After nearly 500 days of anticipation, the debut for Seattle Sounders FC comes Thursday night, March 19, when a sellout crowd and a national TV audience will watch the opening game of the Major League Soccer season between Sounders FC and the New York Red Bulls, the MLS Cup runners-up last season. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 P.M. Pacific at the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.
ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will carry the match live on television. On the radio, local listeners can tune to News Talk KIRO 97.3 FM and 1210 AM Ke Buena.
On Thursday night Sounders FC officially becomes the 15th club in MLS, and there has been considerable fanfare leading to the first game. Since the franchise's announcement on November 13, 2007, the club has sold nearly 22,000 season tickets-and a capacity crowd of 32,400 will be on hand for the historic first kick.
Coaching Seattle is Sigi Schmid, the reigning MLS Coach of the Year and the only man to lead two different teams (Los Angeles in 2002 and Columbus in 2008) to MLS Cup championships.
Sounders FC features one of the most decorated players in U.S. soccer history in goalkeeper Kasey Keller, the league's ninth Designated Player in Swedish international star midfielder Freddie Ljungberg and an outstanding young attacker in Colombian forward Fredy Montero.
Upcoming Competition Schedule (All times Pacific)
Thursday, March 19, 6 P.M. - New York Red Bulls; Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field (MLS First Kick)
Saturday, March 28, 7:30 P.M. - Real Salt Lake; Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field
Saturday, April 4, 1 P.M. - at Toronto FC; BMO Field
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 P.M. - Kansas City Wizards; Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field
Upcoming Training Schedule, March 17-25 (subject to change):
Tuesday, March 17 - Training on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, 10 a.m.
Wednesday, March 18 - Training at Starfire Sports Complex, 10 a.m.
Friday, March 20 - Training on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, 1 p.m.
Saturday, March 21- Players Off
Sunday, March 22- Players Off
Monday, March 23 - Training at Starfire Sports Complex, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, March 24 - Training at Starfire Sports Complex, 10 a.m.
Wednesday, March 25- Players Off
Teams for All Seasons
Sounders FC and New York begin the 2009 MLS season on the final day of winter. The regular season extends through spring, summer and fall, finishing in October. Both Seattle and the Red Bulls trained in the South American summer while in Argentina earlier this month.
A Win to Begin?
Sounders FC seeks to become the first expansion team to win its opening game since 1998, when Chicago defeated fellow first-year franchise Miami, 2-0. The Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion were the last expansion teams to qualify for the playoffs, with the Fire going on to win the 1998 MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup.
Keller on Call
Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller will join New York forward Juan Pablo Angel on a media teleconference call beginning Tuesday, March 17, at 8:45 A.M. Pacific. The call previews MLS First Kick presented by Dick's Sporting Goods and media may participate by calling (877) 391-5953. The conference ID number is 90563547.
Fredy's Ready, But What About Freddie?
Contracts for forward Fredy Montero and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado were finalized last week, enabling Sounders FC to add both players to the official roster. Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg joined the team for training beginning on March 9, however his availability for playing time on opening night has yet to be determined.
Preseason Recap
Sounders FC played 11 preseason exhibitions and training games against a mixture of amateur, collegiate and professional opposition. Seattle demonstrated a will and ability to attack, scoring 30 goals in the first nine games. The team was held scoreless in its final two outings, including a 1-0 closed-door home loss to Colorado on March 12. It finished 1-2-0 against MLS opposition and 7-3-1 overall.
Forward Fredy Montero scored 10 goals in nine appearances, and forward Nate Jaqua totaled six goals and four assists in nine games. Midfielder Sebastien Le Toux led Sounders FC with five assists. Defensively, Seattle conceded 10 goals with three shutouts.
Keller Comes Home
Kasey Keller, a three-time U.S. Soccer player of the year, grew up in the state capital of Olympia, yet has not played for a club or college in his home state since graduating from North Thurston High School in 1988. As a professional, his only previous Seattle appearances were as keeper for the U.S. National Team. All were shutout victories: Honduras (4-0, Safeco Field, 2002), Venezuela (2-0, Seahawks Stadium, 2003) and Canada (2-0, Qwest Field, 2005). Keller played 16 seasons in the top leagues of Europe, including two in Spain, three in Germany and 12 in England.
Big Games from Past New York Meetings
Many of the biggest matches from Seattle's professional soccer past featured meetings with New York. Each of the Sounders' visits to the NASL championship game was spoiled by a loss to the Cosmos. The 1977 Soccer Bowl was played in Portland and New York won, 2-1, in what was Pele's final competitive match. In 1982, New York won the NASL crown by a 1-0 score. The Sounders' only major trophy, the 1981 Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup, was earned by virtue of a 3-3 draw with New York at Giants Stadium.
Sounders FC Championship Experience
Sounders FC features players and coaches who have, collectively, won a total of eight MLS Cups, including the last four league champions. Ezra Hendrickson has three rings as a player (Los Angeles, 2002; D.C. United, 2004; Columbus, 2008) before retiring to become a Seattle assistant coach. Tyrone Marshall (Los Angeles, 2002, 2005), Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles, 2002, 2005) and Patrick Ianni (Houston, 2006, 2007) each won two titles. Brad Evans (Columbus, 2008) and Nate Jaqua (Houston, 2007) were also league champions. Sigi Schmid coached Los Angeles (2002) and Columbus (2008) to wins in the MLS Cup final.
Sig-nature Coach
Sigi Schmid is the only man to coach two different teams to MLS Cup titles (L.A. in 2002 and Columbus in 2008) and one of two men to coach in four MLS Cup finals (Steve Nicol is the other). Going into the 2009 season Schmid ranks No. 2 in all-time MLS regular season wins (113) to Bob Bradley (124). Schmid is the league's career leader in postseason victories (19).
Seattle is where Schmid won his first of three championships at UCLA. At the Kingdome in 1985, the Bruins beat American University 1-0 after a record eight overtimes (166:05) for the NCAA Championship.
The First Shall be Last
Sigi Schmid begins his Seattle tenure against the same opponent he faced in his last chapter. Schmid's Columbus Crew defeated the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, in the 2008 MLS Cup final. A few weeks later he signed to become Seattle's first coach. In the championship game, Brad Evans started for the Crew and Ezra Hendrickson was in uniform for the game. Evans was selected by Seattle in the expansion draft and Hendrickson was hired as assistant coach following his retirement in January.
Sellouts in Seattle
The Sounders FC-Red Bulls game is the latest in many memorable sellouts for professional soccer in Seattle. The first capacity crowd in North American Soccer League history came at Seattle's Memorial Stadium (13,876) during the first season for the original Sounders. They defeated the defending champion Philadelphia Atoms, 2-0.
When the franchise moved to the Kingdome in 1976, the building's first sporting event was an exhibition between the Sounders and New York Cosmos. The crowd was a U.S. record 58,218 and Brazilian star Pele scored twice in a 3-1 win for the Cosmos.
Since Qwest Field opened in 2002, there have been two capacity crowds in excess of 66,000 for exhibitions. The stadium's first sporting event, a match between Seattle and Vancouver, attracted at United Soccer Leagues record attendance of 25,515 on July 28, 2002.
Moving On Up
The Sounders FC training roster features six players who played for the USL-1 Sounders in 2008: Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Roger Levesque, Sebastien Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi and Zach Scott. The USL-1 Sounders team was owned by Adrian Hanauer, who is the Sounders FC general manager and member of the ownership group. All members of the USL Sounders received an invitation to training camp in January. Sigi Schmid's top assistant, Brian Schmetzer, was the USL Sounders head coach and Tom Dutra is reprising his role as goalkeeper coach.
Current Training Squad
The following players began the week training in Seattle: Goalkeepers (3): Ben Dragavon, Chris Eylander, Kasey Keller; Defenders (9): Evan Brown, Taylor Graham, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyrone Marshall, Midfielders (8): Ely Allen, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Stephen King, Sebastien Le Toux, Freddie Ljungberg, Sanna Nyassi; Peter Vagenas; Forwards (5): Kevin Forrest, Nate Jaqua, Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani. Injured reserve (1): Jarrod Smith
Schmetzer Spans Seattle Soccer
Seattle is beginning its third era of Sounders soccer. The first kick came in 1974 in the NASL, then a 1994 rebirth in the A-League following a 10-year absence. Assistant coach Brian Schmetzer's career bridges those teams to the MLS Sounders FC. A Seattle native, Schmetzer was a player (1980-83) for the NASL Sounders, player (1994) and head coach (2002-08) of the USL Sounders and now Schmid's top assistant with the Sounders FC. In addition, Schmetzer played for the area's other pro clubs, including FC Seattle, Tacoma Stars (indoor) and Seattle SeaDogs (indoor).
Grown in Washington
Sounders FC has a hometown feel. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller and his backup, Chris Eylander, are both Washington state natives. A total of nine in-state players were invited to training camp and the coaching staff features two Washington youth soccer products, Brian Schmetzer and Tom Dutra. Technical director Chris Henderson is a native of Everett and owner/general manager Adrian Hanauer is a Seattle area native and graduate of both Mercer Island High School and the University of Washington.
Adding Schmid
Kurt Schmid has been named to the Sounders FC staff as a scout and assistant coach. Schmid will scout players from the youth to international level and coordinate the Match Analysis scouting system. In addition, he will serve as a first team assistant coach to Sigi Schmid, his father and Seattle head coach. Kurt Schmid was in Trinidad earlier this month, scouting players at the CONCACAF U-20 World Cup qualifying tournament.
For the past three seasons Kurt Schmid has been an assistant coach at the collegiate level, first at Saint Mary's College, then the past two years at UC Irvine. In 2008, UC Irvine won both the Big West Conference regular season and tournament championship, and the Anteaters earned an NCAA tournament berth. All three were first-time achievements for the UCI program.
Schmid, 26, was a member of the Region IV ODP boys coaching staff the past two years and also coached at West Coast FC. Previously he was a coach for South Bay Soccer Club. His coaching career began at South High School in Torrance, Calif. He played at Wake Forest and UCLA and was a member of the Bruins' 2002 NCAA Championship team. He is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in Business-Economics.
Seattle to Host 2009 MLS Cup
Seattle Sounders FC and the passionate soccer fans in the Pacific Northwest will host Major League Soccer's premier event, MLS Cup 2009, at the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET (live on ESPN).
Even before their debut match in Major League Soccer, Seattle Sounders FC already has attracted a large fan base. The club has sold nearly 22,000 season ticket packages, which now include a ticket to MLS Cup 2009, the League's 14th annual championship game. Seattle kicks off its inaugural season on March 19 in the opening game of the 2009 Regular Season.
Qwest Field will become the eighth stadium to host Major League Soccer's championship game. Qwest Field is quickly becoming one of the nation's premier soccer venues as the stadium has hosted numerous large-scale soccer events including exhibition matches for the national teams of Brazil, China, Mexico, Canada, and Venezuela, as well as exhibitions for some of the world's top clubs including Manchester United, Real Madrid, Celtic and Chelsea FC. Qwest Field also was a host venue for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup and will serve as a host venue for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
MLS Cup is the pinnacle of professional soccer in the United States, as a nearly eight-month long journey ends with one team being crowned the champions of Major League Soccer. In 2008, the Columbus Crew captured their first MLS Cup championship at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., by defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-1.
MLS Cup is part of the Sounders FC 18-match season ticket package, which also includes tickets to the July 18 friendly with Chelsea FC.
Training Room Report
Forward/midfielder Steve Zakuani (ankle) returned to full training last week and played in the reserve team's 4-0 win over the Seattle Wolves, a PDL side. Zakuani had not played competitively since the February 20 preseason game the University of Portland. Goalkeeper Chris Eylander was held out of training last week and he may participate in partial training later this week. Eylander sustained a partial tear of his posterior cruciate ligament. Defender Taylor Graham (foot) is out indefinitely. Roger Levesque (back) has been limited to partial training. Peter Vagenas (knee), Jarrod Smith (hip flexor) and Freddie Ljungberg (hip) are involved in partial training and controlled drills. Smith (hip flexor) has been placed on injured reserve.
Reserves Schedule (subject to change)
March 20-Concordia at Qwest Field, 1 P.M.
March 29-Gonzaga at Starfire, 2 P.M.
April 13-Portland Timbers at Starfire, 1 P.M.
April 21-Univ. of Washington, at Starfire, 1:15 P.M.
Note: All reserve team games are closed to the public
