Osvaldo Alonso's recovery progressing as expected

The Sounders don't know whether or not the season opener will be played Sunday at CenturyLink, but either way it's clear that Ozzie Alonso won't be available by then.

"Today was a harder work day for him, so we're stepping him up," Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid said on Tuesday, "He's on par, a little bit ahead of where we expected. It's just a matter now of seeing when we can hand him over entirely to the fitness staff and he can do more ball work."

Schmid gave no timeline for Alonso's return, but unless the midfielder can miraculously rejoin full training next week he seems an unlikely bet for the following weekend as well. This leaves the coaching staff with a choice of Micheal Azira, Andy Rose, Gonzalo Pineda or some combination of those players to take on the defensive duties in the middle of the pitch for now.

Although Cristian Roldan plays in the central midfield and is "adjusting really well" to the speed of play in training, Schmid said he doesn't expect the rookie to step into the starting lineup with the other three players available.

Other than Alonso, the projected starters are healthy and ready to go as they await word on the status of the league's opening weekend.