Schmid suspended for Sounders’ MLS home finale
Oct 19, 2012, 3:23 PM | Updated: 6:06 pm
BY
Staff report
Coach Sigi Schmid will join 38,000 Seattle fans as a mere spectator Sunday night when his Sounders conclude their MLS regular-season home schedule against FC Dallas.
Schmid has been suspended for one game and fined $2,000 by the league for his pointed remarks about referee Ricardo Salazar following Seattle’s scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.
Defender Zach Scott drew a pair of yellow cards and was sent off, leaving the Sounders a man down for nearly 60 minutes. Schmid was more upset when Fredy Montero had a clear path to the goal and was taken down by the last Salt Lake defender, yet no red card was shown.
“I just thought we were hard done by the officiating all night in certain regards,” Schmid told reporters after that match. “It just seems whenever there’s something 50-50 obviously we don’t get the break with him [Salazar].”
Assistant Brian Schmetzer will run the club from the bench Sunday night against Dallas. Schmid told me in the Coach’s Corner interview that the Sounders are in good hands.
“It will be nerve-racking watching from up above, but the team is prepared and Brian will be fantastic,” Schmid said. “We’ve been together long enough, our thoughts are pretty similar.”
Seattle’s injury-riddled defense is a bit healthier with the return of Adam Johansson from his trip to play for the Swedish national team in its World Cup qualifying match. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is expected to play with a specially fitted mask protecting his cracked facial bone.
Dallas FC enters this game desperate for points to catch Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They need winning results in the last two matches and help from the Portland Timbers in their game against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Sounders are also Whitecap fans. If Portland loses or ties in British Columbia Sunday, Seattle would retain the Cascadia Cup as the top team in the Northwest competition.
You can hear the Dallas-Seattle game at 6 p.m. Sunday on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM.
