Major League Soccer is back and the Seattle Sounders are officially 50 years old! To celebrate the occasion, they debuted their snazzy 50th anniversary kits and updated crest. The colors and design pay homage to the Sounders teams that played in the North American Soccer League from 1974-1983, and the United Soccer League from 1994-2008. In my humble opinion, they absolutely nailed it with this jersey, and I can’t wait to buy one.
The Sounders began their 2024 campaign with a 2-1 loss to bitter rivals LAFC. The Rave Green were missing several key starters for the match including Stefan Frei, João Paulo and Albert Rusnák. Rusnák was slated to start, but picked up an ankle injury in the last training session before the match. His presence in the midfield was definitely missed, as the Sounders struggled to make an impact against a strong LAFC squad that was oozing with confidence.
The match started brightly for the Sounders when LAFC center back Jesús Murillo botched a clearance, and the ball fell kindly to Jordan Morris in the third minute. However, he squandered the chance with a weak shot that was easily saved by new LAFC goalkeeper and World Cup winner Hugo Lloris.
The rest of the first half was dominated by LAFC, who tested backup keeper Andrew Thomas early and often. Last year’s Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga was constantly menacing the Sounders back four, and was responsible for one of two first half chances that went off the crossbar.
Credit: Fox Sports/Fox Soccer
As halftime approached, it seemed like the Sounders would miraculously make it to the break without conceding. Unfortunately, they were undone in the 45th minute by a wonderful volley from Timothy Tillman. The winger latched onto a beautiful cross from Omar Campos and connected sweetly to ensure LAFC went into the second half with all the momentum.
When play resumed, things went from bad to worse. The Sounders came out flat, and were lucky not to give up a second goal when Buoanga was again denied by the crossbar. The crossbar was on it’s way to becoming the Sounders man of the match until Mateusz Bogusz piled on the misery in the 55th minute with a glorious strike from just inside the 18-yard box.
Undeterred, the boys in green kept fighting and were rewarded for their perseverance after Morris was awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute. New boy Pedro de la Vega confidently strode to the spot and slotted the ball home with the poise of a veteran. Ultimately, it was too little too late from the Sounders who will look to get back to winning ways against Austin FC on Saturday.
Although the loss was disappointing, I thought the Sounders showed a lot of heart and were able to compete despite being down several key players. There are some positives that will give the team some comfort moving forward. De la Vega only played 25 minutes, but in that short amount of time he looked like the real deal, teasing his dribbling and playmaking abilities. Nathan, who was filling in for the injured Yeimar Gómez Andrade at center back, also played admirably. He made several big plays on defense, including a goal line clearance that kept the match at nil nil.
"You can see what he brings." ⚡️
Pedro de la Vega impressed in his 25-minute debut in LAFC over the weekend.
The major question for the Sounders is can they fix their offense? They struggled to score goals for the majority of last season and that trend seems to be continuing. Raul Ruidiaz looks like a shell of his former self, and Jordan Morris needs to do some soul searching with just 5 goals in his last 25 matches.
The midfield also needs to do their part and get the ball into dangerous positions more often. I thought they lacked offensive urgency until they brought on De la Vega and struggled to create chances, aside from a few weak shots. The defense also allowed LAFC too much time and space on the ball and were once again plagued by poor marking.
I believe Rusnak is the Sounders x-factor this year, With Nico Lodeiro gone, someone has to step up and fill the creative void he left behind. If Rusnak can regain his 2021 form, when he scored 11 goals and recorded 7 assists for Real Salt Lake, he should have no problem stepping into the #10 role. The #9 role is up for grabs as well, and the burden will fall on Ruidiaz and Morris to produce. If players stay healthy and the offense starts gelling, the sky is the limit for this team.
From managerial GOAT Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, to Luis Suarez’s infamous biting of Giorgio Chiellini, there were several memorable moments in the beautiful game during the 2010’s. However, since I reign supreme over this blog, neither of those moments made the final cut. Here are my picks for the top 10 most iconic moments of the last decade.
Iniesta’s World Cup Winner
The decade kicked off in spectacular style with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Spain was playing the Netherlands in the final, and neither squad had won a World Cup before. The score was nil-nil heading into extra time, and with penalties looming, both teams were desperate to end the stalemate. In the 116th minute, Spain were pressing towards goal when the ball fell to Andres Iniesta. He could have easily folded under the pressure of such a moment, but instead, he calmly slots home arguably the most significant goal in Spanish history. In a split second, Iniesta had realized the dream of World Cup glory for millions of Spanish soccer fans, while Dutch fans helplessly watched their dreams die thanks to a momentary lapse of concentration.
Landon Donovan Against Algeria
Every U.S. soccer fan can recall exactly where they were the moment Landon Donovan scored against Algeria to send the U.S. to the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup. I was watching with my high school algebra class. The U.S. needed a win to advance, but as the game ticked on into second half stoppage time, the teams were still deadlocked. With hope fading, Goalkeeper Tim Howard makes a save, and immediately hurls a surgical half-field outlet pass to a furiously sprinting Donovan.
It was a delectable throw served on a platter, and Donovan never had to break stride. He found a young Jozy Altidore, who played a cutback cross into the path of Clint Dempsey. Algeria’s goalkeeper was able to foil Dempsey’s attempt on goal, but couldn’t hang on to the ball in the chaos. Meanwhile Donovan, who never stopped running, instinctively pounced on the loose ball. As the country collectively held it’s breath, he tucked the ball into the bottom corner to give the U.S. the lead, and the win. Pandemonium ensued. In my class, kids and teachers alike were screaming and throwing papers in the air. Even though the U.S. ended up losing to Ghana in the next round, the goal will live on in U.S. Soccer lore forever.
Rapinoe to Wambach
Another iconoclast moment in U.S. soccer history occurred at the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany. The U.S. was keen to make a statement, after failing to make the final in the previous two tournaments following their famous victory in 1999. They were lead by another golden generation of players including Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Abby Wambach. In the semi final, the U.S. women found themselves tied 2-2 with Brazil in extra time.
At the last breath, Rapinoe launches a desperate cross from the left wing. The ball glides past the Brazilian defenders, and through the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper, before somehow making perfect contact with Wambach’s head. It was eerily similar to Landon Donovan’s goal a year earlier, only this goal meant the U.S. had a chance to play for the trophy! Unfortunately, they ended up loosing the final to Japan on penalties.
Manchester City Edges Man U For Premier League Title
The 2012 Premier League title race came down to the two Manchester clubs on final day of the season. Manchester City was playing Queen’s Park Rangers, while Manchester United squared up against Sunderland. As the final minutes ticked away, City found themselves behind QPR 2-1. Meanwhile, United had won their game 1-0 which meant if the score held, United would win the title. It seemed all was lost for City.
Then suddenly, Edin Dzeko scores in stoppage time giving the City players a slim chance. They needed a miracle, and just when you thought it was over, they got one from their talisman Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian striker latched onto a loose ball bouncing around the QPR penalty box – striding effortlessly past one defender, before sizzling the ball into the net. United players could do nothing, as the Etihad Stadium went ballistic. City had finally defeated their crosstown rivals, and won their first Premier League title in 44 years. It was a fairy tale ending even the Brothers Grimm couldn’t top.
Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup Semi-Final Defeat
The Selecao had played well in the tournament up until their fateful semi-final match against eventual champions Germany. What happened next can only be described as the most epic collapse in World Cup history. Brazil were stunned as Germany shredded their defense to score five goals in the first half. They eventually bled out in the second half, as Germany scored two more goals for a grand total of seven. A late consolation goal for Brazil seemed like a cruel joke as everyone knew the match was over.
When the final whistle blew, Germany tried to temper their celebrations and console the Brazilian players, who were on the ground in tears. Many hid their faces, distraught by the shocking result. Fans everywhere were stunned. They had just watched a World Cup heavyweight lose by six goals on their own turf. The Brazilian newspaper O Globo summed it up best with their headline the next morning “Shame, Grief, Humiliation.” It was the largest margin of victory in a World Cup semi-final, and Brazil’s worst defeat in nearly 100 years.
Carli Lloyd’s Historic Hat Trick
Scoring one goal in a World Cup final is hard enough, let alone three. As of 2020, only one male player has scored a hat trick in a World Cup final (Geoff Hurst, England 1966). Now imagine if you bagged that hat trick before the halftime whistle! That’s what U.S.A. midfielder Carli Lloyd did in the 2015 final against Japan. Lloyd had already scored twice in the first ten minutes, and you could just feel that more goals were coming.
After Lauren Holiday made it 3-0, it was clear that Japan were in trouble, and Lloyd had glory in her sights. She wins the ball at midfield, and unleashes a savage 50-yard strike that sails over the backpedaling Japanese keeper. Only 15 minutes of time had elapsed in the match, but Lloyd had achieved a feat that only one player, male or female, had achieved in 88 years of World Cup history. Hurst needed a full 90 minutes, extra time, and an assist from the referee to complete his hat trick.
5000-1
Before the 2015/2016 Premier League season, few U.S. soccer fans had ever heard of Leicester City, and even fewer could pronounce the name correctly (it’s pronounced like the name Lester in case you’re struggling). The club had only been promoted from the Championship the previous season, and barely avoided relegation. They were considered minnows in a league full of sharks, and some wondered if they could even compete for a mid table finish, let alone the title. In fact, their odds of winning the title were 5000-1 at the start of the season.
But when nobody else believed in them, they believed in themselves. They were led by striker Jamie Vardy, who just three years earlier, was playing in the fifth tier of the English professional leagues. Vardy scored in 11 straight games, a Premier League record, and the Foxes found themselves in first place at the halfway point of the season. They went on to win the title through sheer heart and determination, and it is considered one of the greatest Cinderella stories in the history of sports. To put it in perspective, The USA Hockey team was given 1000-1 odds of defeating the Soviet Union in the famous “Miracle on Ice” victory.
La Remontada
Known in Spain as “La Remontada” (The Comeback), this classic Champions League match was played in the Round of 16 between heavyweights Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. PSG had cruised to a resounding 4-0 win in the first leg, and everyone expected them to progress to the next round. However with 40 minutes left in the game, Barcelona had turned the match into a contest. Luis Suarez got La Blagrauna started with a quick opening goal. Then, PSG fullback Layvin Kurzawa gifts Barcelona a second, with a miscued clearance that ends up in his own net. Lionel Messi scores from the spot to make it 3-0, and suddenly, Barcelona are two goals away from taking the lead on aggregate.
This was enough to rouse the PSG players out of their slumber, and Edinson Cavani seemingly dashed Barcelona’s comeback with a clutch finish at the hour mark. Because Cavani’s goal was an away goal, aggregate scoring rules dictated that Barcelona would have to score three more goals to advance. Even die hard fans were starting to lose hope at this point, but the players refused to give up. All of a sudden, two late goals from Neymar bring Barca to the brink of overcoming the largest Champions League deficit in history. Then, with the referee’s whistle in his lips, local boy Sergi Roberto latches onto a pass dinked over the top by Neymar. He barely beats the offside trap, and touches it in to seal PSG’s fate. It was the exclamation point on a storybook ending, although Barcelona would end up losing to Juventus in the next round.
Bale’s Champions League Bike
This might not be the most iconic moment on the list, but it deserves to be included, and not just because Gareth Bale is my favorite player. There were other amazing bicycle kicks throughout the decade, such as Wayne Rooney’s Manchester Darby bike, or Cristiano Ronaldo’s against Juventus. Both goals were world class, but Bale’s occurred in the final of the world’s most esteemed club tournament, and that’s why Bale’s bike gets the nod. The Welshman started the match on the bench, before making an immediate impression with an overhead kick no one saw coming. The cross was on a dime from Marcelo, and Bale simply used his technique and athleticism do the rest. Liverpool had just leveled the game at one goal apiece, and Bale’s bike was the goal that broke the deadlock. Real Madrid would go on to win 3-1, and claim their third straight Champions League title.
The Merseyside Miracle
Last year’s Champions League knockout stages were some of the most entertaining games I’ve ever seen. They were so thrilling, that I devoted an entire blog post to it. In the quarterfinals, Tottenham overcame a heavily favored Man City squad, thanks to a bit of luck, and Fernando Llorente’s hip. In the semi finals, they came from behind again to beat Ajax and reach the final, but the main event was Liverpool’s own semi-final comeback against Barcelona.
Barcelona carried a 3-0 lead into the second leg, and despite the home field advantage, many thought the end was nigh for Liverpool. This time however, it was Barcelona that suffered a dramatic collapse. Divock Origi got the party started with an early goal, but that’s all they could manage in the first half. With time ticking away, Jurgen Klopp turned to his bench to bring on trusty Dutch playmaker Giorginio Wjinaldum. The midfielder rewards his manager’s faith with two brilliant goals, minutes after his introduction. Just like that, Barcelona’s formidable first leg lead was erased. Eventually, Origi would deliver the final blow with a one touch finish off a cheeky corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold. It wasn’t the largest comeback on record, but Liverpool would go on to defeat Tottenham in the final, cementing the 2019 season in Liverpool’s storied legacy.
Leave It On The Pitch 