SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. SAINT LOUIS CITY SC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Struggling St. Louis City visit The Evergreen for a midweek fixture in the league.

What: MLS League match, Seattle Sounders FC v. St. Louis City SC.

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

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 17 July 2024 CE.

At Stake: Sounders are setting a torrid pace, but unfortunately those above us in the league table are keeping an equally torrid pace of late. Sounders can rise as high as 8th in the league with a victory over St. Louis, results and goal difference permitting. Should we be defeated, we can drop as far as 14th place. Sounders FC currently sit 13th place in the MLS league table, 14 points adrift of new leaders Cincinnati.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. As this is a home match, KJR simulcast will be available as alternate audio in the Apple TV control layer.

Where to Listen: 99.3 KJR FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

Get yourselves out to the ground if you are healthy and have the means. We’re on some kind of a run, and you wouldn’t want to miss this chapter of the exciting journey. Support is vital, and with the Sounders possibly conserving a bit of manpower for Saturdays’ bust up with LAFC, the lads are gonna need all the support you can muster.

Failing that it’s pubs, houses, flats, boats, ships, where ever you can gather round the telly of an Apple TV subscriber. From a psychic standpoint though, and quantum physics for that matter, your voices are no less important to urge the lads to victory.

It’s midweek football under the lights at Royal Brougham Park. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

Sounders FC have set a blistering pace in the second half of the season. Can we maintain it?

The Good News

Over the last five matches, Sounders FC are reliably scoring an average of two goals per match. Paired with our third-best defence in the league, you can expect to win a lot of matches with that level of production.

St. Louis are struggling. Mightily. They have conceded 13 goals in their last five matches for an average of 2.60 goals conceded/match. Their last two matches in the league were 4:1 defeats to Vancouver and Colorado.

With their top goal-scorer, Joao Klauss, injured, and other key injuries in their squad, combined with St. Louis’ defensive struggles, it’s hard to see them mounting a serious threat, barring utter calamity or a complete collapse on our part.

Jordan Morris is on an absolute tear, scoring four goals in his last five league matches, and adding a US Open Cup goal against Sacramento Republic FC on 9 July. Centre-halves around the league have been unable to contain him, or keep pace with him.

The Bad News

The match against LAFC on Sat, has a two-day turnaround from the St. Louis match. You would imagine, although I make no guarantees here, that the Gaffer will have to rotate the squad. He could start a team of mostly squad players, or more of a half and half approach. Victory can definitely be achieved over St. Louis in their current state, the question is: What is it going to cost us come Saturday?

One caveat: As much as the numbers say this match is a walk-over, it should be noted that in the middle of the last five matches, which by any estimate was a horrible stretch for St. Louis, they shut out San Jose 2:0 on 3 July. San Jose is a team we struggle to beat. Does it make a difference? I don’t know.

St. Louis has only one victory since 15 May. You’d think that’s a positive thing…and it is…sorta. The thing is, when the season is falling apart at your club it can make you desperate like. Fear can be a very strong motivator. We must remain vigilant in defence.

The Side I Would Select

With a date against LAFC on Saturday, a two-day turnaround, I would play a younger lineup for the bulk of the minutes. Against St. Louis, who are weak at the back, this should be enough. If need be, first choice players will be standing by on the substitutes bench.

GK     Frei

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Bell

RCH    Nathan

RB     Baker

LDM    Leyva

RDM    Vargas

LF     Leo Chu

CAM   Leyva

RF     Rothrock

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

In the recent past, and for as long as I can remember, this was the easiest prediction to make. The Gaffer has re-discovered his caginess, and has become wily again. This is the team (minus Atencio, for whom I’ll patch in Joao Paulo, who is off to Paris for the Olympics) that played in our 2:2 draw in Houston on 19 June. A match that was followed by a two-day turnaround before facing Dallas in Seattle.

GK     Frei

LB     Bell

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Cristian

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Vargas

LF     Baker-Whiting

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Rothrock

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for the midweek fixture against St. Louis will be Alexis Da Silva who has only 12 MLS matches worth of experience.

Sounders FC record with Da Silva as Referee: 0-1-0

St. Louis record with Da Silva as Referee: 0-0-0

General notes on personnel

St. Louis transfers IN:

Olivares - reserves

Durkin (DC United) €278,000

Totland (BK Hacken) €455,000

Dyhr (FC Midtjylland) €500,000

Kijima - draft

Teuchert (Hannover 96) free

Girdwood-Reich (Sydney FC) €794,000

Klein - reserves 

Hartel (FC St. Pauli) free

Wentzel - reserves 

Reid - reserves

St. Louis transfers OUT:

Creek (FC Tulsa) free

Schneider (Indy Eleven) free

Bell (Seattle Sounders FC) re-entry draft

Nelson (LA Galaxy) free

Stroud (DC United) undisclosed fee

Bartlett (DC United) undisclosed fee

Perez (Birmingham Legion FC) loan

Gioacchini (Como 1907) €2M

Jensen (Viborg FF) loan

Jackson (Columbus Crew SC) €606,000

Dyhr (Randers FC) €373,000

Comparison against common opponents

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:1 RSL

STL 1:1 RSL

RSL 3:1 STL

(against RSL: SEA 0-1-1 -2, STL 0-1-1 -2) even

SEA 0:0 ATX
ATX 0:1 SEA

ATX 2:2 STL

STL 1:0 ATX

(against ATX: SEA 1-1-0 +1, STL 1-1-0 +1) even

LAG 1:0 SEA

SEA 0:0 LAG

LAG 3:3 STL

(against LAG: SEA 0-1-1 -1, STL 0-1-0 0) edge STL

DC 2:1 SEA

STL 2:2 DC

(against DC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, STL 0-1-0 0) edge STL

DAL 0:0 SEA

SEA 3:2 DAL

STL 0:0 DAL

DAL 2:0 STL

(against DAL: SEA 1-1-0 +1, STL 0-1-1 -2) edge SEA

SKC 2:1 SEA

SKC 3:3 STL

(against SKC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, STL 0-1-0 0) edge STL

HOU 2:2 SEA

STL 2:1 HOU CCC

HOU 1:0 STL CCC

HOU 0:0 STL

(against HOU: SEA 0-1-0 0, STL 1-1-1 0) edge STL

SEA 2:1 CHI

STL 3:1 CHI

(against CHI: SEA 1-0-0 +1, STL 1-0-0 +2) edge STL

LAFC 2:1 SEA

STL 0:2 LAFC

(against LAFC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, STL 0-0-1 -2) edge SEA

POR 1:2 SEA

STL 0:0 POR

(against POR: SEA 1-0-0 +1, STL 0-1-0 0) edge SEA

SEA 1:1 COL

STL 0:3 COL

COL 4:1 STL

(against COL: SEA 0-1-0 0, STL 0-0-2 -6) edge SEA

SEA 0:2 VAN

SEA 1:1 VAN

VAN 4:3 STL

STL 1:4 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 0-1-1 -2, STL 0-0-2 -4) edge SEA

SJ 3:2 SEA

STL 2:0 SJ

(against SJ: SEA 0-0-1 -1, STL 1-0-0 +2) edge STL

Know Thine Enemy

St. Louis as they lined up in their 1:4 defeat against Vancouver at CityPark on 13 July. 

GOALKEEPER

Roman Burki, 33

Switzerland (9/0)

Notable Clubs: BSC Young Boys (2/0), FC Thun (4/0), FC Schaffhausen (9/0), Grasshoppers (110/0), SC Freiberg (34/0), Borussia Dortmund (176/0), St. Louis City SC (55/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by FC Munsingen and BSC Young Boys. Won a Swiss Cup with Grasshoppers. Won two DFB Pokal and a DFB Supercup with Borussia Dortmund. Named to MLS Best XI 2023. Named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 2023.

DEFENCE

Jayden Reid, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: New York RB (1/0), St. Louis City SC (4/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €50,000

Notes: Developed by Jigs Soccer Academy and New York RB. Played his university football for Connecticut (51/3).

Tim Parker, 31

United States (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Long Island Rough Riders (7/0), Brooklyn Italians (5/0), Vancouver Whitecaps (76/1), New York RB (79/1), Houston Dynamo (62/0), St. Louis City SC (48/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Played his university football for St. John’s (79/4). Won a Canadian Championship with Vancouver. Won an MLS league championship with New York RB. Named to MLS Best XI 2023.

Joshua Yaro, 29

Ghana

Notable Clubs: Philadelphia Union (23/0), San Antonio FC (45/1), San Diego Loyal (28/2), St. Louis City SC (26/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €450,000

Notes: Developed by Right to Dream Academy. Played his university football at Georgetown (57/1).

Tomas Totland, 24

Norway

Notable Clubs: Sogndal (72/7), Tromso (27/5), Hacken (44/1), St. Louis City SC (22/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Fana. Won a Swedish league title with Hacken.

MIDFIELD

Chris Durkin, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: DC United (96/5), Sint-Truiden (68/2), St. Louis City SC (22/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Richmond Kickers and DC United.

Eduard Lowen, 27

Germany

Notable Clubs: FC Nurnberg (65/8), Hertha BSC (14/0), FC Augsberg (16/2), VfL Bochum (26/2), St. Louis City SC (42/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5.5M

Notes: Developed by SV Hottenbach, FC Kaiserslautern, and FC Saarbrucken.

Njabulo Blom, 24

South Africa (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Kaizer Chiefs (55/0), St. Louis City SC (40/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Kaizer Chiefs.

FORWARD

Indiana Vassilev, 23

United States and Bulgaria

Notable Clubs: Aston VIlla (4/0), Inter Miami CF (45/5), St. Louis City SC (57/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Tormenta FC, IMG Academy, and Aston Villa. Played at youth levels for United States (26/5). Won an EFL2 title with Cheltenham. Eligible to play for both United States and Bulgaria but is not yet cap-tied.

Nokkvi Thorisson, 24

Iceland (1/0)

Notable Clubs: KA Akureyri (65/23), Beerschot (28/7), St. Louis City SC (28/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €650,000

Notes: Developed by Dalvik, Tor Akureyri, and Hannover 96. Won a Golden Boot scoring 17 goals for KA Akureyri in the 2022 Icelandic league season.

John Klein, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: St. Louis City SC (9/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: No value listed.

Notes: Developed by Sporting Kansas City, Portland Timbers, Chicago FC United, St. Louis Scott Gallagher, and Kaw Valley FC. Played his university football at St. Louis (88/29).

Familiar Faces

St. Louis forward Sam Adeniran played for Sounders FC Reserves (38/15) from 2021-2022, and for Sounders FC (4/0) from 2021-2022.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

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

Notes: Atencio with United States U-23s. Hawkins with United States U-20s.

St. Louis from:

Burki, Lundt, Olivares, Blom, Dyhr, Hiebert, Markanich, Nerwinski, Nilsson, Parker, Reid, Totland, Watts, Wentzel, Yaro, Durkin, Kijima, Klein, Loewen, Pearce, Adeniran, Glover, McSorley, Thorisson, Vassilev.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Rodrigues (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

St. Louis -

OUT: Alm (knee), Klauss (knee), Ostrak (ankle), Pompeu (leg).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Nilsson (hamstring).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

St. Louis: No players suspended. Durkin, Markanich, Pompeu, and Vassilev are out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves won their fourth in a row on Sunday, absolutely battering Vancouver Whitecaps 2 by a score of 1:4 at Swangard. Scoring for the Sounders FC Reserves were Chris Aquino, who scored two goals, with De Rosario and Gomez adding one each. The Reserves actually scored all five goals this match, as Vancouver’s only goal was a Snyder Brunell own-goal. In the team for the Sounders FC Reserves: Castro, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez, Sousa, Bowen, Kitahara, Brunell, Aquino, Bettache, Tsukanome, De Rosario. Substitutes used: O’Malley, Fahling, Gomez, Minoungou, Miglietti. Well done, lads!!!

AUSTIN FC v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC leave the home comforts of The Evergreen to travel to Austin, Texas and the McKalla Place football ground. Those of you going to the match, please save me some Maria’s Taco XPress.

What: MLS league match, Austin FC v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: McKalla Place, Austin, Texas.

When: 5:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 13 July 2024 CE.

At Stake: Sounders FC can rise as high as 10th place in the league with a victory over Austin. Should we be defeated, we could drop as low as 16th place. Sounders FC are currently 13th in the league on 31 points, 17 points adrift of leaders Inter Miami. So it’s a chance to get back in the top ten of the league, results permitting. As far as MLS Cup Qualification, you needn’t worry yourselves. It’s extremely likely we’re going to qualify.

Where to Watch: Apple TV. Although you’ll have to suffer with Max Bretos and former Dallas Burn player Brian Dunseth on commentary as this is an away match.

Where to Listen: 93.3 KJR FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

Well, the fun and games had to come to an end at some point……No not the Sounders FC, they’re absolutely crushing it…Me and the missus have contracted COVID-19. I have to say, it absolutely fucking sucks. Would’ve gotten my vaccine, but I was not eligible, because American scarcity where there should be none. So it’s going to be lots of swallowing uncomfortably large pills, feeling like someone is scraping a metal file through my lungs and throat when I cough, an absolute snot factory of a nose, and hopefully no severe damage to my vital organs. The 103º fever was unpleasant as well. So, let this be a teaching moment for ours, and remember to take precautions if you’re going to the match, for your protection and the protection of your fellow brothers and sisters in Green. If the following article seems like the incoherent ramblings of a fever dream…well…you know.

On to the football.

We are, as I mentioned above, absolutely crushing it. I predicted before the start of the season that we would win zero trophies this season. Believe me when I tell you, I absolutely hope I was 100% wrong. We’re in the Semi-Finals of the US Open Cup for the first time since 2014. There’s no way we’re winning the league, that ship has sailed, but a successful MLS Cup run seems not out of the question with the way we're playing of late. Leagues Cup is going to be a slog, but with the football we’re playing, I wouldn’t write us off. I mean, realistically the competition is steep, and the Liga MX clubs don’t have to conform to a salary cap, so…we’ll just have to see.

Those of you going to the lovely McKalla Place football ground, I mean…so new…so modern…look after each other, mask up, and if you’re sick, stay hame. It only takes one wanker who doesn’t give a shit or is going to carry on with their travel plans to avoid inconvenience and expense to infect thousands of people. Tie your scarves properly, hydrate - and that means not just beer [narrows eyes] you know who you are. Enjoy Austin, I hear they keep it weird, and that sounds familiar.

For those of us here in The Evergreen, we must gather around the telly, rounding up your mates as you can. Again, if you’re sick, stay the fuck hame. Otherwise it’s pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings. Houses and flats for pints and cats. Boats and ships for pie and chips.

It’s odd, everything else seems to be disintegrating, but football-wise things are going absolutely cracker. And for now, that has to be enough.

You know I love you lot. Don’t get all teary on me. It’s Sounders FC football, under the Saturday night lights at McKalla Place. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

That’s four goals in the last four matches for the winsome lad from Mercer Island. WELL DONE, JORDO!

The Good News

10-4-2 in our last 16 in all competitions. I’d say that’s a fine run by any standard.

Credit to the Gaffer for selecting a first-choice team for the first time under his stewardship. Long overdue, but victory in Sacramento was the cherry on top of the melting ice cream. Once again, credit due, and he needn’t limit selecting first-choice to the Quarter-Final stage.

We’re scoring goals, and managing to do so without being leaky at the back. No complaints.

We’re the statistically more likely to score two goals, and Austin are the statistically more likely to concede two.

The Bad News

The only thing I can think of is that in their last four matches, Austin are 2-1-1 including a victory over NYC FC, and a draw with LAFC - two top 10 clubs.

Also COVID-19 is bad. It’s fucking horrible, and also sucks. Whatever you can do to help that not spread, do that. God, I feel like shite.

The Side I Would Select

With three days between matches, we can select from the whole squad. I mean…10-4-2 in our last 16 makes me disinclined to second-guess the Gaffer so long as there are no injuries due to overuse and we continue to play good football.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Vargas

LF     Leo Chu

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Why mess about with the team when you’ve got a good thing going. Although it seems Leo Chu has fallen out of favour with Schmetzer, so I think it’s more likely we’ll see Rothrock at left-forward.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Vargas

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match at Austin will be Jair Marrufo.

Sounders FC record with Marrufo as Ref: 18-6-7

Austin record with Marrufo as Ref: 2-0-2

General notes on personnel

Austin transfers IN:

Obrian (FC Dallas) re-entry draft 

Cleveland (Seattle Sounders FC) free

Biro (Mirassol) undisclosed fee

Burton - reserves

Rubio (Colorado Rapids) free

Hines-Ike (DC United) free

Bukari (Red Star Belgrade) €7M

Desler (Toulouse) free 

Svatok (SC Dnipro-1)

Farkarlun - draft

Austin transfers OUT:

Asensio (Orange County) free

Bruin - retired

Djeffal (Orange County) free

Keller (FC Cincinnati) undisclosed fee

Lundkvist (Hacken) free

Ocampo-Chavez - released

Redes (Olimpia - Asuncion) free

Rodriguez (Sporting Kansas City) free

Urruti (Platense) free

Lima (New Engalnd Revolution) €225,000

Romana (San Lorenzo) €689,000

Las (Louisville City) loan

Rigoni (MLS Pool) free

Djitte (Bandirmaspor) loan

Comparison against common opponents

ATX 1:2 MIN

MIN 0:1 ATX

SEA 2:0 MIN

(against MIN: ATX 1-0-1 0, SEA 1-0-0 +2) edge SEA

ATX 2:2 STL

STL 1:0 ATX

STL 1:2 SEA

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

ATX 2:2 PHI

PHI 2:3 SEA

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

ATX 2:1 DAL

DAL 2:1 ATX

DAL 0:0 SEA

SEA 3:2 DAL

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

ATX 4:3 SJ

SJ 1:1 ATX

SJ 3:2 SEA

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

HOU 0:1 ATX

ATX 1:0 HOU

HOU 2:2 SEA

(against HOU: ATX 2-0-0 +2, SEA 0-1-0 0) edge ATX

ATX 2:0 LAG

LAG 1:0 SEA

SEA 0:0 LAG

(against LAG: ATX 1-0-0 +2, SEA 0-1-1 -1) edge ATX

VAN 0:0 ATX
SEA 0:2 VAN

SEA 1:1 VAN

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

ATX 3:2 SKC

SKC 2:0 ATX

SKC 2:1 SEA

(against SKC: ATX 1-0-1 -1, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge ATX

ATX 0:2 POR

POR 1:2 SEA

(against POR: ATX 0-0-1 -2, SEA 1-0-0 +1) edge SEA

RSL 5:1 ATX

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:1 RSL

(against RSL: ATX 0-0-1 -4, SEA 0-1-1 -2) edge SEA

COL 2:0 ATX
SEA 1:1 COL

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

ATX 1:1 LAFC

LAFC 2:1 SEA

(against LAFC: ATX 0-1-1 0, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge ATX

Know Thine Enemy

Austin as they lined up in their 2:1 victory over New York City FC on 6 July at McKalla Place.

GOALKEEPER

Brad Stuver, 33

United States

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (2/0), New York City FC (7/0), Austin FC (120/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Played his university football for Cleveland State (71/0).

DEFENCE

Guilherme Biro, 24

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Coritiba (71/1), Mirassol (43/2), Austin FC (20/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €850,000

Notes: Full name: Guilherme da Trindade Dubas. 

Leo Vaisanen, 26

Finland (27/0)

Notable Clubs: HJK Helsinki (3/0), PK-35 Vaanta (9/1), Rovaniemen Palloseura (46/1), Den Bosch (45/6), IF Elfsborg (76/3), Austin FC (31/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Kapylan Pallo and HJK Helsinki. Named to Veikkausliiga Team of the Year 2018.

Brendan Hines-Ike, 29

United States

Notable Clubs: Orebro SK (70/2), KV Kortrijk (53/1), DC United (46/1), Austin FC (19/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Chivas USA. Played his university football for Creighton (50/2) and South Florida (20/2).

Jon Gallagher, 28

Ireland

Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (16/4), Aberdeen (22/1), Austin FC (113/10)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Beachside SC and Home United. Played his university football for Notre Dame (84/39).

MIDFIELD

Jhojan Valencia, 27

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Deportivo Cali (65/1), Cucuta Deportivo (6/0), Union Magdalena (69/2), Austin (57/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Deportivo Cali. Won two Colombian league titles with Deportivo Cali.

Sebastian Driussi, 28

Argentina

Notable Clubs: River Plate (67/21), Zenit St. Petersburg (95/21), Austin FC (96/43)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Developed by River Plate. Won an Argentine league title, a Copa Argentina, a Copa Libertadores, a Copa Sudamericana, a Recopa Sudamericana, and a Suruga Bank Championship with River Plate. Won three Russian league titles, a Russian Cup, and two Russian Super Cups with Zenit St. Petersburg. Named MLS Best XI 2022.

Alexander Ring, 33

Finland (44/2)

Notable Clubs: Tampere United (4/1), HJK Helsinki (27/2), Borussia Monchengladbach (14/0), 1.FC Kaiserslautern (76/8), New York City FC (113/10), Austin FC (115/11)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by VfL Lannesdorf, Bayer Leverkusen, RSC Anderlecht, and HJK Helsinki. Won two Finnish league titles in 2010 and 2011 with HJK Helsinki. Won a Finnish Cup with HJK Helsinki in 2011. 2011 Finnish league Rookie of the Year.

FORWARD

Owen Wolff, 19

United States

Notable Clubs: Austin FC (74/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Columbus Crew SC, Atlanta United FC, and Austin FC. Has 10 caps for United States at youth levels, with three goals.

Gyasi Zardez, 32

United States (68/14)

Notable Clubs: LA Galaxy (131/34), Columbus Crew SC (110/54), Colorado Rapids (26/9), Austin FC (50/8)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by LA Galaxy. Played his university football for Cal State Bakersfield (56/38). Won an MLS Cup with LA Galaxy. Won two CONCACAF Gold Cups with United States. Named 2018 MLS Comeback Player of the Year. Won an MLS Cup with Columbus. Won a Campeones Cup with Columbus.

Jader Obrien, 29

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Uniautonoma (6/0), Deportes Tolima (29/0), Cucuta Deportivo (10/3), Aguilas Doradas (61/24), FC Dallas (94/17), Austin FC (22/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Uniautonoma.

Familiar Faces

Austin goalkeeper Matt Bersano played for the Sounders FC Reserves (2/0) in 2016.

Austin goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland played for the Sounders FC (22/0) from 2020-2023.

Austin Coach Terry Boss played for the Sounders FC (1/0) from 2009-2011 and had seven caps for Puerto Rico.

Austin Goalkeeping Coach Preston Burpo played for the A-League/USL iteration of the Seattle Sounders (143/0) from 1997-2005.

Squads

Austin from:

Bersano, Cleveland, Stuver, Biro, Cascante, Gallagher, Hedges, Hines-Ike, Jimenez, Kolmanic, Vaisanen, Burton, Pereira, Ramirez, Ring, Valencia, Wolff, Driussi, Farkarlun, Finlay, Fodrey, Obrian, Rubio, Zardez.

Sounders FC from:

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

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time for Match-day 25, information for Match-day 26 was unavailable at 10.30 p.m. PDT, Austin FC’s website and Niko Moreno’s twitter account were used for a cross-references)

Austin -

OUT: none.

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Ruidiaz (leg), Rodrigues (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Austin: No players suspended. Cascante, Driussi, and Gallagher are out next match if booked.

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves have won three in a row in MLS Next Pro. The next fixture is Sunday 14 July at Swangard Stadium where they will play Vancouver Whitecaps 2. Kick-off scheduled for 4 p.m. PDT. Go on, lads! Get in!