MINNESOTA UNITED FC v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC travel to St. Paul, Minnesota to visit the team that stopped our MLS Cup run in its tracks last November. It particularly rankled because the Loons were rewarded for being good at penalty kick tie-breakers, though we had played the better football. I believe a tart response is in order.

What: MLS league match, Minnesota United FC v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: Simpson Street, St. Paul, Minnesota.

When: 11:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Sunday 22 March 2026 CE.

At Stake: If we’re going to make a run at an MLS Championship, you need the best record in the league to get one of those. Ergo, to keep pace with the front-runners, you have to win league matches. Added to this, I’d say some comeuppance is overdue, considering that the Loons unceremoniously booted us out of MLS Cup in the second round last season through the clever use of penalty kick tie-breakers, even though we had played the better football. That’s payment due, mates. In spades.

Where to Watch: Fox and Apple TV.

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

Match five of the 2026 MLS season. The last fixture in what has been a meat-grinder of a schedule for the Sounders FC for the last couple weeks. Four matches in 11 days. Fuck’s sake MLS schedulers. I beg you. Show some mercy. That plea will go unheard, of course. The corpos have zero fucks to give about player safety. Even if there were a response, it would probably be something along the lines of “Shut up and dribble”. Yeh. That one didna age too well did it?

CONCACAF adjudged ECS’ Black Lives Matter banner to be racist. Sooooo, that’s a straight rubbish take, and 18 billion percent false. Can’t see ECS taking that one sitting down. The rebuttal is likely to be quite abrasive, and I will chortle heartily when it comes.

Then there’s today’s match, which sees us facing the Minnesota United FC. Them’s that booted us out of MLS Cup through the clever use of penalty-kick tiebreakers,  Insisted upon by MLS, along with the idea of a three-match cup tie for the first round, in yet another change to the MLS Cup format. When will they tire of tinkering with things that aren’t broken and that have worked for hundreds of years? MLS once again demonstrates they have no knowledge of the correct application of penalty-kick tiebreakers, or how to correctly format a Cup tournament. All MLS has managed to do is shite all over the national Cup of the United States FA. America first, except when there’s profit at stake. But I digress.

Time to head to the Loon’s nest and, with any luck, deliver a richly deserved, king-sized helping of payback.

It’s Sounders football, at the ill-advised hour of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, under the afternoon sun at Simpson Street. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

Dear CONCACAF, regarding the matter of your unwarranted and unwanted censorship of Emerald City Supporters and its sub-groups, I cordially invite you to go fuck yourselves. Love, Charles.

The Good News

Football matters regardless, it would be nice at the start of the match to see some solidarity between the two sides regarding the invasion of the Twin Cities by militarised goons, and the atrocities they perpetrated on the citizenry there. A showing of strength and common resolve is the proper thing to do. Not that long ago, it was ECS and Timbers Army at the Morrison Street ground with the famous 33rd minute silent protest regarding MLS’ failed attempt at censoring the display of the Iron Front flag at matches. Displays of solidarity are dead useful and gives the corpos and the thugs, that would destroy our way of life, a moment’s pause.

I mean, we’ve only lost the one match so far. That’s absolutely lovely. Undefeated at sea level!

We won our CONCACAF Champions Cup tie against Vancouver in our home away from home match in Spokane. It was delicious.

Sounders goals so far this season in all competitions: Rothrock 4, Arriola 2, Rusnak, Cristian, Kossa-Rienzi, Musovski. Could use more goals from our centre-forwards, sure, but you canna argue with the results.

Sounders are averaging 1.67 goals/match, and are by far the more likely of the two clubs to score two goals. Minnesota are averaging exactly one goal per match.

The Loon’s defence are bleeding goals at a rate of 2.75 per match, whereas our defence has tightened up considerably since our defeat at the Salt Lake. Sounders currently concede an average of less than a goal per match (0.50).

Danny Musovski has a chance to earn his first cap for North Macedonia at the tender age of 30, as he’s been called up to face Denmark in a World Cup UEFA qualifier play-off Semi-Final in Copenhagen. Winner to face the winner of Czechia v. Eire. Good for you, Danny!

ECS response to CONCACAF fuckery in 10…9…8…7…Oh please, it canna come soon enough!

We’ve got Jordan Morris back from injury list! We can expect only short stints off the bench at first, as the coaching staff will be monitoring him closely to make sure he doesn’t re-aggravate the injury. Getting Jordan back will give us options at both right and left forward. That’s always good to have.

Sounders find themselves 7th place in the league (as of this writing). That’s not bad, and with any luck, we’ll keep marching right up the table.

Sounders FC finally wised up and signed Antino Lopez to a senior contract. Well done, Craig Waibel. This signing was needed, not only due to injuries in our back four, but also because Lopez is a proper footballer, with composure far exceeding his years, and has earned the chance to compete for a spot in our defence.

With former Manchester United coach Eric Ramsay hitting the eject button for a job with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthornes, the Loons lost a class Manager. I doubt Cameron Knowles will be anything close to his equal.

The Bad News

As if one meat-grinder set of matches wasn’t enough (four matches in 11 days), A nearly mirror version of that is what faces us after the FIFA international break. Starting with the 4th April fixture at Houston, the Sounders FC will play five matches in 15 days, ending with three of those matches to be played in a week’s time. This is, of course, the definition of unsafe working conditions. MLS Players Association, I think you’d better have a talk with corporate about this. Maybe now, and not at the next negotiations for collective bargaining. Just a thought.

Our defence is still ransacked due to injuries. With Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Sailor, and Kim all still recovering, it leaves us with only two natural centre-halves - the newly-signed Antino Lopez, Jackson Ragen, and Alex Roldan who is ably deputising out of position.

Minnesota United are licking their collective wounds after an absolute 6:0 battering at the hands of Vancouver. Animals and sport clubs are most dangerous when wounded.

Any sort of attacking danger from Minnesota United will likely come from Yeboah (2 goals), Duggan, and Triantis (1 goal each). Yeboah, Pereyra, Diaz, and Hlongwane are good players, and could still mount attacking threats despite their club’s current struggles. With the Loon’s backs to the wall in 21st place, I’d expect an extra fierce mentality from them come Sunday. Buckle up.

The Side I Would Select

There’s been three days between matches, for the first time in awhile. That doesn’t mean the lads aren’t worn to the bone, but it should be safe to select first-choice.

Rationale:

With Gomez Andrade still nursing a hamstring injury, Alex Roldan is deputising well in his place at right-centre-half. With Alex moved into the centre of defence, It makes sense to have Kossa-Rienzi’s pace and attacking skills at right-back. Musovski hit a 79th minute equaliser against Vancouver in the CCC on Wednesday. He is the first Sounders centre-forward to score a goal this season, and should be rewarded for his efforts. That said, should Musovski falter, it should be De Rosario in (as a substitute or) for the next match as Osaze’s development is crucial. If we’re not going to sign a star striker, we had bloody well develop one. Musovski, 30 is cracking good at scoring goals, and better than average at setting them up, but he’s getting on a bit. De Rosario is the future and will score us a hatful of goals given the chance.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Alex

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM   Brunell

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I think the Gaffer sticks with De Rosario, and that’s a good thing. I wonder though, if he’s still angry with Musovski for getting sent off in the 2025 Leagues Cup Quarter-Final, and that has something to do with Musovski’s reduced minutes. Although Jordan Morris has returned to fitness, don’t expect him to log big minutes right away. The Manager is rightfully cautious when re-integrating players who have just recovered from injury into the team. It’s one of the things I admire about Brian Schmetzer.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Alex

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM   Brunell

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     De Rosario

Intangibles

The Referee for Sunday morning’s match will be Jon Freemon.

Minnesota record with Freemon as Ref: 2-1-2

Sounders FC record with Freemon as Ref: 1-1-0

Loons have a new Manager, former New Zealand international centre-half Cameron Knowles. That suits me just fine as Eric Ramsey was extremely competent, and was turning Minnesota United into a scary competitor.

Minnesota United 2026 transfer fees paid: €7.58M

Sounders FC 2026 transfer fees paid: €0

General notes on personnel

Minnesota transfers IN:

Stroud (New York RB) €403,000

Fischer - reserves

Chancalay (New England Revolution) €85,000

Callender (Charlotte FC) €380,000

Rizvanovich - reserves

Gonzalez (Deportes Tolima) €850,000

Caldeira - draft

Rodriguez (Leon) free

Duncan (New York RB) free

Minnesota transfers OUT:

Dotson (Seattle Sounders FC) free

Keller (New Mexico United) free

Lod (Chicago Fire) free

Mesanvi (Indy Eleven) free

Shashoua (Birmingham Legion) loan

St. Clair (Inter Miami CF) free

Rosales (Austin FC) €1.28M

Speel (Shelbourne) loan

Jung (Suwon Bluewings) loan

Kmet (Dunajska Streda) loan

Farina (Cerro Porteno) end of loan

Rizvanovich (Brooklyn FC) loan

Fischer (Hartford Athletic) loan

Comparison against common opponents

VAN 6:0 MIN

VAN 0:3 SEA CCC

SEA 2:1 VAN CCC @Spokane

Know Thine Enemy

The Loons as they lined up in their 6:0 defeat against Vancouver at BC Place on 15 March.

GOALKEEPER

Drake Callender, 28

United States

Notable Clubs: Inter Miami CF (92/0), Minnesota United (4/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Cap FC United, Placer United, and San Jose Earthquakes. Played his university football at California (54/0). Won a Leagues Cup and Supporters Shield with Inter Miami CF. Named 2023 Leagues Cup Best Goalkeeper.

DEFENCE

Devin Padelford, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Minnesota United FC (40/1), St. Louis City SC (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by St. Croix SC and Minnesota United FC.

Morris Duggan, 25

Germany

Notable Clubs: Minnesota United FC (27/1), Rhode Island FC (9/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Kirchheimer SC and FC Ismaning. Played his university football for Iowa Lakes CC (NJCAA) (23/0) and Marshall (37/3).

Carlos Harvey, 26

Panama (23/2)

Notable Clubs: Tauro (1/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (10/0), Phoenix Rising (30/5), Minnesota United FC (45/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Presumably developed by Tauro. Won a Panamanian league title with Tauro.

Jefferson Diaz, 25

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Real Cartagena (43/3), Valledupar (25/2), Deportivo Cali (43/4), Minnesota United FC (39/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Jefferson Abel Diaz Beleno. Developed by Elite Capital and Real Cartagena.

MIDFIELD

Joaquin Pereyra, 27

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Rosario Central (45/1), Famalicao (15/0), Atletico Tucuman (112/4), Minnesota United FC (44/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Rosario Central. Won a Copa Argentina with Rosario Central.

Nectarios Triantis, 22

Greece (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Western Sydney Wanderers (1/0), Central Coast Mariners (25/0), Sunderland (3/0), Hibernian (46/3), Minnesota United FC (9/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Canterbury Junior FC, Sydney Olympic, Football New South Wales NTC, and Sydney FC. Played for Australia (14/1) at youth levels. Won an Australian A-League Championship with Central Coast Mariners. Named to PFA A-League Team of the Season 2022-23.

Wil Trapp, 33

United States (20/0)

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (185/2), Inter Miami CF (21/0), Minnesota United FC (153/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Columbus Crew SC. Played his university football for Akron (45/1).

FORWARD

Tomas Chancalay, 27

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Colon (66/5), Racing Club (64/10), Al-Wasl (20/9), New England Revolution (49/12), Minnesota United FC (4/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Arsenal de Viale and Colon.

Kelvin Yeboah, 25

Ghana

Notable Clubs: WSG Tirol (56/10), Sturm Graz (34/17), Genoa (28/1), Augsburg (13/1), Montpellier (13/0), Standard Liege (14/6), Minnesota United FC (43/18)

Estimated Transfer Value: €6M

Notes: Developed by West Ham United and Gozzano. Won an Austrian Second Division title with WSG Tirol.

Kyle Duncan, 28

United States (1/0)

Notable Clubs: New York RB (147/6), Oostende (7/0), Minnesota United FC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by New York RB. Won an MLS league title with New York RB.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Minnesota from:

Smir, Callender,Padelford, Duncan, Romero, Markanich, Duggan, Gressel, Taylor, Diaz, Chandler, Fitz, Rodriguez, Trapp, Triantis, Pereyra, Gene, Harvey, Chancalay, Yeboah, Michel, Randell, Gonzalez, Hlongwane, Caldeira, Dieng, Adebayo-Smith.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Brunell, Cristian, Dotson, Gomez, Kingston*, Petkovic, Rusnak, Arriola, De Rosario, Ferreira, Minoungou, Morris, Musovski, Rothrock, Tsukanome.

*I assume Peter Kingston is still on short-term loan. I don’t know for sure. The process of short-term loans is completely opaque. No one tells me anything. I live in the back.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Minnesota -

OUT: Boxall (lower body, we’ll say sprained testicles), Stroud (lower body, we’ll say chlamydia).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (hamstring), de la Vega (knee), Hawkins (quadriceps), Sailor (knee), Kim (calf).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Dotson (head).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

No players suspended from either team.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC centre-forward, Danny Musovski, has been called up by North Macedonia for their UEFA World Cup Qualifying play-off tie against Denmark in Copenhagen on 26 March. Hopefully Danny will earn his first cap. Well done, Danny.