Seattle Sounders 4 : CSD Comunicaciones 1 - Quotes, Stats

With the victory of CSD Comunicaciones of Guatemala in the CONCACAF Champions League by the Seattle Sounders one phrase seems to have rocketed to the top of the charts. #ChurchOfFucito (now in the left sidebar here for your viewing pleasure) started as a way for someone to mock my near constant call for Mike Fucito to start. Hopefully it is performances like last night that indicate this is a movement not founded on faith, but on the recognition of the talents of speed, tenacity, endurance and a penchant for putting shots on frame. Last night's 5 point (2 goals, 1 assist) performance rocketed him to the top of this year's PP90 at 1.23 in all competitions.

Tuesday night's game wasn't just the Mike Fucito show though. It showed what this site has been saying for some time, as Fredy Montero the trequartista is very good at drifting back and creating. Brad Evans can do some things that Erik Friberg can not. He is a stronger physical presence, better defender and doesn't lose much in passing. Seattle, even though down a man, had the passing (80%), possession (67.1%) and duels (61%) lead. This despite missing two of their stronger passing forces (Alonso, Rosales) for the majority of the match and playing with an unfamiliar backline. The defensive pairing of Patrick Iannis and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado had a few issues, but in the end seemed to relearn their partnership.

Coach Sigi Schmid reiterated in his comments that this is quite a deep team saying that every player on the pitch is League starter quality, and while this audience may disagree with him on one single player the team did exactly what they needed to do to dominate a good team from Central America. Fucito noted that strong off-ball movement was the key to the offensive players, while Patrick Ianni praised Evans way of engaging the full midfield in the game's action. From the opposing coach we read this, "The local team was very strong, very fast. We already knew that if we left space for them behind us they would have taken the opportunity and that is exactly what happened." By local team he likely means just one player.

The win provides Seattle a nice cushion as next week they are in Monterrey, Mexico for Match Two of the Group Stage where the Sounders will push to not have their worst 6 minutes of game results repeated. The Win Expectancy Chart will be up later today.

Comunicaciones vs. Seattle Sounders

August 16, 2011 -- CenturyLink Field

Goals by Period	1	2	Tot
Comunicaciones	1	0	1
Seattle Sounders	1	3	4

Scoring Summary:

CMG -- Jairo Arreola (Bryan Ordonez) 2

SEA -- Brad Evans (Mike Fucito) 35

SEA -- Mike Fucito (Fredy Montero, Alvaro Fernandez) 61

SEA -- Mike Fucito (Alvaro Fernandez, Brad Evans) 67

SEA -- own goal (Rigoberto Gomez) 87

Comunicaciones-- Juan Paredes, Edgard Martinez, Erwin Morales, Carlos Castrillo, Adolfo Machado, Juan Marquez (Rigoberto Gomez 77), Fredy Thompson, Bryan Ordonez (Carlos Mejia 70), Carlos Ramirez, Transito Montepeque (Hernan Sandoval 78), Jairo Arreola. Substitutes Not Used: David Guerra, Dagoberto Arriola, Abner Trigueros, Marco Ciani. TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Transito Montepeque 3, Jairo Arreola 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Fredy Thompson 2); FOULS: 13 (Carlos Castrillo 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Transito Montepeque 1); CORNER KICKS: 0; SAVES: 1 (Juan Paredes 1) Seattle Sounders -- Terry Boss, James Riley, Patrick Ianni (Roger Levesque 84), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leo Gonzalez (Zach Scott 75), Lamar Neagle, Servando Carrasco, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez, Fredy Montero (Mauro Rosales 63), Mike Fucito. Substitutes Not Used: Erik Friberg, Nate Jaqua, Amadou Sanyang, Kasey Keller. TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Brad Evans 4, Mike Fucito 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Brad Evans 2, Mike Fucito 2); FOULS: 13 (Leo Gonzalez 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 7 (Mike Fucito 4); SAVES: 2 (Terry Boss 2)

Misconduct Summary:

CMG -- Jairo Arreola (caution; Dissent) 9

SEA -- Patrick Ianni (caution; Tactical Foul) 16

SEA -- James Riley (caution; Reckless Tackle) 47+

CMG -- Carlos Castrillo (caution; Reckless Tackle) 50

SEA -- Leo Gonzalez (caution; Tactical Foul) 54

SEA -- Lamar Neagle (ejection; Violent Conduct) 55

CMG -- Adolfo Machado (caution; Reckless Tackle) 60

CMG -- Carlos Ramirez (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 69

SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 69

CMG -- Edgard Martinez (ejection; Abusive Language) 80

CMG -- Fredy Thompson (caution; Reckless Tackle) 91+

Referee: Paul Delgadillo

Referee's Assistants:-Marcos Quintero; Salvador Rodriguez

4th Official: Alfredo Penaloza

Attendance: 10,017

Time of Game: 1:51

Weather: Clear-and-77-degrees

 

Seattle Sounders FC		Comunicaciones
11	Attempts on Goal	14
5	Shots on Target	3
3	Shots off Target	9
3	Blocked Shots	2
7	Corner Kicks	0
15	Fouls	14
27	Open Play Crosses	7
0	Offsides	1
3	Yellow Cards	5
1	Red Cards	1
48	Duels Won	30
61%	Duels Won %	38%
478	Total Pass	243
80%	Passing Accuracy %	61%
67.1%	Possession	32.9%

POSTGAME QUOTES: Sounders FC v Comunicaciones

Sigi Schmid - Sounders FC Coach

(General comments...) "We're pleased with the victory. In this tournament you have to win home games. It was nice to be able to start off the tournament at home. I thought our team showed a lot of character to come back again from 1-0. Being 1-1 and having a player ejected and playing a man down and being able to score two goals showed a little bit more. I thought we did a good job attacking. There were times where they were dangerous for sure on the counterattack and caused us some problems. I was pleased with our ability to finish our chances today."

(On playing from behind...) "I told the team at halftime that there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that we let the other team score two minutes into the game. The good news is that when the other team scores first, it seems that we score a goal, so we'll score some goals today." 

(On players returning from injury...) "I thought they were successful. I thought [Jhon Kennedy Hurtado] played well. I think it took him 10 or 15 minutes to get into the game but after that I thought he was solid. Brad Evans shows what he helps provides us by getting that goal off the corner kick and getting an assist. He was good at winning those flick-ons. Those are little things that are really important that often times go overlooked. I didn't expect him to be able to go 90 minutes but he was able to conserve his energy for the right times and get through it. I thought both of their returns were good."

(On Terry Boss...) "The first goal shook everyone up a little bit, maybe him as well. After that he settled in and played OK. There was one scramble in the second half. It was tough to tell from where I was at what exactly happened there. We can't play Kasey [Keller] every game. He needs some rest as well. I thought Terry played well today."

(On Lamar Neagle's ejection...) "He didn't go to kick the man. He went to play the ball. The ball was gone and he swung pretty aggressively. I can't argue with the red card. There were probably a couple others. There were a couple of two-footed tackles and certainly the foul on [Mauro] Rosales late was something that didn't look as violent but was as violent from the standpoint that we might have a player who is injured and they have a player who is able to walk it off. I can't argue that. It was a red card. He swung and missed the ball. It sounded pretty violent and looked pretty violent."

(On number of cards...) "There were a lot of cards. Some referees pull a lot of cards. I haven't coached in a game where he's refereed before but I understand from talking to people that he likes to pull a lot of cards."

(On team depth...) "As we've said, we think our team is deep and to play in a tournament like this you have to rely on depth. I told the guys before the game that every guy we're putting out there has the ability to be a starter or is a starter on this team. Mike [Fucito] started for us in a series of games where we did well as a team. Sometimes you get in and out of form a little bit but I thought his training had gotten a lot better of late and he deserved the opportunity to get out there and play. He rewarded me but mainly he rewarded himself. When you do that you get more opportunities."

(On playing first game at home...) "Better. It'd be nice if we could play the next two at home. Going to Monterrey is difficult. The most important thing in this tournament is winning our games at home. If we can win our games at home then we'll see what we can get on the road. We're pleased that we got off to a better start and gives our team a lot more confidence."

Mike Fucito - Sounders FC Forward

(On his two goals tonight...) "Just trying to make the most of my opportunities. Just doing what I can to help the team when I get the opportunities."

(On their play offensively...) "I thought at times our movement was good. That was something that we talked about at halftime - was making sure that we were moving off the ball because there were spells in the first half when we were getting decent looks and we knew the more movement [we had] the more opportunities. I thought Fredy [Montero] played a great ball and so did Flaco [Alvaro Fernandez] and I was able to get it and finish."

(On Comunicaciones' near goal in the 80th minute...) "The one where it was on our line? From what I saw it was on the line. I didn't see it go over but I wasn't really in the best position to see it."

Fredy Montero - Sounders FC Forward

(On CONCACAF Champions League...) "Well, certainly the players in Central America, they come with these street smarts and they make us work with a lot more effort and we have to concentrate a lot more, even when the rivalry is not necessarily controlling the game all the time. The good thing is that even after we were losing we managed to tie, and later on - even a man-down - we managed to score more goals as well."

Patrick Ianni - Sounders FC Defender

(On his injury...) "I don't think I've ever had a hamstring injury so I don't know how bad it is but I don't think it's that bad."

(On if it felt like he needed to be carted off the field...) "No, every time they bring the cart on the field, you have to get on it. It's the rules of CONCACAF."

(On the game changing to their favor after they were issued a red card...) "Yeah, I think we were good for the whole 90 minutes, really. I think Fucito just came up with two really good strikes. I think we had chances in the first half but maybe none better than Fucito's - he just took those two shots really well in all honesty. 

(On scoring four goals in another comeback victory...) "I think it's good for our forwards, especially for Fucito, to get a couple goals and get their confidence going. I know he (Fucito) knows what he can do. We all know what he can do but when you get goals they just seem to keep coming. So hopefully they keep coming for him and for the team, and Brad (Evans) did well on his first one. It's good for him (Evans) to get one coming back from all the injuries that he's had. Brad (Evans) works as hard as anyone and deserves the best so it's good for him as well as an individual and the more we keep playing well, the more wins we'll have." 

(On how important it is playing with maturity in the Champions League...) "Yeah, every game that's important. You have to know the referees. Referees for every game are different. Even a particular referee, if you had him for five games in a row, he'd be different every game, just like us as players are different and have different kinds of performances as well. It's just a thing you have to be aware of and like you said, be mature, be smart about the kind of referee that's out there and play accordingly."

(On having Brad Evans back...) "Brad is a very good player. Every time he steps on the field he gives 100 percent and I think the team feeds off his energy in the midfield, certainly. It's one of those things where if you give your all as a player you can ask a lot of others as well, and I think Brad has a good way of doing that and it really helps our team." 

Ivan Sopegno - Comunicaciones Head Coach

(General comments...) "It's tough to explain. The first half was excellent and we had a good handle of the match but the reality of futbol is like this. The other team all of a sudden became precise and very fast. I think we had a good effort and we even had a moment that we could be reacting in the second half with a ball that supposedly got in, at least in our point of view. Not for the referee. In my opinion, that was a mistake that cost us a lot."

(On playing too defensive after early goal...) "You have to consider that the other team is also generating situations. We had to manage the ball to control the game. The other team managed to come with very precise plays. We also had some set pieces that could have got it. They tied the game with a very precise corner with a great header."

(On Sounders FC...) "The local team was very strong, very fast. We already knew that if we left space for them behind us they would have taken the opportunity and that is exactly what happened."

(On Edgard Martinez's ejection...) "There's not much to comment. It was a bad attitude from the player. The player cannot react like that. There is a lot of pressure but definitely not how a player should react."

(On one man advantage after red card...) "I could notice there was a trend that the other team was controlling the ball. When the game was still 1-1, we could have put more attack but that opens space for the counterattack. Sometimes one has to know what we have and what we don't have. We had to work the possession. That's what ended up happening."

(On Mike Fucito...) "He's a very good player. We saw the videos. We knew the team was very fast and very strong and could take advantage of the field. A fast pitch as well. It's more evidence that futbol in the US is progressing and advancing quite a bit."