TUKWILA, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders were back on the training ground again on Friday for their final session before this weekend’s match against the Colorado Rapids (7 p.m. PT; JOEtv, Univision-Seattle, ROOT Sports; KIRO 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM). Forward Nelson Valdez was again held to limited participation in the session and head coach Sigi Schmid spoke to the media following training about his status for Saturday.
“His injury ruled him out for this weekend but would not necessarily rule him out for next weekend,” said Schmid. “So he’ll still go in with Paraguay and we’ll see how he progresses there.”
Valdez was called in to national team duty for his home country of Paraguay and will be competing in the Copa America Centenario beginning on June 3 barring any setbacks. While the timing is not ideal for the Sounders, Schmid remains confident that Valdez will be back for his club the instant he is healthy enough to go.
“Nelson is a very conscientious individual,” he said. “Nobody wants to perform more for the club and nobody’s more disappointed when he’s out injured than he is.”
Defender Chad Marshall was held out of practice for the second straight day, thrusting his status for the weekend further into question.
“He’s questionable for tomorrow, but we’ll see,” Schmid told reporters. “We’d rather be safe than sorry at the end of the day. He felt a little bit of muscle tightness and pulled himself out before anything pulled or strained so now we’re just trying to evaluate it.”
If Marshall is unable to go, veteran defender Zach Scott will be the likely replacement. Scott has been called upon four times already this season in place of captain Brad Evans and earned MLS Team of the Week honors for his performance against Columbus in week nine.
“Certainly every player has different traits,” said Schmid. “Obviously Marshall’s a bigger guy so he wins more aerial duals. Zach’s a little more aggressive defensively and he’s probably a little louder, a little more vocal as well.”
