SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. CLUB TIJUANA XOLOITZCUINTLES DE CALIENTE - LEAGUES CUP - GROUP STAGE - ROYAL BROUGHAM PARK, OCCIDENTAL AVENUE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Tijuana pay a visit to The Evergreen after getting the drop on Colorado Rapids. Let’s hope they’re more interested in playing football rather than just repeatedly kicking our lads. Who kicked our lads repeatedly? A team whose name rhymes with Santos Laguna.

What: Leagues Cup, group stage, Seattle Sounders FC v. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente.

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

When: 8:00 p.m Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 6 August 2025 CE.

At Stake: That depends on where you are with Leagues Cup. If you don’t like what Leagues Cup has done to the domestic football calendar, then this match, and all matches in this tournament, are meaningless. If you really fancy MLS v. Liga MX, and that’s your jam, Leagues Cup is super-important. If you just think of it as another chance for the Sounders FC to win a trophy this season, then Leagues Cup is a potential means to that end. That pretty much sums it up.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Where to Listen: El Rey 1360 AM.

It’s Leagues Cup football…such as it is. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

Yep. It’s a trophy alright.

The Good News

Sounders have won both their group matches so far by an aggregate total of 9:1.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Our young players have performed extremely well in this tournament. This is a very good sign, as the Sounders core isn’t gettin’ any younger.

The defence is holding, having only conceded one goal in two matches, and we’re scoring goals. We’ve a bit crashed back to a more believable level after the stratospheric heights of the battering we dealt Cruz Azul. Still, we’re finding ways to win, and that’s a key thing in tournaments.

No one has been hurt yet, though with so many matches so close together, it is a concern.

Tijuana has got off to a lukewarm start in the Torneo Apertura with a 1-1-1 record. 30th place LA Galaxy dealt them a pretty savage 5:2 beating, and they managed to scratch out a 1:2 victory against Colorado. Although there are no easy matches in this tournament, it seems like a favourable draw for us.

The Bad News

It’s our third match in seven days. I’m starting to worry about possible injuries to our players. Hopefully the workload is being thoughtfully balanced enough so that our lads don’t get hurt.

Steffon Dewar, the Ref for our match against Santos Laguna, was extremely poor and had an extremely uneven performance, punishing minuscule infractions with cards, but sometimes not even blowing the whistle for dangerous fouls and reckless challenges. This leads me to question the overall quality of officiating in this tournament and further leads me to worry about player safety.

Georgi lost his head. Lad scores an absolute banger and then does the whole t-shirt-message reveal bit. He’d been previously booked for what seemed to not even be a foul. Then the Santos Laguna players harangued the Ref until he booked Georgi a second time, and now Georgi must serve a one-match ban. Was it foolhardy? Sure. Should taking off your shirt to celebrate be a booking? No. Not in any universe.

Tijuana have some quality in the squad that may give us a bit of trouble come midweek. Boya, Porozo, Bilbao, Blanco, Vitinho, and Nicholson are all the sort of players that could trip us up, given the opportunity. They’ve played for such clubs as Boavista, Athletic Bilbao, Amiens, Independiente (Argentina), Spartak Moscow, Mouscron, Charleroi, and Sao Paulo. This lot will not be turned over easily.

The Side I Would Select

Only two days between matches. Again. Rotation is key. This is the best I could figure out after running the numbers on minutes played. I hope the Gaffer can do better.

Rationale:

Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, and Vargas have played the full 90 twice in four days. They need a break. Rusnak has played 73 and 76 minutes in four days and needs to be spelled by Ferreira. This is complicated by the need to start someone at right-forward that is reasonably well-rested. Georgi would be the optimal choice, but he got himself sent off because he was twice-booked. So one of de la Vega, Rothrock, or Kent should play at right-forward. Musovski has played over 60 minutes twice in four days. He could do with a rest. The Gaffer would do well to let Osaze De Rosario in the team. He’ll score us a hatful of goals and we’ve got too many matches too close together. Don’t punish the lad for being young. It makes good sense to conserve Musovski for the next match. I believe this selection can win this match.

GK    Thomas

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Bell

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Brunell

RDM   Cristian

LF     de la Vega

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Rothrock

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I reckon the Gaffer will want to close out strong against the Tijuana. I expect, more or less, the same 11 he ran out against Cruz Azul.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Kent

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

Shockingly not outspent this time.

SEA 2025 disclosed transfer spending: €1.45M

TIJ 2025-26 disclosed transfer spending: €0

SEA 2025 squad aggregate estimated transfer value: €51.75M

TIJ 2025-26 squad aggregate estimated transfer value: €35.75M

General notes on personnel

Tijuana transfers IN:

Preciado (Queretaro) free

Ortiz (Queretaro) free

Reyes (Dorados Sinaloa) free

Salim Hernandez (Queretaro) free

Osuna (Dorados Sinaloa) free

Leonardo Vargas (Dorados Sinaloa) free

Vitinho (San Luis) undisclosed

Tijuana transfers OUT:
Alvarez (Guadalajara) €6.85M

Ortega (Llaneros) free

Jesus Hernandez (Queretaro) free

Zuniga (Club America) undisclosed

Monarrez (Puebla) undisclosed

Balanta  (Santos Laguna) loan

Diaz (Puebla) loan

Madrigal - retired

Fernandez - released

Comparison against common opponents

COL 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:3 COL

COL 1:2 TIJ

(against COL: SEA 0-2-0 0, TIJ 1-0-0 +1) edge TIJ

Know Thine Enemy

Tijuana as they lined up in their 1:2 victory over Colorado on 3 August at Victory Way.

GOALKEEPER

Antonio Rodriguez, 33

Mexico (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Guadalajara (104/1), Veracruz (21/0), Lobos BUAP (32/0), Queretaro (9/0), Tijuana (65/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €700,000

Notes: Full name: Jose Antonio Rodriguez Romero. Developed by Guadalajara. Won a Copa MX, Supercopa MX, and a CONCACAF Champions League with Guadalajara. Won a CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico.

DEFENCE

Jackson Porozo, 25

Ecuador (8/0)

Notable Clubs: Manta (18/1), Boavista (35/2), Troyes (22/2), Olympiacos (4/0), Kasimpasa (14/1), Tijuana (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Full name: Jackson Gabriel Porozo Vernaza. Developed by LDU Quito, Sandino, Manta, Independiente del Valle, and Santos.

Alejandro Gomez, 23

Mexico (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Atlas (10/0), Boavista (7/0), Tijuana (34/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Full name: Jesus Alejandro Gomez Molina. Developed by Atlas. Won 2x Liga MX titles, and a Campeon de Campeones with Atlas. Won a CONCACAF U-17 Championship and Central American and Caribbean Games with Mexico U-17s. Named to CONCACAF U-17 Championship Best XI.

Pablo Ortiz, 23

Mexico

Notable Clubs: Queretaro (19/1), Tijuana (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €700,000

Notes: Full name: Pablo Nicolas Ortiz Orozco.

Rafael Inzunza, 25

Mexico

Notable Clubs: Queretaro (18/1), Sinaloa (5/0), Tijuana (23/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Rafael Eduardo Fernandez Inzunza. Developed by Atlas, Queretaro, and Petroleros SJC.

MIDFIELD

Gilberto Mora, 16

Mexico (3/0)

Notable Clubs: Tijuana (33/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Gilberto Rafael Mora Zambrano. Developed by Tijuana. Won a CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico. Mora was the youngest player to do the following: Win a Senior International Tournament, score a goal in Liga MX, debut in Liga MX, record an assist in Liga MX, and earn a senior Mexico cap.

Frank Boya, 29

Cameroon (6/0)

Notable Clubs: APEJES Academy (?/?), Mouscron (54/5), Antwerp (13/0), Zulte Waregem (17/0), Sint-Truiden (31/1), Amiens (50/1), Tijuana (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by APEJES Academy. Won an African Nations Cup with Cameroon.

Unai Bilbao, 31

Euskadi

Notable Clubs: Athletic Bilbao (95/9), San Luis (114/13), Necaxa (35/3), Tijuana (17/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Full name: Unai Bilbao Arteta. Developed by Indautxu, Barakaldo, and Athletic Bilbao. Won an Ascenso MX title with San Luis.

FORWARD

Domingo Blanco, 30

Argentina (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Independiente (84/2), Defensa y Justicia (24/0), Dnipro-1 (14/1), Tijuana (6/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Olimpo. Won a Copa Sudamericana with Independiente.

Vitinho, 24

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Sao Paulo (2/0), San Luis (87/14), Tijuana (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Vitor Samuel Ferreira Arantes. Developed by Sao Paulo.

Shamar Nicholson, 28

Jamaica (57/19)

Notable Clubs: Domzale (47/18), Charleroi (76/30), Spartak Moscow (43/11), Clermont (26/4), Tijuana (9/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.8M

Notes: Developed by Trench Town High School and Boys’ Town. Won a Russian Cup with Spartak Moscow.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Again, no info. I’m just gonna go with it.

Sounders FC from:

Thomas, Castro, Baker, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Burney, Gomez Andrade, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Brunell, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Obed Vargas, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Kent, Musovski, Rothrock.

Tijuana from:

Rodriguez, Salim Hernandez, Jesus Corona, Osuna, Porozo, Gomez, Bilbao, Inzunza, Reyes, Franco, Contreras, Vega, Ortiz, Betsiel Hernandez, Mejia, Boya, Tona, Joe Corona, Arciga, Mora, Castaneda, Julio, Vitinho, Preciado, Blanco, Nicholson, Leonardo Vargas.

Injury List

(no info for Tijuana. Sounders info from 25 July)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Morris (shoulder), Frei (concussion), Hawkins (quadriceps), Joao Paulo (knee), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Tijuana -

OUT: No info

MATCHDAY DECISION: No info

Discipline

Sounders FC: Minoungou will serve a one-match ban. Musovski and De Rosario are carrying bookings into this match.

Tijuana: Mora and Fernandez are carrying bookings into this match.

Fun Fact

Pedro de la Vega leads the Sounders in goal scoring for this tournament, courtesy of his brace against Cruz Azul. Pedro’s full-volley banger will not soon be forgotten by ours.