Wrapping up a busy two weeks for the Sounders
Jul 30, 2012, 1:25 PM | Updated: 1:26 pm
By Sigi Schmid
It has been a couple of weeks and a lot has happened in the Sounders’ world. There have been league games, cup games and also the international exhibitions. There have also been roster changes.
Me and the club are very sad to lose Alvaro Fernandez. He has been a good player and a good pro who helped the club achieve success in the Open Cup and also our league play. Unfortunately, with our league structure and our success it is often only possible to add something after we subtract something. We tried everything we could to add without having to let anyone go, but that was not possible. I wish “Flaco” all the best in Chicago and continued success.
At the same time we welcome Christian Tiffert. He has played central midfield and is a player with lots of experience in one of the toughest leagues in Europe. His Bundesliga experience will help us through tough game situations and improve us as a team. It will be fun integrating him into the team once his P-1 status is approved and he becomes eligible.
On the field we have turned our results in a more positive vein recently. Our win over Chivas in the Open Cup semifinal put us into our fourth consecutive Open Cup final. We look forward to our game in Kansas City. We also won on the road in Colorado, always a tough place to play. Having Michael Gspurning back in goal was great for our team. Our All-Stars, Osvaldo Alonso and Eddie Johnson, continue to play well and score goals which helps us generate wins.
This week we start Champions League play against Caledonia from Trinidad and Tobago. After that we play the LA Galaxy, who are red hot right now and playing well. It will be an exciting week and we look forward to seeing you all at CenturyLink. Sunday against the Galaxy will be a great game, but Thursday versus Caledonia will be a blast. If you have never been to a Champions League game, come to the game and enjoy competitive international soccer.
Take care,
Sigi