SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. BOTAFOGO DE FUTEBOL E REGATAS - FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE - ROYAL BROUGHAM PARK, OCCIDENTAL AVENUE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Botafogo make the trip north from Rio de Janeiro for a lopsided matchup against our Boys in Green.

What: Club World Cup Group Stage match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas.

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

When: 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Sunday 15 June 2025 CE.

At Stake: Avoiding humiliation on a global stage. Oh, also heaps of cash. Heaps of cash are at stake.

Where to Watch: DAZN.

Where to Listen: I have no idea if local radio is covering this tournament.

I don’t even know what to write for this intro. As a writer, words often come naturally to me. I think. Words form in my mind. My fingers clack away at the keys, forming sentences, phrases, and hopefully a bit of engaging narrative using something resembling an actual style. There is so much going on in our country and in the world. Much of it is horrifying in the true definition of the word. This makes it difficult to enjoy the things that make us happy, as on some human level, we may feel varying levels of guilt at enjoying ourselves when so many go without food or shelter, and many others displaced, mass murdered, or both.

The idea of this tournament is not a bad one. Let’s see who the best is at club football in the entire world. However, it ignores gross inequalities between the institutions that organise the sport in different parts of the world. This turns CWC into a gross and squalid display.

In the before times, the club world championship was named after a Japanese auto maker and featured the reigning club champion from UEFA against the reigning champion from CONMEBOL. This iteration of the club world championship understood that competition in Europe and South America is at a vastly higher level than in the rest of the world, both in terms of quality and economic investment. There was an honesty in this format that Club World Cup lacks. The current message is “You’ve been included, haven’t you? So don’t piss and moan about taking a beating.”

End of the day, we earned the right to participate in this squalid display, and all it cost FIFA and its cavalcade of corpo sponsors to get us on board was $9.55 million. So let’s get on with it.

The Sounders’ matches in the group stage are extremely lopsided. Would I like to see us get positive results in this tournament? 100% I would. Are positive results probable? I would categorise the probability of positive results against these three opponents as highly unlikely, at best. I hope I’m wrong, but I just can’t see how we can realistically compete at this level, for a list of reasons that is so long that you could write a book about it.

That said, if you’re a massive Sounders FC supporter, it doesn’t matter what the strength of the opposition is. You turn up, you support, and you do so as loudly as humanly possible.

The Brougham End will give its usual warm welcome to our visitors from Brazil and will quickly demonstrate that playing matches at Royal Brougham Park requires the visiting team to enter the gates of Green Hell. Emerald City will sing, chant, swear, and yell, regardless of what it says on the scoreboard or how much time is left in the match.

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

If FIFA handed me €8M+ for just showing up for work, which is what CONCACAF clubs are getting for just showing up for CWC, that sounds like a pretty good deal in theory. However, what’s the catch? Where did the enormous amount of money come from? Answer: Shhh. I’m pretty sure it came from Access Industries blood money.

The Good News

Find me some good news related to Club World Cup and I’ll be happy to print it. It’s important to remember that it’s not a form of negativity to report objective truths that are negative.

As CONCACAF Champions Cup was a litmus test of how competitive we are within our world zone, Club World Cup will be a litmus test of how competitive we are within global football.

It’s quite possible that Botafogo are used to playing clubs that are interested in playing high-risk football, or as it’s otherwise known: Massive investment in playing attacking football and scoring goals. I love Sounders FC without question, but we do not play this sort of football; our philosophy is far more cynical, and we are forced to adopt cynicism because of the incredibly strict limits MLS imposes on its clubs. In addition, Longacres will only commit x amount of funding toward acquiring new talent, where x is a very, very, very small number when compared with some of the most competitive clubs in the world. I digress. It’s possible that the Sounders FC style of play might seriously impair the flow of play and amount of time and space on the ball that Botafogo are accustomed to.

This is an excellent opportunity to make friends with Brazilian football fans. Not during the match, of course, but it’s a rare opportunity to generate goodwill and learn new things. You should seize that opportunity.

The Bad News

There’s really no positive outcomes no matter what results MLS clubs may achieve in this tournament. If we are overrun, it lends credence to the idea that CONCACAF football clubs are weak opposition. If MLS clubs do well, it says “You too can offer substandard wages to players, and still have massive success”. There’s no way to win.

Botafogo has allowed one more goal than we have this season in all competitions. The compelling difference here is that Botafogo have played 11 more matches than we have, and against, arguably, much more difficult opponents. I believe this to be a critical statistic with regards to making any attempt to predict the outcome of this match.

Looks like ICE is going to “provide security” for the Club World Cup. What that means is, they are looking for an opportunity to deport massive numbers of people, whether they are undocumented immigrants or not.

We are about to play some of the most skilled and decorated clubs from Europe and South America without the Sounders all-time leader in goals scored, Jordan Morris, and without the most experienced and reliable defender, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, who are both out due to injury.

All the scheduled matches for Sounders FC in the tournament have the markings of an impossible uphill climb. Granted, we earned the right to be here, and the club gets $9.55M just for showing up, but the levels of mismatching here are gross.

Botafogo presents unique problems for us in terms of matchups. Brazilian teams tend to have a very high on-the-ball skill level rating at positions #1-11. I’ve looked at some film of these guys. Their football looks effortless. The decision-making is extremely fast. Attack does not solely rely on short-passing combinations or on service from crosses, as a decent chunk of their teams are comfortable and effective improvising whilst on the ball featuring sudden cutbacks and mazy runs whilst dribbling with incredible close control - often at a flat-out sprint. Players making runs expect the ball, and first touch is generally excellent. Players make space for themselves and for their teammates rather than crimping available spaces for teammates. They strike the ball hard, often with pinpoint accuracy. Need them to curl a strike or a free kick? Not a problem. Their passes are incisive, often breaking lines. They don’t even look bothered whilst they do these things.

Seems the prize money was partially put up by “…significant financial investment of broadcast partner DAZN…” as reported by The Sporting News. DAZN is owned by Access Industries. Access donated $1.8M to SuperPACs in 2015 supporting Republican presidential candidates Scott Walker and Lindsey Graham. Access Industries has holdings in natural resources, chemicals, media, telecommunications, venture capital, and real estate. It’s reasonable to conclude that it's pretty likely that the bulk of the prize money for this tournament is blood money.

MLS is going out of its way to stiff players out of a fair share of the CWC prize money, in a move that may be a clear violation of the CBA between MLS and the Player’s Union.

It’s so odd that no one at MLS ever mentions fixture clutter when there are piles of money at stake (Leagues Cup, Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup). Yet US Open Cup had to be undermined “for the safety of the players”. Wot a fucking joke.

The Side I Would Select

Like I said, it’s hard to match up with teams like Botafogo. We’ll need grit, tenacity, pace, and endurance to counter their skill and pace. I think this is our best selection:

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Bell

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Rusnak

LF     Kent

CAM   Ferreira

RF     de la Vega

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Apparently Kim is back in full training. I’d expect the team we saw in Vancouver minus Bell and plus Kim.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Kim

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Kent

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Ferreira

Intangibles

The green green grass of home?

Royal Brougham Park has had a natural surface laid over the hybrid pitch for the CWC. Will the lads adjust well? Will the pitch play true and be well rooted?

Economic inequalities.

Sounders have spent €1.45M on disclosed transfer fees this season.

Botafogo have spent €99.9M on transfers for the 2024-25 season.

The style council.

Brazilian teams play a style very different from MLS sides. How will this affect the outcome?

Wear and tear.

Botafogo has played 33 matches in total this season in all competitions, compared to Sounders 22 for a difference of 11 matches. Is their squad worn to the nub?

Or fresh as a daisy?

Botafogo has not played a match since 4 June.

Show me the money.

The MLS Players Union is rightfully upset that MLS is ignoring or has modified a provision from the current CBA that states “…players can receive 50% of the prize money up to $1M in undefined tournaments. This includes the Club World Cup, which had not been announced at the time of CBA negotiations…” as reported by onefootball.com. Will it have an effect on players?

General notes on personnel

Botafogo transfers IN:

Thiago Almada (Atlanta United FC) €19.5M

Santiago Rodriguez (New York City FC) €14.3M

Jair Cunha (Santos) €12M

Artur (Zenit St. Petersburg) €10M

Matheus Martins (Udinese) €10M

Rwan Cruz (Ludogorets) €10M

Vitinho (Burnley) €8M

Nathan Fernandes (Gremio) €7.2M

Jeffinho (Olympique Lyon) €5.3M

David Ricardo (Ceara) €1.74M

Leo Linck (Atletico Paranense) €1.7M

Kauan Lindes (Coimbra) €160,000

Alex Telles (Al-Nassr) free

Allan (Al-Wahda) free

Joaquin Correa (Inter Milan) free

Igor Jesus (Shabab Al-Ahli) free

El Arouch (Olympique Lyon) free

Adryelson (Olympique Lyon) loan transfer

Gonzalo Mastriani (Atletico Paranense) loan transfer

Marcal - re-signed

Yarlen - reserves

Serafim - reserves

Rafael Lobato - reserves

Hugo (Vitoria) end of loan

Segovia (RWD Molenbeek) end of loan

Diego Hernandez (Leon) end of loan

Gustavo Sauer (Rizespor) end of loan

Carlos Alberto (RWD Molenbeek) end of loan

Luis Segovia (Clube de Regatas Brasil (AL)) end of loan

Patrick de Paula (Criciuma) end of loan

Kayque (Guarani) end of loan

Luis Oyama (Juventude) end of loan

Philipe Sampaio (RWD Molenbeek) end of loan

Valentin Adamo (Union Espanola) end of loan

Vinicius Lopes (Santa Clara) end of loan

Emerson Urso (Vila Nova) end of loan

Daniel Borges (America MG) end of loan

Breno (Sao Bernardo) end of loan

Chay (Guarani) end of loan

Rai (Boavista RJ) end of loan

Newton (Criciuma) end of loan

Lucas Mezenga (Tondela) end of loan

JP Galvao (Chapecoense) end of loan

Igo Gabriel (Confianca) end of loan

Vitor Marinho (ABC FC (RN)) end of loan

Gabriel Toebe (Avenida) end of loan

Botafogo transfers OUT:

Luiz Henrique (Zenit St. Petersburg) €33M

Junior Santos (Atletico Mineiro) €7.6M

Tiquinho Soares (Santos) €3M

Carlos Alberto (Sport Recife) €2.5M

Oscar Romero (Internacional) free

Tche Tche (Vasco da Gama) free

Luis Segovia (Clube de Regatas Brasil (AL))

Gustavo Sauer (Wuhan Three Towns) free

Eduardo (Cruzeiro) free

Keyque (Spartak Subotica) free

Vinicius Lopes (Santa Clara) free

Emerson Urso (Vila Nova) free

Daniel Borges (Mirassol) free

Breno (Figueirense) free

Roberto Fernandez (Cerro Porteno) free

Chay (Volta Redonda) free

Jacob Montes (RWD Molenbeek) free

Vitor Marinho (Ypiranga) free

Gabriel Toebe (Avenida) free

Lucas Mezenga (Al-Orooba) undisclosed

Jefferson (Portimonense) undisclosed

Thiago Almada (Olympique Lyon) loan

Matheus Nascimento (Los Angeles Galaxy) loan

Hugo (Vitoria) loan

Matias Segovia (Al-Ain) loan

Lucas Halter (Vitoria) loan

Diego Hernandez (Leon) loan

Patrick de Paula (Criciuma) loan

Luis Oyama (Novorizontino)  loan

Philipe Sampaio (Atletico Goianiense) loan

Valentin Adamo (Boston River) loan

Rai (Boavista RJ) loan

El Arouch - released

Damian Suarez - released

Marcal - released

Rafael - retired

Igo Gabriel - reserves

JP Galvao - reserves

Jeffinho (Olympique Lyon) end of loan

Adryelson (Olympique Lyon) end of loan

Lucas Fernandes (Portimonense) end of loan

Pablo (Flamengo) end of loan

Comparison against common opponents

n/a

Know Thine Enemy

Botafogo as they lined up against Ceara in their 3:2 victory at Estadio Nilton Santos on 4 June.

GOALKEEPER

John, 29

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Santos (19/0), Internacional (7/0), Real Valladolid (11/0), Botafogo (51/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Full name: John Victor Maciel Furtado. Developed by Sao Paulo and Santos. Won a Copa Libertadores and Brazilian league title with Botafogo. Named to Brazilian League Team of the Year 2024. Named to Copa Libertadores Team of the Tournament 2024.

DEFENCE

Alex Telles, 32

Brazil (12/0)

Notable Clubs: Juventude (28/2), Gremio (42/1), Galatasaray (39/2), Inter Milan (21/0), Porto (129/21), Manchester United (30/1), Sevilla (27/0), Al-Nassr (29/2), Botafogo (22/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Full name: Alex Nicolao Telles. Developed by Juventude. Won a Turkish league, two Turkish cups, and a Turkish Super Cup with Galatasaray. Won two Portuguese league titles, a Portuguese Cup, and a Portuguese Super Cup with Porto. Won a UEFA Europa League with Sevilla. Won an Arab Club Champions Cup with Al-Nassr. Won a Brazilian league title and a Copa Libertadores with Botafogo. Named to Brazilian League Team of the Year 2013. Named to Portuguese League Team of The Year three times. Named to Copa Libertadores Team of the Tournament 2024.

David Ricardo, 22

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Fluminense PI (9/0), Ceara (80/4), Botafogo (6/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Full name: David Ricardo Loiola da Silva. Developed by Altos, Fluminense PI, and Ceara.

Jair Cunha, 20

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Santos (24/0), Botafogo (11/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €13M

Notes: Full name: Jair Paula da Cunha Filho. Developed by Santos. Played for Brazil at youth levels (8/0).

Vitinho, 25

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Cruzeiro (1/0), Cercle Brugge (72/2), Burnley (75/4), Botafogo (15/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €6M

Notes: Full name: Victor Alexander da Silva. Won an English Championship league title with Burnley. Won a Copa Libertadores and Brazilian League title with Botafogo.

MIDFIELD

Gregore, 31

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Bahia (126/0), Inter Miami CF (65/0), Botafogo (36/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Gregore de Magalhaes Silva Favero. Developed by Sport Juiz de Fora, Tupi, Tupynambas, and Joseense. Won a Brazilian league title and Copa Libertadores with Botafogo.

Marlon Freitas, 30

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Fluminense (19/1), Fort Lauderdale Strikers (31/8), STK Samorin (16/3), Criciuma (24/1), Botafogo SP (48/3), Atletico Goianiense (128/12), Botafogo (122/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €6M

Notes: Full name: Marlon Rodrigues de Freitas. Developed by Fluminense. Won a Copa Libertadores and Brazilian league with Botafogo. Named to Brazilian League Team of the Year 2024. Named to Copa Libertadores Team of the Tournament 2024.

Igor Jesus, 24

Brazil (4/1)

Notable Clubs: Coritiba (56/7), Shabab Al-Ahli (66/34), Botafogo (37/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €15M

Notes: Full name: Igor Jesus Maciel da Cruz. Developed by Coritiba. Won a United Arab Emirates Pro League title, UAE President’s Cup, UAE League Cup, and two UAE Super Cups with Shabab Al-Ahli. Won a Brazilian League title and Copa Libertadores with Botafogo.

FORWARD

Santiago Rodriguez, 25

Uruguay

Notable Clubs: Nacional (38/11), Montevideo City Torque (3/1), New York City FC (116/24), Botafogo (6/0), 

Estimated Transfer Value: €4.5M

Notes: Full name: Santiago Mariano Rodriguez Molina. Won two Uruguayan league titles and a Supercopa Uruguaya with Nacional. Won a Compeones Cup and MLS Cup with New York City FC. 

Gonzalo Mastriani, 32

Uruguay

Notable Clubs: Cerro (40/14), Gorica (9/1), Rentistas (23/5), Tampico Madero (12/1), Sud America (26/4), Boston River (29/7), Guayaquil City (54/24), Barcelona SC (44/14),  America Mineiro (39/18), Athletico Paranaense (21/4), Botafogo (7/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Gonzalo Mathias Mastriani Borges. Developed by Sauce and Cerro. Won a Golden Boot in the 2022-23 Copa Sudamericana, scoring nine goals for America Mineiro. Won a Slovenian Cup with Gorica.

Artur, 27

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Palmeiras (43/5), Bahia (39/8), RB Bragantino (145/29), Zenit St. Petersburg (22/4), Botafogo (10/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Full name: Artur Victor Guimaraes. Developed by Ceara and Palmeiras. Won three Brazilian League titles with Palmeiras. Won a Russian League title, Russian Cup, and Russian Super Cup with Zenit St. Petersburg.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

I’m pretty certain that up to date match information is only being provided by FIFA to access media outlets. FIFA does this to ensure limited criticism, as they have the threat of revoking press credentials if they don’t like what you write. It’s kind of how the American government’s relationship with the media is. Anyway, there’s basically zero info about injuries or that kind of thing for journalists that don’t have accreditation. If there are inaccuracies in this article, it’s because I didn’t have access to current information. Super fun.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Burney, Kossa-Rienzi, Hawkins, Kim, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Joao Paulo, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Kent, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

Botafogo from:

Raul, John, Leo Linck, Loor, Vitinho, Mateo Ponte, Telles, Bastos, Barboza, Marcal, Kaio, Jair Cunha, David Ricardo, Cuiabano, Danilo, Patrick De Paula, Montoro, Savarino, Marlon Freitas, Kaue, Rodriguez, Allan, Gregore, Newton, Kauan Lindes, Artur, Rwan Cruz, Matheus Martins, Nathan, Kayke, Correa, Mastriani, Jeffinho, Arthur Cabral, Igor Jesus.

Injury List

(best guess)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (hamstring/calf), Morris (hamstring), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Hawkins (quadriceps).

Botafogo -

OUT: no information

MATCHDAY DECISION: no information

Discipline

No players suspended.

Fun Fact

On 11 June, Sounders FC U-18 player Leonardo Flores made his Sounders FC Reserves debut against Salt Lake Reserves at Sandy, Utah. Nice one, Leo!