For the second time in three years, the Seattle Sounders are heading to Honduras for their opening matchup in the Concacaf Champions League when they visit F.C. Motagua in San Pedro Sula on Thursday (6 p.m. PT; FS2, TUDN. 1090 KJR AM).
The memories from their opening round series against C.D. Olimpia in 2020 are not lost on the Sounders. They went up 2-0 on the road in the first leg before conceding twice to send the tie back to Seattle 2-2 where the Sounders ultimately fell in penalty kicks.
“We went up 2-0 and that should have been game over,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “That could have ended the series right there. What happened, we weren’t as fit as they were, they were five games into their season, we lost some legs, made some mental mistakes and it ended up 2-2 and kept them in the series.
“Our physical preparation has been good, but our mental preparation has to be that if we go up a goal, we control the tempo and we can close a game out at 1-0, 2-0, 0-0 even, and make sure that we come home with a positive result.”
No Major League Soccer team has ever won CCL, but this iteration of the Sounders has as good a shot as any. They brought back nearly all their pieces from a 60-point team last season, stars Nicolás Lodeiro and Jordan Morris are returning from missing most of last season through injuries and brought in the crown jewel of this offseason’s free agency in Albert Rusnák.
“It’s a really talented group,” said Morris. “Bringing in Albert, he’s an unbelievable player, so to add someone like that with the quality that he brings into an already really good team is great. We’re really excited, we know we have a lot of talent, we just have to show it when we get on the field.”
The Sounders have long been a team of unbridled ambition, and seven major trophies since 2009 have been evidence of that. Now the squad is focused on the opportunity to add an eighth, including their first international trophy and a stake in the ground as the first MLS team to bring home the region’s top prize and a trip to the FIFA Club World Cup.
“The expectation is that we want to go to [Honduras] to win,” said Schmetzer. “There’s a lot of good teams [in Champions League]. It’s a good measuring stick early on in the year…in the buildup to MLS. There’s a lot of good reasons why we want to do well in this competition.”
Added Morris: “The Champions League is a great opportunity for us to do something special. Whenever you’re in a tournament playing for a trophy, it means a lot. That’s a big focus of ours to start the season.”
