Sounders FC may have a bye week from MLS action, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be seeing the Rave Green at CenturyLink Field.
The team hosts Club Tijuana on Tuesday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. Club Tijuana currently sits atop the 2015 Liga MX Clausura table, having lost just once in 10 matches (7-1-2). Xolos is currently four points ahead of second-place Veracruz, a team they beat 3-1 last Saturday. Before heading to Seattle, the club will face sixth-place Cruz Azul this Saturday.
The international friendly is an opportunity for the Sounders to take on an opponent similar to what the team will face in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League later this season. With those matches coming during an already-packed regular season schedule that includes the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey noted that it’s important to prepare with a match like this to help down the road.
“Winning Champions League is really hard, and you’ve got to be focused on it over a period of potentially 12 months from an organization standpoint, and that’s part of what makes it so hard,” says Lagerwey. “One of the things we want to drill in right now is that this is important. We’re saying it’s 1A — Goal 1A —this is what this means.”
With its place atop the league in Mexico, Club Tijuana may find a bid into Champions League. For now, the club will travel stateside hoping to impress American fans with its style of play.
For Seattle, the match promises to be a good one. Players will get meaningful minutes against a squad that boasts many young Americans, including USMNT midfielder Joe Corona, as well as the best attack in Mexico.
Prior to the friendly, the Sounders FC Academy U-18 squad will face off against Club Tijuana’s Academy. That match begins at 4:30 p.m. and is included with any match ticket for the 7:00 p.m. friendly. Tickets are now available online.
