The Seattle Sounders might not have won a match in the Club World Cup this summer, but it certainly put them on the right track.
Since suffering narrow defeats to Botafogo, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, the Sounders have gone 7-1-4 in all competitions heading into Sunday night’s MLS game against visiting Sporting Kansas City.
“They have real continuity and confidence right now,” Sporting KC interim coach Kerry Zavagnin said of the Sounders on Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City. “They more than handled themselves in a respectful way (at the Club World Cup) and it catapulted them to another level.”
While the Sounders (11-7-8, 41 points) have soared, Kansas City (6-14-6, 24 points) will bring a five-match winless streak (0-4-1) to Lumen Field.
That includes a 3-1 loss last weekend at Orlando in a match that featured a three-hour weather delay. Dejan Joveljic scored his team-leading 14th goal for SKC.
As for having consecutive matches in Orlando and Seattle?
“It’s a few miles in the air, I know that,” Zavagnin said on the Soren Petro show. “Thankfully, we’re not on short rest. This is part and parcel of Major League Soccer. The challenges of playing in this league … this is one of those moments where you’re going coast-to-coast, 5,000 miles. We’re excited for the opportunity. We want to put our best foot forward. That’s our mindset right now.”
The Sounders had a 10-match unbeaten streak snapped with a 1-0 MLS loss at Minnesota last weekend, then played to a scoreless draw with visiting Puebla on Wednesday in the Leagues Cup before winning the quarterfinal on penalty kicks.
Both Minnesota and Puebla packed the back line with five defenders, stifling the Sounders’ offense.
“We’ll see what Sporting Kansas City brings, but I don’t think they play with a back line of five,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We’re going to get geared up for Sporting Kansas City and go from there.”
Sporting KC’s winless streak started with a 3-2 defeat to the visiting Sounders on July 12. Jesus Ferreira’s goal in first-half stoppage time gave Seattle a 3-0 lead before SKC put together a rally, getting penalty-kick goals from Joveljic and Santiago Munoz in the second half to nearly pull out a draw. Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak, both currently out with injuries, also scored for the Sounders in that match.
–Field Level Media
