Photo by Jane Gershovich/JaneG.Photography
By IVES GALARCEP
The Seattle Sounders knew they had done a good job escaping from Mexico down just one goal against current Mexican League leaders UANL Tigres last week, but only now do they realize just how close that result has them from a historic result in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Tigres has decided to field a team made up largely of back-ups for tonight’s second leg at CenturyLink Field in Seattle (10pm, Fox Soccer Channel) and that decision could open the door for the Sounders to become the first MLS team to beat a Mexican team in the knockout rounds of the current version of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Tigres has opened the door for that possibility by sending a mostly reserve side to Seattle for tonight’s match. The lone unbeaten team in Mexico, Tigres scored a road win over the weekend and clearly don’t want to wear out their first team when the squad is in the midst of a race for first place.
The team sent by Tigres isn’t exactly a pushover. While it is filled with players who haven’t seen much playing time for the Mexican side, there is plenty of talent. Alan Pulido, the scorer of the Tigres goal in the first leg, will lead the attack, while veterans Manuel Viniegra and Elias Hernandez are also good talents. American defender Jonathan Bornstein is also with the Tigres squad and should play some part in the match.
Tigres has enough talent on their team to score a valuable away goal, which is something Seattle will have to be wary off because a road goal for Tigres would mean Seattle has to score three goals.
The Sounders struggled to finish chances in their MLS season-opening loss to Montreal, but they have the weapons to score in bunches, as they showed in their home leg playoff loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy last fall.
Seattle has a chance to make history tonight, and will have the support of what should be a strong home crowd to drive them, but Sigi Schmid will be careful to send the message that this Tigres side is still very capable of earning the necessary result tonight.
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If you will be watching tonight’s match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
Mauro Rosales’ failed throw-in is a microcosm of MLS in CCL.
That was a red on Alonso.
Sounders should definitely be down a man for that. I wouldn’t be shocked by a suspension.
There’s no need for that kind of play. Looks like he punches the Tigres player in the neck on top of a pretty blatant cheap shot after the ball is gone.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh
Tuca: hijo de su pinche madre!
I think this Seattle team is a 500 hundred team this year in MLS. Plenty of teams have upgraded in MLS while Seattle hasn’t.
Agree, for the moment — wouldn’t be surprised if they get a lot better between now and mid-summer.
Basically they need a legit attacking threat, to go with their non-legit attacking threat Eddie Johnson.
they literally just bought martins, what would you like?
On paper, the perfect move. Hope he slides in as well as Triore has.
Too late for Seattle. Glad they won’t be in CCL next tournament.
San Jose should be eliminated early of the teams for the 2013-2014 CCL, their overly physical style will have them carded alot.
I’m laughing at you right now.
To be fair, it looked bleak until the red card in the 45th minute. But that’s what there are two halves!
I guess it’s not too surprising. Most of the Tigres reserve squad probably pull down a higher salary than the Seattle starting line up–or any MLS starting line up for that matter.
Looking at a few Liga MX salaries I can actually find tells me that most of their payrolls probably hover around 20-30 million a year for the first squad of 24.
Seattle just not making it happen, maybe another red card will be coming tigers way 🙂
Referee looked furious. What did that guy do off camera?
He kicked the ball away. Correct call.
roja
Red card…booya
Seattle has nobody to blame for this result but themselves. They have wasted about 5 legitimate goal scoring chances, EJ is just not doing it
He should have at least 2 goals already. And that’s like for sure two goals–not oh it was a decent chance 2 goals.
If Seattle cannot finish off the reserves of a Mexican team with their starters, they might as well have quit. Now Tigres has 10 men, make it count.
Now the traditional Mexican time wasting begins, break Seattle’s rythm.
No mls team can beat a Latin ref, lol
And Seattle defense sucks
Would any MLS team finish in the top half of the Liga MX table? Serious question.
Maybe the G’s, if they play to their max potential, they’d only be good for 6th.
Too much team money difference between leagues still
Yes but at the bottom of the half. Its about depth MLS teams have zero depth that’s what kills them. A MLS team could never have injuries just to stay competitive. MLS is improving but money talks and MLS isn’t ready to yet.
I don’t even know man.
Before we even think about depth… Tigres’ reserve squad is taking apart Sounders first squad.
Lol because Tigres reserves are better then most MLS starting teams or as good. Its just a tough go against teams with deeper pockets and deeper teams. MLS is getting better each year and if they expand the DP rule and bump up the salary cap we will see things improve even faster.
Eddie wtf! Come on
MLS should scout the Mexican reserve league for talent.
I know, right?
Sigi looking lost on the bench ROFL
I told ya mls fans, sigi will be out this season. The only team with major skills is galaxy
Will they be executed by Monterrey in the semis? assuming they make it.
Overall skill level of MLS starters not good enough to possess the ball agianst Mexican backup/reserve players.
What we are seeing now is that a good MLS team is slightly better then a Mexican teams backups but not on par with the starters. Seattle just isn’t that much more talented then the bench of Tigres. It doesn’t help that Seattle is stinking it up either.
Let’s not get carried away. This is the best team in Mexico, in mid-season form, against like the 6-7th best team in MLS, essentially in pre-season form. Maybe MLS should still be showing better, but this is by no means an even fight.
Interesting about the backups. I think the thing people don’t realize is, a decent payroll helps more in terms of depth than anywhere else. Players 1-7, MLS matches up very well with most FMF teams; 8-14, a little worse; 15-23, no contest. (Tigres’s backup LB is a World Cup vet, for heaven’s sake.) As long as the payroll disparity keeps up, you can expect FMF squad players from top teams to be competitive with MLS starters.
Sixth or seventh best MLS team? Wow you are a clown.
OK, here I don’t know what the F youre talking about. Care to explain?
Seattle playing long ball for the first 20 minutes, not good, have to keep possesion. Evans sucks. Seattle need 3 goals now, sucks but i don’t see it happening.
MLS should just give up and not compete in CCL like Jamaica.
How’s crow taste?
Are you serious ref? Call something !!!!! You can’t let them score on us like that.
We are Seattle for God’s sake.
You don’t think that was a foul?
I hate Seattle, but come on.
He turned away from the path of the ball and body checked the defender at full sprint. That’s a foul 100 out of 100 times.
Shoulder to shoulder. That’s not a foul anywhere in the world.
That was not shoulder to shoulder. Shoulder to shoulder requires both players be going toward the ball and fighting for it. The Tigres player clearly comes in at an angle toward the player and not the ball and bowls right over him.
Evans subbed out already, going down a goal at home.
Is this Rose kid like for like or is he an attacker/attacking midfielder?
GG CONCACAF officiating.
G f’n G.
That’s a yellow card in some leagues.
Punished already.
Wow that is called a foul everytime, good job CL refs, youre the greatest
Wouldn’t be shocked if Seattle blows this game, not fluid enough with their passing. Need to correct that. The long ball MLS style won’t cut it.
Dude, Ochoa, you’re not getting any easier a chance than that. Wow.
And there’s the trademark officiating we’ve grown to love.
Eddie Johnson yellow carded in the run up to a free kick for being in a mess of people.
Dude, you’re late. I’ve already blamed the referee before the game.
Getting burned by Bornstein must stink.
Dunseth is the worst American commentator.
He talks way too much and says nothing.
His voice is the most annoying in professional sports.
Has the man gone through puberty?
TT is worse. And Harkes was the gold standard in crappy color commentary.
John Harkes man… John Harkes.
I really wanted an audio channel that would only broadcast the crowd noise, both tonight and last week. If it was a drinking game based on stupid facts and inane probabilities, I would have blacked out before the halfway mark.
And the central defensive midfielder is….BORNSTEIN.
MLS app shows Tigres in a 5-3-2. Really?
Is this televised
Galavision is airing both CCL games tonight.
Yeah, Fox Soccer has it.
Bornstein to score for Tigres haha….
YES IT DOES….THATS WHY IF TIGRES SCORES SEATTLE IS GONNA NEED 3 GOALS.
Well…they got em…
Siggi won’t have any excuses when they get beat by Tigres reserves.
Away goals rule does not apply in CONCACAF…correct?
Incorrect. The away goals rule is the first tiebreaker. Seattle and LA are both in the hole on that score.
LA has less of a worry seeing as a simple win will get them thru, and honestly with the way Herediano was playing LA will be much more comfortable and powerful at Home…..also Villareal will be available to give the team more width….
So I may have just laughed in my office at work when I read that Bornstein may play tonight, if he does I think we know where Seattle’s attack is headed.
Not a foregone conclusion Seattle wins this game.
100% agree.
The tone of the article is too rosy and downplays the fact that Seattle is starting a goal down. Reserves or not, they have to win the match and do it in a way that doesn’t have Tigres advancing on away goals.
I still put Seattle’s chances of advancing at less than 50%.
+2 Tigres is a good f-ing team. Unbeaten this season and best in MX. Even with reserves an extremely difficult task for the rave green
Let’s get this out of the way: I blame the referee
I’ve found the officiating to be top notch in this round of play. The exception being the Mike Magee phantom offsides.
And the penalty afterwards seemed a bit questionable too.
So pretty much one of the two games was horribly officiated? But otherwise it’s top notch.
the worst possible scenario is Bornstein scoring the clinching goal-thereby twice destroying the American team’s chances versus a Mexican one…
Ha! bust a gut laughing.
No excuse for the Sounders to not win this match 3 or 4 to 0.
Yeah except their bench players probably cost more than Seattles whole team
Remember the biggest difference between MLS and FMF isnt players 1-11 its 11-30.
So basically what you’re saying is that by fielding a full strength lineup, Seattle will still be favorites to advance, although the Tigres squad won’t simply be pushovers just because they’re reserves?
Yep
True, and now I will remember it. Good point.
That’s pretty risky…maybe Tigres didn’t like having to go down to San Luis on the road on Saturday and 3 days later having to play in Seattle a good 1700+ away from where they spend Saturday night playing a tough game…..if Tigres doesn’t have the likes of Torres, Lobos and Salcido as well as Luis Garcia……Sigi better use Zakuani on the right mid spot, Martinez on the left, then have Rosales play in front of Alonso and partner up EJ with either Estrada or Ochoa……
Rosales is so much more comfortable on the right side than in the middle, frankly id rather run Martinez through the middle.
So Martinez in the middle, Zakuani on the left and Rosales on the right??
I just always pictured him more of a CAM #10….Center Attacking MId that is…..
You mentioned the CAM… Time for a purist to tell you there is no such thing and you’ve been playing video games too much.
Bwaaahh! This is true, and I’m always saying it.
…it only took 50 minutes for someone to jump on the CAM comment to make themselves appear like they know more about the beautiful game…You don’t play video games enough…
Sending their reserve team is the great combination of being both cocky and ballsy. Guess they weren’t overly impressed by Seattle’s quality last week. Hope the Sounders make them pay for that.
Wow, Seattle, don’t pooch this.
I think that Bornstein has been warming the bench for a couple of years now. If he actually shows up in this CCL elimination match…I…just…don’t…know…what…that…says. The Sounders really need to win this game.
It means that he’s been getting some of the tainted meat (sarcasm).
You listed Bornstein? Seattle may have a better chance to score.
Bottom line the Sounders were a much better team once Evans left…FACT!
Martinez should start over Evans…period!
You know how Klinsman has a hard on for Beckerman …I think
Sigi has one for Evans…