Obafemi Martins out into July, but others on mend

The hullabaloo surrounding Clint Dempsey's actions is getting a lot of attention. But overshadowed was the reason Seattle Sounders FC went down from 10 men to 9: Obafemi Martins going down injured. The groin injury suffered during the US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers will leave Sigi Schmid without the MVP candidate for three to six weeks as he recovers from an adductor strain.

"It doesn't require surgery," Coach Schmid told media at Thursday's practice, "so that's a positive situation. But we have to see how many weeks. It's a similar injury to what Djimi Traore suffered last year and what Dylan Remick had. The window is somewhere between 3 and 6 weeks."

The good news is that Marco Pappa has returned from duty with the Guatemala National Team. Gonzalo Pineda, Osvaldo Alonso and Chad Barrett are recovering. The three practiced today and could be available for Saturday's match against the San Jose Earthquakes.

"Better, Chad is doing better all the time so we just have to see. Gonzo said he felt pretty good, so we'll see how they do tomorrow," Sigi said.

Usually loaned to S2, both Andres Correa and Jimmy Ockford are still injured as well.