Seattle Sounders FC preview vs Monterrey

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders close out CONCACAF Champions League Group play Tuesday night at CenturyLink Field as they will play host to Mexican club C.F. Monterrey. Last time these two met down at Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey, the Sounders pulled off a huge upset against the CONCACAF Champions. Alvaro Fernandez's 38th minute goal prooved to be the difference as Seattle came away with a 1-0 win. I've said this so many times now, it's been a crazy ride for the Seattle Sounders in MLS, the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League, I'm already looking forward to watching them in the playoffs and also looking forward to watching them in the Champions League Quarterfinal in early March. Monterrey need at least a draw to secure a spot in the Quarterfinal. A win would also clinch first place in the group and home field advantage in the 2nd leg of the Quarterfinal round. If they don't want to suffer a loss that would put them in danger of elimination, every single player on that team, including Aldo de Nigris, Humberto Suazo and Neri Cardozo is gonna have to play perfect almost all game.


What to look out for in this game:

- We won't have a giant crowd like we did Saturday night so don't even try to get your hopes up on that part.

- Lately since Terry Boss suffered that concussion I've been keeping an eye on the goalkeeping situation with the Sounders, and that's what I'm going to do again for this match. Wondering if it will be Kasey Keller, if it will be Josh Ford, or if it will be Bryan Meredith getting the start in goal for the Sounders.

- I, as a matter of fact, will be keeping an eye on the entire lineup for this game and for Saturdays final regular season game against Chivas USA because you want your best team out there in the playoffs if you want to win the big prize. I'm not expecting this, but I'm hoping we see the young players like Michael Tetteh, David Estrada, Amadou Sanyang and Servando Carrasco out on the pitch.

- A win or a draw by the Seattle Sounders and they will clinch the top spot in Group D and get home field advantage in the second leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals.

- If Monterrey wins, they will get the top spot in Group D. A draw would clinch them second place (Unless Comunicaciones defeat Herediano by at least 8). If they lose, but Comunicaciones fail to defeat Herediano, Monterrey will still clinch a spot in the Quarterfinals. However, if they lose and Comunicaciones defeats Herediano, Comunicaciones will clinch a spot in the Champions League Quarterfinals and Monterrey would be eliminated.

Sounders hold on for a historic win at Monterrey in the Champions League.

By Money Mike









The Seattle Sounders became the second MLS team to beat a Mexican team on Mexican soil in over a week. The Sounders upset defending CONCACAF Champions, Monterrey 1-0 to move into first place in the Group Stage. There were a couple of nervous moments in the second half when Monterrey came right at them, but the Sounders were able to hang on and get the full 3 points. People need to start taking this tournament seriously, especially with the Sounders off to a 2-0 start in Group play. I mean, winning the Champions League is as big as winning the MLS Cup. Even out of all of that, America is just too freakin stupid to understand that. If this wasn't a big win, I don't know what the hell is. Sigi Schmid left Kasey Keller, Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero out of the 18 man squad and partnered Nate Jaqua up front with Pat Noonan. Terry Boss, as expected, got the start in goal. Josh Ford was on the squad as a backup goalkeeper behind Boss. And also, Amadou Sanyang made his Sounders debut, coming on in the 84th minute of the match.



The Sounders ceded most of the possession early opted to play counter attacking football and in the 38th minute, Seattle was on the move as Pat Noonan fed Alvaro Fernandez with a pinpoint ball. Flacco split defenders Darvin Chavez and Miguel Morales and calmly roofed the ball past Goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.



In the second half, Monterrey came out strong. In the 66th minute, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet. Terry Boss lost the ball to Aldo de Nigris as he was trying to clear it. He then nearly took him down which would've resulted in a penalty and possibly a straight red card. de Nigris laid the ball back to Humberto Suazo who ripped the ball wide of goal. That would've been a disastrous moment for Terry Boss and the Seattle Sounders. Despite Monterrey finishing with 11 shots on goal, it was Seattle who came away with a full three points over the CONCACAF Champions.



The Sounders return home to Seattle as they get set to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday at CenturyLink Field. Then they host FC Dallas in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup next Tuesday at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.





Scoring summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan) 38'





Misconduct summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless tackle) 48'





Lineups:



Seattle Sounders FC - Terry Boss; James Riley, Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Tyson Wahl; Roger Levesque (Amadou Sanyang 84'), Brad Evans, Servando Carrasco, Alvaro Fernandez (Leonardo Gonzalez 76'); Nate Jaqua (Osvaldo Alonso 65'), Pat Noonan



Monterrey - Jonathan Orozco; Darvin Chavez, Hiram Mier, Severo Meza (Ricardo Osorio 83'); Jesus Manuel Corona (Abraham Carreno 73'), Neri Cardozo, Luis Ernesto Perez, Hector Morales (Walter Ayovi 62'); Aldo de Nigris, Jesus Eduardo Zavala, Humberto Suazo





Now here's a look at the highlights: