster was made all the more dramatic when Sporting K.C.’s No. 2 keeper went down with a shoulder injury. So now there are three keepers fighting for the starter’s job.

“It’s an interesting dynamic but at the same time, you have to have confidence in your ability,” Kronberg said. “I want them to be at their best and beat them at their best.”

Sporting K.C. has maintained while Kronberg has been out. The club is in second place in the Eastern Conference and in the hunt for the Supporters’ Shield trophy.

Meantime, Kronberg is on the mend. The hard cast is off, he’s making light catches. He says he’s about a week and a half away from getting the all clear to train at full speed and full contact.

“My teammates are constantly asking ‘How much longer? How much longer?’ ” he said.

Kronberg, who likely asked himself that same question for eight seasons, doesn’t want to go back down that road.

He was eager and effusive in his praise of his fellow keepers. He spoke of the special dynamic that keepers have with each other, the support they offer in good times and bad.

But still, No. 1 wants his job back.

And don’t expect him to wait around for it.