Nouhou joins Sounders in time for trip to Honduras

Nouhou, the last missing piece to the Seattle Sounders ideal XI, has joined the team just in time for their trip to Honduras for the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 matchup against Motagua. The Cameroon international met up with his teammates shortly before their plane left from Southern California to Tegucigalpa.

Although Nouhou has not trained with the Sounders since they were eliminated from the MLS playoffs last November, he has logged more competitive minutes than any of his teammates in the meantime. Nouhou was one of the breakout stars of the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations, starting Cameroon’s first six games and helping them take third in the tournament.

Among those starts was a starring performance in the semifinals against Mo Salah’s Egypt. Nouhou was instrumental in shutting down arguably the world’s best offensive player. In the end, however, it wasn’t quite enough as Egypt advanced on penalties.

Given that performance and Jimmy Medranda’s apparent injury, it would not be entirely shocking if Nouhou were to play significant minutes for Brian Schmetzer in Honduras. If Nouhou doesn’t start, the role would likely fall to Kelyn Rowe, who has 13 career starts there but none since 2018.