After the first two rounds of the six match Group Stage the Sounders are officially in last. While not yet eliminated they now are almost certain to need at least one win on the road. Though two road draws and two home wins could do it too, though highly unlikely.

Here's the current table

Away Goals are a tie breaker, so that Roger Levesque Goal was important.

Here are all the tie-breakers per CONCACAF

Greater number of points earned in matches between the teams
Greater goal difference in matches between the teams concerned
Greater number of goals scored away from home in matches between
Reapply first three criteria if two or more teams are still tied
Greater goal difference in all group matches
Greater number of goals scored in group matches
Greater number of goals scored away in all group Matches Drawing of lots

It will be a tough road out of the Group Stage now, but let's remember where we thought the Sounders were at the 50% mark of their League Season.

Top Goal Scorers from the Group are;

Claudio Cardozo with 4 goals for Marathon so far (includes Prelims), he's tied for 2nd in the tourney.
Aldo de Nigris with 2 goals for Monterrey is the only other with more than a goal. 

 Tuesday
Toronto FC (3 pts, +1) @ Arabe Unido (0 pts, -1) in Group A
Columbus Crew (3 pts, +1) @  Santos Laguna (3 pts, +3) in Group B

Wednesday
Real Salt Lake (3 pts, +1) @ Cruz Azul (0 pts, -1) in Group A
US v Them - Own Thread
FAS (1 pt, 0) @ Puerto Rico Islanders (1 pt 0) in Group D

Thursday
Joe Public (0 pts, -3) @ Municipal (0 pts, -1) in Group B
Marathon (3 pts, +1) @ Saprissa (0 pts, -1) in Group C
Olimpia (1 pt, 0) @ Toluca (1 pt, 0) in Group D

Final Day of Round 2

From where I was sitting, it sure seemed like the Sounders had the better of the run of play. Of course, that doesn't really matter. Monterrey got a good break on the first goal when Kasey Keller misplayed a ball and, from what I'm reading anyway, our defense got caught in an attempt to pull an offside trap on the second goal.

Conversely, our players had several good looks at goal, but Sanna Nyassi went off the post and Fred Montero was flagged for being offside on an apparent Nate Jaqua goal.

I don't want to get too much into the tactics right now, since I don't think I had a great vantage point. I will say that Graham was very upset with some of the coaching decisions, and I have a hard time questioning his anger.

Undoubtedly, it was a frustrating match which saw the Sounders outshoot Monterrey 17-7 (7-2 on goal) and really seem to dominate possession. Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco made several strong saves while generally egging on the Qwest Field faithful. It's also worth noting that the Monterrey players made fools of themselves with excessive diving, which was never really punished, but also not rewarded thankfully. 

One bright spot was more than 22,500 showing up for the match. It may not seem like much for us since we're used to crowds 14,000 people bigger, but CONCACAF officials said it was the competition's second highest ever attended game in the U.S. Only DC United's match against Chivas in 2007 where more than 26,000 showed up.

Despite looking to be at least equal to each of their first two opponents, the Sounders have zero points to show for their efforts. In a six-game group, they are still alive but losing at home is a serious blow. Their next CCL match is Sept. 14 at Saprissa, which suddenly looks like a game that needs to result in points.

The good news is that we won't have long to wallow in self-pity over this loss. We've got Freddie Ljungberg coming to town on Saturday. 

Stats and quotes after jump.

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Scouting Report - Lineup Card - General preview

Notes from CONCACAF on the Opponent

About Monterrey (Courtesy of CONCACAF)
Club: Club de Futbol Monterrey
Founded: 1945
City: Monterrey, Mexico
Stadium: Estadio Tecnologico
Manager: Victor Manuel Vucetich
Qualification method: Mexican Apertura winner
Previous Champions League appearances: None
Honors: Mexico league - 3 (1986, 2003, 2009); Copa Mexico - 1 (1991); CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup - 1 (1993)
Official Web site: http://www.terra.com.mx/rayados

 

Monterrey's Champions League debut featured a goal by Aldo De Negris midway through the first half of its home victory over Saprissa on August 17. In its Mexican Primera División match on August 21 at Pachuca, Monterrey struck twice in nine minutes to take the lead but eventually settled for a 2-2 draw. The Rayados, undefeated (3-0-2) in the first five games of the Apertura, qualified by winning the 2009 Apertura title, beating Cruz Azul 6-4 on aggregate. Chilean Humberto Suazo, who has since joined Spain's Real Zaragoza on loan, helped lead the Rayados to their third major Mexican league crown. Although Suazo is gone, Monterrey is home to Mexican international Luis Perez, longtime former Mexican center back Duilo Davino and Jesus Arellano. Monterrey plays at 32,000-seat Estadio Tecnologico, the second oldest stadium in Mexico after Estadio Azul. Plans are in the works for the club to move to Estadio de Futbol Monterrey in Guadalupe, a 50,000-seat stadium pattered after Wembley Stadium in England. The team is owned by FEMSA, the largest beverage company in Mexico and Mexican Victor Manuel Vucetich is the manager, the team's 25th since 1962.

Seattle will face its most difficult opponent in a competitive match, doing this with the continuing injuries, as well as Yellow Card accumalation. How can Seattle get three vital points in this game, as 7 are the minimum needed at home.

1 - Maintain Defensive Shape - Backline communication will be massive. The centerback pairing will be dealing with players of quality that probably only the LA Galaxy and Red Bull New York have in MLS.

2 - Surprise them with the talents of the skill players - Seattle Forward pairing of Blaise Nkufo and Fredy Montero, along with Steve Zakuani, have the technical ability to play in leagues better than MLS. Give them the ball and let them succeed, specifically the big man.

3 - Kasey Keller

Tonight's Game Starts at 7PM

FSC has the TV
97.3 FM has the radio with Arlo White
There are certainly still tickets available if you want to experience the Champions League live

This is your gamethread

Sounders vs. Monterrey

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The lineup we expect to see the Sounders roll out today should be as strong as they are capable of putting out there. The notable players we expect to see on the bench will be Steve Zakuani and Patrick Ianni (who seem to be still getting back to full health). With Tyrone Marshall also unavailable because of yellow card accumulation, we expect Taylor Graham to get the start at centerback alongside Jeff Parke.

In Zakuani's place, we expect to see Sanna Nyassi and Alvaro Fernandez as the starting wide midfielders. Osvaldo Alonso and Nathan Sturgis seem pretty entrenched as the center mids right now and it would seem to make sense for Blaise Nkufo and Fredy Montero to get the nod as the forwards since both have had about six days to recover from their last match. 

We do expect Monterrey to sit some of their regulars, most notably Chilean striker Humberto Suazo. Other starters we expect to sit are Walter Ayovi, captain Luis Perez, and defenders Jose Maria Basanta and Ricardo Osorio.

Word is Monterrey plays what is nominally a 4-3-3, but it's very fluid and features four players that could be classified as strikers. They also play an open style that could allow for a more fluid match than we often see at Qwest Field.

Sounders officials have said about 19,000 tickets were sold as of last night and a sizable walkup crowd is expected. I won't be surprised to see close to 25,000 in attendance, which would make this one of the highest attended matches in CCL Group Stage history. If you are planning to buy tickets at the match, I'd suggest getting them a little before kickoff as even the Metapan walkup crowd created quite a logjam.

Printable version:  sounders-monterrey

The worst-kept secret in the Soundersphere is, without question, the mystery opponent for Friendly C. Anyone with an Internet connection has probably figured out that the Sounders will almost certainly be playing C.D. Guadalajara, otherwise known as Chivas, on Oct. 12. (UPDATE: Sounders just released an announcement making this match official.)

This "news" has been greeted by a near audible grown on Twitter, numerous Internet message boards and even our own comments section.

The opinions of the Sounder at Heart editors and writers should be well known at this point -- we unabashedly take credit for #trophiesnotfriendlies -- but I can't find the energy to get worked up over this choice. As much as I support the concept of moving our front office toward focusing on competitive matches, I have come to realize the die was cast for this season long ago and that having three friendlies was all but guaranteed once the season-ticket packages were sold.

Rather than go through many of the reasons over why I find this a palpable, if less than ideal, choice -- mainly having to do with the fact that options are pretty limited at this point -- I think it's worth focusing on what this particular friendly opponent offers from a big picture perspective.      

As runners-up in Copa Liberadores, Chivas can safely be considered the second best team in the Western Hemisphere. They are also, arguably, the most popular team not based in Europe or Great Britain. Taken in conjunction with today's match against Monterrey, I see some real opportunity to, at the very least, turn some FMF fans into casual Sounders supporters. 

"We haven't done as much in any demographic as we'd like to," Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said. "Even with the full stadium we'd like throngs of people on waiting lists and people of every demographic completely engrossed in the product and the brand. That said I would for sure have to say we probably haven't broken into the Latino community as much as we would like to."

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More photos » Ezra Shaw - Getty Images

Jeff Parke is one of the Sounders who will likely play heavy minutes in the coming matches. His attitude is that you play to win every match.

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With six days between CONCACAF Champions League matches this week, this qualifies as the longest break the Sounders will have between now and Oct. 2. If the Sounders make the U.S. Open Cup finals and with Friendly C apparently being scheduled for Oct. 12, this will qualify as the longest break between games for the rest of the season.

Wednesday's CCL home match against Mexican power Monterrey (more than 17,000 tickets have been sold, by the way), will mark the start of the heaviest stretch of the season. Between then and Oct. 2, the Sounders will play 11 competitive matches and travel more than 20,000 miles in the process. Included in that stretch will be a two-week road trip that will take the team from Seattle to Costa Rica to Columbus to Monterrey to Chicago and span about 10,000 miles on its own.

"You don’t want to think about it," Sounders centerback Jeff Parke said. "If you think about the miles and everything, it can wear you down mentally.

"It’s going to be physically draining, but that’s part of the sport. If you want to win and want to do well in our country, that’s the way you have to do it."

Parke admitted that the travel, more than the playing, can be a real slog for the players. He also seemed to have an appreciation for what the team is trying to do by taking three competitions as seriously as they are. More importantly, he said, is that as long as the team is playing these games, it's in everyone's interest to play well. He expressed obvious frustration with Thursday's result.

"I look at is I want to win every game I play," he said. "I don’t care what we have to do, if it’s ugly, if it’s pretty. If it’s a last-minute gaol, a first-minute goal, I don’t care how it happens.

"I don’t like going down there and losing, especially travelling all that way and sitting in a country and hotel that’s not the best of places and coming out with a loss is frustrating. Every game is big, whatever tournament, whatever game, even if it’s a scrimagge against an international team, it’s not something that should be taken lightly."

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I'll admit, I don't know much about these opposing sides in the CCL. Nor does Jeremiah. So how are we going to get you a damn fine Scouting Report? By outsourcing it. Also, since this was posted on a summer weekend, I'm bumping it up so those of you who check the site while at work get it.

I asked the team how many tickets have been sold. In a 9 minute stretch it went from mid16k to over 17k, just this morning. It would be a great opportunity for non season ticket holders to get into a game that matters for cheaper.

This Scouting Report is from Kevin KcCauley of All Things Footy.

Of all the tests that the Seattle Sounders face in all competitions this season, C.F. Monterrey looks to be the toughest. The Mexican Primera side won the 2009 Apertura and went into the Bicentenario playoffs with the top seed before being upset by Pachuca. This season, they're on top of their game again, currently sitting in second place both in the overall table and Group 1 of the 2010 Apertura. During the Bicentenario, their goal assassin Humberto Suazo was out on loan to Real Zaragoza, but he's returned and appears to be firing on all cylinders.

He's not all Seattle fans have to worry about, though. Monterrey have a variety of quality players. They did finish first in the regular season of the Bicentenario without him, after all. Fellow strikers Darío Carreño, Sergio Santana, and Jesus De Nigris provide a significant scoring threat as well. This is in addition to attacking midfield threats Walter Ayovi, Neri Cardozo, and Osvaldo Martinez. Generally, only five of these seven players start, so even when Monterrey has injuries or needs to rest players, the still have enough firepower to put up goals on anyone. Big Jesus Zavala and the intelligent Luis Perez give the team balance in the midfield and allow Ayovi, Cardozo, and Martinez the freedom to go forward. Occasionally, both will start when injuries take over or Monterrey just wants a different tactical option.

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