SEATTLE – You know something important happened at a sporting event that no one wants to leave. With history made at Lumen Field on Wednesdays, you can’t blame anyone involved Seattle Sounders because I want to stick around.
Seattle prevailed in the second leg of CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) in the end with 3-0 victory over Pumas on the Mexican side, completing the overall win 5-2. After that, the hugs on the field were almost as rich as the cheers in the stands. The sea of blue shirt fans rose, bouncing in the passionate air. Defender of Seattle Nouhou Tolo waving the Cameroon flag; front Fredy Montero wears a Colombia around his waist. The children randomly made snow angels in the confetti. And the crowd cheered when the captain of Seattle Nicolas Lodeiro raise the trophy.
It was a history-making moment for the Sounders and the MLS. It’s been more than 20 years since an MLS team has been able to claim continental supremacy – the first such win since the tournament was played at home and away in the knockout stages in 2016. 2002.
Over the years, CCL has experienced so many moments where MLS teams have made headlines with exceptional talent. But in those instances when an MLS team looks poised for a possible breakthrough, they also seem overwhelmed when circumstances go against them. Those moments come anyway: missed opportunities, injuries, questionable referee decisions, the list goes on. Add in an unforgiving calendar, and there’s an almost certain sense of when an MLS team will hold out.
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In this version of the tournament, the expectations surrounding the Sounders add to the tension. They made it difficult in the first leg with a 2-2 draw against Mexico City. And the sell-out crowd announced at 68,741 on Wednesday was hoping to push their heroes over the edge. That pressure can be overwhelming, but on this occasion it worked as intended.
“I was on the bench when everyone came out and you heard the applause [from the fans]I’m chilled,” Kelly Rowe speak. “I had a real smile on my face.”
Manager Brian Schmetzer added: “The connection with the fans and the players is the spirit of this club. And you’ve heard it. When the teams took to the pitch tonight, it was real. It’s great. It’s really great. You guys feel the energy in the building. The players felt it. It was breathtaking.”
Yet even if Seattle was soon ahead, enough of those old, haunting elements have shown themselves to suggest that history may be repeating itself. In particular, the replacement of Nouhou and Joao Paulo due to injury in the first 30 minutes of the game has the potential to knock Seattle out. And it went on for a while. A second Pumas side has begun to stabilize and appear to have gained control of the game.
But instead of collapsing, the Sounders pass the blows, relying on their depth – including Rowe and the 16-year-old academy product Obed Vargas – and completes ‘s cold-blooded finish Raul Ruidiaz and Lodeiro’s playstyle to dominate.
Winning is important to the MLS. For what appears to be forever, MLS commissioner Don Garber has advertised that the goal of the league is to be the best in the world on some seemingly random date. Granted, it’s part of Garber’s job to speak for the league, but this laudable goal, as you define it, seems to ignore the fact that you have to take care of the business in your area first. when you can start thinking about competing with the rest of the world.
Now MLS can start to have dreams that are a little more grounded in reality. True, there will be more than one title to claim regional dominance, but that doesn’t start until the first win is in the books. That’s what MLS has now.
And it has to go to Seattle to thank. Other teams have won championships during Seattle’s time in the MLS, but the Sounders have impressed for their consistency in a pay-capped league, winning the championship every year and reaching the final four of the MLS Cup. time. One more Shield of Support and four US Open Cup titles, and it’s clear that titles are more of an expectation than a goal.
That kind of success takes planning, which, if done right, creates depth along with talent. That was on display on Wednesday. Vargas and Rowe filled out the information and set the stage for Seattle to redefine themselves.
“Always hard to lose [two] starters, especially Joao and Nouhou, who made the difference, “midfielder Cristian Roldan speak. “But the reality is that our front office has done a great job of creating this depth. It’s nice to have a good team on paper but you also have to show that we’re a good team on the pitch. Because So, those guys have stepped up. It’s the mentality of the next man. A 16-year-old and a 10-year veteran playing for two boys that’s something you can’t replicate in the league. this. “
Yes, bad clearances are easy to overlook when you have a ruthless finisher like Ruidiaz. His first tally just before half-time had an element of luck about it, deflecting Diogo and overtaking a stuck man Alfredo Talavera in the Pumas target. His second at 80 minutes completed a stunning team goal regarding Jordan Morris and Lodeiro. Lodeiro’s clean-up phase after Morris’ finish was hit by Talavera’s post, putting the ball on the opener.
“Raul is a killer, in a good way, not a bad way,” says Schmetzer. “And, you know how in the NFL, they have franchise players? Isn’t that what they have? You can call Nico the franchise player.”
Seattle’s defense was also successful. Clamped around Ruidiaz’s goals was Pumas’ constant pressure on the Seattle keeper Stefan Frei into a brilliant savings. But then signing off-season is overrated Albert Rusnak provided some composure with the ball, and started the streak that led to Ruidiaz’s second tally. Suddenly, the Sounders were going downhill all the way to the CCL title.
The celebrations that followed had moments of contrast. Schmetzer did what he could to deflect praise from everyone in the organization. Even in what is arguably his biggest triumph, he’s reluctant to be drawn into history. “Give me six months,” he said. It is suspected that once he has a glass of wine with his wife Kristine, the significance of the victory will begin to sink in, but for now, he is “living in the moment.”
“It’s been a team effort to push this over the edge, I can’t overstate it,” he added. “It’s been a tough tournament to win. And yes, we’ve done it and we’re all happy there. We’re moving forward. We have a game against Dallas at the weekend. .”
Sounders GM and football president Garth Lagerwey did not hold back and did not hesitate to enjoy the victory. For him, it was about redemption. Lagerwey used to walk the same path in CCL when he was the GM of Real salt lake back in 2011, only when that side fell into a state of staggering disarray. The CCL Holy Grail is finally in his possession. “This is a long time coming,” he said. “Personally, I don’t know if I’ll ever come back [to the final]. It’s been 11 years. Doing it with the Sounders and doing it this way and doing it with these fans is really special. “
Lagerwey is of the opinion that Seattle is also not one of the dominant MLS teams in the CCL. He talks about things like New York City FC and LAFC push the level of the tournament higher.
“We are the tip of the spear,” he said. “But there’s a whole vanguard behind us. And with a league on the rise, League Cup Competition becomes very interesting now because it is really competitive. You have the best generation of American players in the World Cup. What an exciting time to be a part of American football. “
It is also a history.
