By Toby Dunkelberg
DC United and LA’s losses on Tuesday coupled with RSL being down two goals leave the Seattle Sounders as MLS’s only hope in advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal. They face quite the uphill battle headed into Wednesday’s face-off against Club America. Tied 2-2 but down on away goals, the Sounders have to win or draw by 3-3 or more to earn a spot in the continental competition’s next round. They need a result against the reigning best team on the continent, at North America’s most feared venue, oh and it’s only their second game of the season too.
Most are already writing it off as a loss, but there were a lot of positives for the Sounders in that 2-2 first leg tie. Seattle proved that their 4-3-3 works for them and that their 4-0 win against LA wasn’t purely a fluke. Sigi Schmid’s first formation switch in years allows Andreas Ivanschitz and Clint Dempsey to pull centrally and interchange in a way that makes both of them better. Joevin Jones’ bombing runs up the left add another layer to the attack, overloading that left side. All of which opens up more space for Jordan Morris on the right to stretch defenses vertically.
For the first 30 minutes that dynamic tactic worked worked to perfection for Seattle. With Erik Friberg and Osvaldo Alonso locking down the midfield and spreading the ball around, the Sounders saw themselves going toe-to-toe with Club America. They scored the first goal of the game and then later went up 2-1 before conceding the equalizer. In an open free-flowing game against Club America the Sounders managed to come away disappointed at the 2-2 result. The way they played it could’ve easily been 2-1 or 3-1.
What this narrative forgets is that Club America can say the same exact thing. Their style on the road is to play the counter and get more aggressive as the game goes on and defenses wear down. That’s exactly what they did a week ago. The Sounders success in controlling possession early on was in line with America’s strategy. For all that possession Seattle only scored on set pieces, and were rarely dangerous in the run of play. With Quintero and Peralta as their forwards, Club America was more than happy to wait for counters. Their long balls over the top were consistently dangerous and it took impressive high line work from Seattle to limit Club America to two goals.
With the probable return of forward Darío Benedetto, America improves their attack while also moving Quintero into a super sub role. Even if the Sounders hold America scoreless into the second half, far from a given, Club America has the luxury of subbing on Darwin Quintero. Quintero’s ability to punish opponents mistakes with his speed is uniquely suited to the super sub role at Azteca. He’ll be able to run circles around a tired defense who’s just starting to feel the effects of altitude. It’ll take a herculean effort from centerbacks Brad Evans and Chad Marshall to keep America off the scoresheet.
On the other side of the ball Club America is expected to roll out pretty much the same back line for their fourth game in a little over a week and a half. Normally that’s a recepie for success, but they’ll be bolstered by the return of starting goalkeeper Moises Munoz. He looked shaky in his first start back but expect the jitters to be gone, and for him to play better than Hugo Gonzalez who had numerous goal line saves last week.
One thing making life a little easier for the Seattle defenders is that Club America’s captain, Rubens Sambuezza dislocated his shoulder over the weekend. America’s saying he will play, and he did practice yesterday, but he certainly won’t be at 100%. That’s good news for Seattle as he was credited with the assist on both of America’s goals in the first leg and was the main provider of long balls over the top, which proved to be Seattle’s achilles heel. Add to that America’s poor performance at the Azteca as of late and the better rested Sounders might just have a glimmer of hope.
If any club in MLS could win at Estadio Azteca, it’d be the Sounders. They’ve won in Mexico before and have enough veterans and talent to not be starstruck. That’s why despite all the things against them, the long travel, the 7000 foot elevation, playing Club America, being down two away goals, and playing in Estadio Azteca, no one’s completely counted them out.
Is the Sounders advancing unlikely? Yes. But stranger things have happened.
