RENTON — There was a visibly different feel at Seattle Sounders training on Wednesday.
From the official tournament ball being used in training to the ad boards that surrounded the field to the photo sessions players were asked to do for FIFA-affiliated media, there were reminders everywhere that the Club World Cup is now truly upon them.
“We turned the corner, we’ve been waiting for this a long time now,” Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “It feels huge, it feels grand. Our focus has to shift to the Club World Cup phase of the season and it’s a whole other level you have to bring off the field and on the field.”
Although the last couple of weeks have not exactly propelled the Sounders into Sunday’s Club World Cup opener against Botafogo with much momentum, the Sounders are doing their best to remind themselves that they deserve this opportunity.
“It is a well-earned big deal,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We’re trying to use everything that we’ve coached and thought about and experiences here at the club.
“We want to enjoy this and it does feel different. But we want to want to compete as well.”
In addition to the consecutive losses in league play and the injury list that doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter, Roldan admitted that the whole situation with the Club World Cup bonuses continues to hang over everything. As of Wednesday, the two sides had still not come to an agreement on how to share the Club World Cup prize pool.
The league offered on Friday to give players 20% of any performance bonuses on top of the $1 million they’re currently guaranteed, while the players countered with a request for 40% of all winnings a day later.
“Time is ticking,” Roldan said. “We have a game on Sunday. We shouldn’t be talking about this. We should be talking about how we’re excited to be playing some really good competition. I hope it gets resolved in the next three days.
“We talk about good faith all the time but unfortunately we’re not seeing it on their side. But our focus is on Botafogo regardless because we have a lot of pride in ourselves and we want to perform at a high level.”
Kim Kee-hee trains
Kim Kee-hee was a full participant in Wednesday’s training sessions, but Schmetzer wasn’t quite ready to declare him ready to play in the Club World Cup.
“We’ll see if we can get him up to speed,” Schmetzer said. “But again, I said it the other day when the players are ready, they’ll be able to play. We can’t risk someone coming back a little too early just because it’s Club World Cup.”
Stuart Hawkins update
Stuart Hawkins’ injured quad is apparently more serious than originally feared, with Schmetzer estimating the young centerback would be out 6-8 weeks.
“That’s a doozy,” Schmetzer said.
