Entering the 2022 season, expectations are sky-high since Seattle Sounders FC return most of last year's key contributors and made the biggest free-agent splash of the offseason by signing former Real Salt Lake midfielder Albert Rusnak.
That group is getting put to the test with an early run at making history, as Seattle enter Leg 2 of their Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 series against Honduran side FC Motagua at Lumen Field on Wednesday (10:45 pm ET | FS2, TUDN). Heading into the matchup, the Sounders face a 0-0 aggregate deadlock following a hard-fought first leg in Tegucigalpa.
It leaves Seattle looking to reach the quarterfinals and possibly become the first MLS team to win the modern incarnation of the continental title, or again exit in heartbreaking fashion. The last time the Sounders made CCL in 2020, they suffered the latter fate, dropping a penalty-kick shootout to Honduran side Club Olimpia in the Round of 16.
"We're a new squad, this is a new opponent, the challenges that we faced there still remain – that we're fresh out of preseason and they're a little bit into their season," goalkeeper Stefan Frei told reporters on Tuesday. "But it's the same thing every year. It's difficult, but it's an opportunity. I think we sense that we have a really good squad this year on paper and we've seen it in preseason and training. We know we're good, we know we have quality – it's about being able to put it all together. Obviously there's precious little time to do so, but we sense an opportunity."
Seattle might still be at a fitness disadvantage, playing their second competitive match after their 2022 preseason. But Frei is hopeful that home-field advantage will offset that to some degree.
"For us, we see this sometimes as a bit of an advantage, even in our league when we have a team that maybe comes from Dallas or somewhere like that where they're not used to the slippery conditions," Frei said. "Especially speaking of goalkeepers, it can be quite difficult to come into a place like this where it's wet and slippery and fast. I expect nothing less. The Honduran side is probably not used to the conditions that they'll face, whether [or not] it'll be wet. Obviously it'll also be very, very cold.
"It's something we have to take advantage of: If they're on the brink of being uncomfortable, can we push it across and make them really uncomfortable, make them struggle, make them not want to be there, not want to play? That's something we'll try to do."
To advance, Seattle must be more dynamic in the attack as compared to Leg 1. Motagua had the best chance of the match with an early close-range shot that rung the crossbar, while Seattle's lone clean look on goal came off a first-half look from Rusnak.
Knowing that scoring multiple goals might well be necessary to advance, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer is expecting increased sharpness – with the winner facing Club Leon (Liga MX) in the next round come March.
"What we're going to try and do is be a little bit more goal-dangerous," Schmetzer said. "Yes, you can credit your opponent, the field was a little heavy. But we're going to be at home, we're going to have fans in the building, there will be a different energy. We hope that some of those things will allow us to score a goal, or multiple goals, and then we have to do a good job defensively as well because they have some good attacking players."
It's all with an eye toward becoming the MLS club that takes the elusive CCL title and reaches the FIFA Club World Cup, something Seattle have long prioritized as an organizational goal.
"Eventually an MLS team has to win this tournament," Schmetzer said. "We, the Sounders, our mantra has always been we want to try and be successful and win every tournament that we enter. So, there's a lot riding on this, as always. I wouldn't say we're putting any added pressure on ourselves but it's certainly not pleasant – we learned that lesson two years ago, it's not pleasant going out early in a big competition like this.
"So, we're going to do what we always do at the Sounders. We're going to try and go and play soccer, try and attack, try and score and proceed into the next round."
