SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. CLUB UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AC - LEAGUES CUP 3RD ROUND - ROYAL BROUGHAM PARK, OCCIDENTAL AVENUE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. It’s a re-match of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final. UNAM Pumas make the trip all the way from Vancouver to face us in The Evergreen, in a Leagues Cup 3rd Round tie.

What: Leagues Cup 3rd Round, Seattle Sounders FC v. Club Universidad Nacional AC.

Where: Royal Brougham Park, Occidental Avenue, Seattle, Washington.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Monday 12 August 2024 CE.

At Stake: It all depends on your perspective. If Leagues Cup is important to you, it’s all-in to try to get to the Quarter-Finals. If you have zero fucks to give, then it’s a glorified training match in a tournament which has needlessly compressed the MLS league schedule.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Fox Sports 1, UniMas.

Where to Listen: 950 KJR AM and El Rey 1360 AM.

We do as we always do. We will the lads to victory. Pumas will try to cross us up. Maybe they’ll succeed, but not if the lads have anything tae say about it.

It’s Leagues Cup football, such as it is, under the Monday night lights at Royal Brougham Park. Let the chips fall where they may. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our football.

The Good News

Sounders FC proved they could beat a top 10 MLS team Thursday last. We delivered a 3:1 battering that Galaxy won’t soon forget. Before that result, I had begun to wonder if we had it in us to defeat the more elite clubs in the region. Did we find a new spark or re-discover our true potential? Can we play at our ceiling long enough to win titles this season? That result against Galaxy was a crack of daylight, after a long slog of mixed results. Here’s hoping for more of the same as we crack on.

Raul Ruidiaz has been rated as fit to play. The Gaffer likes to ease injured players back into the team, so we’ll likely see Raul on the bench for Monday night.

Sounders have turned things around in the second half of the league schedule. Royal Brougham Park is a fortress again with the Sounders’ home record at 10-5-3.

The Bad News

Pumas have gotten off to a fine start in the Liga MX Torneo Apertura with a 3-1-0 record, trailing leaders Cruz Azul by only goal difference. They thrashed Leon 4:1, got a 1:1 draw with Santos Laguna, defeated Juarez 1:2, and beat Pachuca by a definitive 2:0. In the Leagues Cup 2nd Round, they defeated Vancouver 0:2 at BC Place. We have not yet managed to defeat Vancouver this season. Pumas are a good team, and we have our work cut out for us.

Caesar Huerta and Jorge Ruvalcaba are perhaps Pumas’ best two attacking threats with two goals each in the early stages of the Apertura. Both players scored to seal victory at Vancouver. Other players who scored goals for Pumas in the Leagues Cup are Avila, Martinez, and Funes Mori.

We are undefeated against Austin FC in the league this season, whilst Austin were too much for Pumas, defeating them 3:2 in a chippy affair that saw six players booked and one sent-off.

Although the statistics for Pumas are on the scant side in terms of sample size, they are scoring two goals/match to our 1.48 in all competitions. The defence of both clubs are about the same with UNAM conceding an average of one goal per match, and Sounders averaging 1.19 goals conceded/match.

UNAM have lost only one time away from home so far in all competitions (2-2-1).

The Side I Would Select

Ummmmm…I’ll have a second helping of the team that beat Galaxy 3:1, please.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM    Joao Paulo

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

A 3:1 victory over a top 10 MLS team? You’d have to be mad to change the team… barring injury, of course.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Joao Paulo

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for Monday night’s match will be Joe Dickerson.

Sounders FC record with Dickerson as Ref: 11-1-8

UNAM Pumas record with Dickerson as Ref: 0-0-0

Pumas may have an axe to grind over CCL a couple years back. Could be used to motivate.

Pumas had only played four matches in the Apertura before starting their Leagues Cup run. That makes their squad fresh as a daisy compared to our lot.

General notes on personnel

UNAM transfers IN:

Duarte (Alaves) €4M

Ruvalcaba (Standard Liege) end of loan

Rodriguez (Monterrey) loan

Pussetto (Huracan) €1.38M

UNAM transfers OUT:

Molina - retired

Tabo (Cruz Azul) end of loan

Salvio (Lanus) free

Gutierrez - released

Aldrete - released

Freyfeld (Toluca) undisclosed fee

Garcia (Cruz Azul) undisclosed fee

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 0:0 ATX

ATX 0:1 SEA

UNAM 2:3 ATX LC

(against ATX: SEA 1-1-0 +1, UNM 0-0-1 -1) edge SEA

SEA 0:2 VAN

SEA 1:1 VAN

VAN 0:2 UNAM LC

(against VAN: SEA 0-1-1 -2, UNM 1-0-0 +2) edge UNM

Know Thine Enemy

Pumas as they lined up against Vancouver in their 0:2 victory at BC Place on 7 August.

GOALKEEPER

Julio Gonzalez, 33

Mexico (5/0)

Notable Clubs: Santos Laguna (11/0), Tampico Madero (7/0), UNAM (84/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Full name: Julio Jose Gonzalez Vela Alvizu. Developed by Santos Laguna. Won two Liga MX titles, a Copa MX, and a Campeon de Campeones with Santos Laguna.

DEFENCE

Lisandro Magallan, 30

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Gimnasia La Plata (26/0), Boca Juniors (57/2), Rosario Central (11/0), Defensa y Justicia (16/1), Ajax (4/0), Alaves (17/1), Anderlecht (24/0), Elche (14/0), UNAM (39/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Won a Dutch championship, Dutch Cup, and a Dutch Super Cup with Ajax. Won three Argentinian championships with Boca Juniors.

Ruben Duarte, 28

Spain

Notable Clubs: Espanyol (36/0), Alaves (218/3), UNAM (1/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Ruben Duarte Sanchez. Developed by Los Molinos, Poli Ejido, and Espanyol. Won a Supercopa de Catalunya with Espanyol.

Nathan Silva, Age

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Atletico Mineiro (70/3), Ponte Preta (49/2), Atletico Goianiense (28/1), Coritiba (27/1), UNAM (40/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Nathanael Ananias da Silva. Developed by Atletico Mineiro. Won a Brazilian league title and a Supercopa do Brasil with Atletico Mineiro.

Pablo Bennevendo, 24

Mexico

Notable Clubs: UNAM (63/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Full name: Pablo Bennevendo Pena. Developed by UNAM.

MIDFIELD

Jose Caicedo, 22

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Independiente Santa Fe (4/0), Barranquilla (1/0), UNAM (45/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Jose Luis Caicedo Barrera. Developed by Independiente Santa Fe.

Ignacio Pussetto, 28

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Atletico de Rafaela (44/4), Huracan (72/22), Udinese (86/12), Watford (8/0), Sampdoria (5/0), UNAM (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.7M

Notes: Developed by Juventud Unida and Atletico de Rafaela.

Piero Quispe, 22

Peru (8/1)

Notable Clubs: Universitario (78/9), UNAM (19/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Full name: Piero Aldair Quispe Cordova. Developed by CD Hector Chumpitaz and Universitario. Won a Peruvian league title with Universitario.

FORWARD

Cesar Huerta, 23

Mexico (10/1)

Notable Clubs: Guadalajara (34/1), Zacatepec (13/4), Morelia (6/0), Mazatlan (17/3), UNAM (67/15)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Cesar Saul Huerta Valera. Developed by Guadalajara. Won a CONCACAF U-17 Championship with Mexico.

Angel Rico, 19

Mexico

Notable Clubs: UNAM (2/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: Unavailable

Notes: Full name: Angel Jesus Rico Reyes. Developed by UNAM.

Jorge Ruvalcaba, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: UNAM (40/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000

Notes: Full name: Jorge Antonio Ruvalcaba Castro. Developed by UNAM. Played his university football at Cal State San Bernadino. Has played for Mexico at youth levels (4/1) but is not cap-tied to Mexico.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Nathan, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Atencio, Baker-Whiting, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Leyva, Rusnak, Vargas, Morris, Cristian, Leo Chu, Musovski, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.

UNAM from:

Gonzalez, Alcala, Garcia, Bennevendo, Galindo, Magallan, Duarte, Silva, Monroy, Jesus Rivas, Ergas, Ramirez, Casares, Lopez, Ulises Rivas, Ruvalcaba, Caicedo, Trigos, Rodriguez, Quispe, Suarez, Rico, Martinez, Huerta, Avila, Funes Mori, Pussetto.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: De la Vega (groin), Rodrigues (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

UNAM -

OUT: no information available

MATCHDAY DECISION: no information available

Discipline

Sounders FC: Nouhou, Ragen, Joao Paulo, Rothrock, Vargas, and Baker-Whiting are out next match if booked.

UNAM: No players suspended. Ruvalcaba, Huerta, and Magallan are out next match if booked.

Note: Disciplinary cards are wiped for the Quarter-Finals, however, I think if you got a second booking in this round you would face a one-match ban. They fuck about with the formats so much it’s hard to keep track.

Fun Fact

Sunday last, the Sounders FC Reserves absolutely battered Minnesota United FC Reserves by a score of 5:1 at Starfire. Chris Aquino scored a brace, with Hassan, Gomez, and Brunell each adding a goal for the Reserves. In the team for the Reserves: Castro, Katsaros, Sousa, Lopez, Bowen, Brunell, Kossa-Rienzi, Tsukanome, Aquino, Minoungou, De Rosario. Well done to the lads, as it was a remarkable display.

Unfortunately, the most recent fixture, on 11 August, didn’t go as planned for the Reserves, as Salt Lake Reserves defeated us 2:1 at Sandy. Chris Aquino scored for the Reserves. In the team for the Reserves: Castro, Sousa, Hawkins, Lopez, Kossa-Rienzi, Brunell, Kitahara, Gomez, Aquino, Minoungou, De Rosario. That was a tough break, lads. At high altitude as well. You’ll get ‘em next time.

Sounders FC Reserves are currently in 11th place in the MLS Next Pro table on 33 points, 10 points adrift of leaders FC Cincinnati 2. Chris Aquino and Faisal Bettache lead the squad with seven goals each. Ozasi De Rosario is next with six goals.