SEATTLE — On the eve of the Leagues Cup final, Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer surely calmed some nerves when he gave his team a clean bill of health.
Earlier in the week, he had told KJR that he pulled a player earlier than planned with a possible knock and seemed to be talking about Cristian Roldan, who came out in the 76th minute. Asked about that on Friday, Schmetzer declined to elaborate.
Whatever the issue was, it seems to have been adequately addressed.
“There’s no mystery concern,” Schmetzer said.
Schmetzer then revealed that midfielder Albert Rusnák would be available off the bench for Sunday’s game against Inter Miami. Rusnák was pulled in the 64th minute against Club Tijuana on Aug. 6 with a hamstring injury and has missed the Sounders’ last four matches across all competitions. While Schmetzer didn’t elaborate on Rusnák’s availability, it would stand to reason that he’s unlikely to play a significant role but could certainly be useful if the Sounders are chasing a goal late or expect to head to penalties.
Schmetzer did not address any other specific players, but that Roldan was made available to the media suggests that he’s been cleared to start. Roldan has already logged more than 2,900 minutes this year.
“I feel all right,” Roldan said. “That’s going to be my answer, I think, for the rest of the year. I don’t want to get taken out of games due to rest. I feel as though I’m playing pretty well.
“At 30, I feel like I’m finally settled into a position that allows me to organize a team pretty well, defend, put ourselves in a really good spot for our entire team.”
Lineup decisions
Although the Sounders have used 38 different lineups in 39 games, they have seemingly settled on some predictable patterns. But with Nouhou suspended for the game, there’s at least one obvious question in the lineup. Asked what he planned to do, Schmetzer was a little coy.
“You really want me to answer that?” Schmetzer said with a laugh. “With film these days, there’s not many surprises. But we are going to be true to who we are.”
Likely sellout
As of press time, the Sounders had not yet announced a sellout, but with only a few hundred seats appearing to still be available that seems like an inevitability. That means there should be a crowd of at least 65,000 on hand to see the Sounders host Leo Messi. Even if it’s not a sellout, the Sounders will easily break the previous Leagues Cup attendance record of 50,675 when the San Jose Earthquakes hosted Chivas de Guadalajara in last year’s tournament.
This will be the 10th time the Sounders have drawn a crowd of at least 60,000 for a competitive match, having last done it for the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League final in 2022.
