The Seattle Sounders wrap up their first preseason trip of 2016 on Tuesday, with a friendly against Mexican side Celaya FC.
The game - will be live streamed from Tucson, Ariz., on SoundersFC.com (6 p.m. PT) – is the third and final game in less than a week for the club, which will face its first competitive game of the year in just over two weeks.
Coming exactly two weeks before facing Club America in Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League play on Feb. 23, Tuesday’s game provides an opportunity for Seattle to adjust to the differences in style and pace that a Mexican club brings to the pitch.
Los Toros compete in Ascenso MX, the second-tier league in Mexico. The club is currently sixth in in its division, coming off a 3-1 win over Irapuato on Feb. 6. The team, which rejoined the Mexican league in 2003 after a neighboring club moved to the first division, was founded in 1954 and is currently managed by Gustavo Diaz, of Uruguay.
Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid has said that adding a third friendly in Arizona was important to his staff’s planning and preparations for the upcoming match against Club America.
While Seattle has only had a few weeks to begin gelling as a squad, they’ll be facing a team that’s midway through its season and has already found a rhythm.
Former Sounders midfielder Steve Zakauni said last week on the Sound of Soccer podcast that while the preseason results aren’t important, the team will probably approach Tuesday’s match a little bit differently.
“The results are the last thing,” Zakuani said, referring to the matches against Vancouver and Portland. “It’s about performance, about the coaching staff’s ideas being implemented. The one game that is the exception, though is against the Mexican team.”
For Schmid’s squad, Tuesday gives his players a first chance to acclimate to a different style of play.
“They play the game a little bit slower,” said Zakuani. “They hit you a little harder on the counter. In that game, players want to push themselves a little bit more.”
