Seattle Sounders represent MLS' best chance yet in CONCACAF Champions League
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
This has to be the one, doesn’t it?
After MLS teams stumbled at the last hurdle on four occasions over the past dozen years, Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League decider between the Seattle Sounders and Liga MX side UNAM Pumas (9:30 p.m. ET, FS1/FOX Sports app) has to be the one that finally, mercifully gives MLS its first regional title in more than two decades and snaps Mexico’s streak in the annual competition at 16.
Seattle are the bookies’ favorites following last week’s comeback in Mexico City. That 2-2 draw means a win at home — in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd of 67,000-plus at Lumen Field for the second leg of the two-game, total-goals series — would secure the Sounders’ place in history, not to mention an MLS team’s first trip to FIFA’s Club World Cup.
Nothing, however, is guaranteed. And given the long-standing futility of MLS teams in this event against foes from south of the border — the L.A. Galaxy were the last MLS team to earn CONCACAF’s highest honor, in 2001, when the entire tournament, then called the Champions Cup, was staged in Los Angeles — it makes sense to be cautiously pessimistic about the Sounders’ chances Wednesday.
"They’re a good team," Seattle midfielder Albert Rusnak said Tuesday of Pumas. "There’s got to be a reason why they’re in a final."
While no MLS representative has won the CONCACAF Champions League in its current home-and-home format, teams have come close. LAFC probably had the best shot, outplaying Tigres for most of the 2020 finale, a one-off game staged at a neutral-site bubble in Orlando because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years earlier, Toronto FC dropped a pair of Liga MX heavyweights to advance to the final, in which they beat Chivas in Guadalajara but lost the tiebreaker on penalties.
Real Salt Lake (2011) and CF Montreal (2015) earned ties on the road in Mexico and, like Seattle, needed only victory at home to claim the trophy. Both failed.
Still, this one feels different. Stocked with proven international players such as Uruguay’s Nicolás Lodeiro and Peru’s Raúl Ruidíaz, Seattle have arguably the deepest MLS roster ever. They’re a battle-tested bunch, having reached four MLS Cups (winning twice) the past six seasons. Plus, they’re going to play Wednesday in front of a sea of green-clad partisans, the biggest single-game crowd in tournament history.
But the main reason the Sounders don’t head into Wednesday’s match as the underdogs is that MLS has changed.
Now in its 27th season, the top league in the U.S. and Canada still lags well behind Europe’s cash-soaked circuits. But while MLS squads are still burdened by some of the convoluted roster and salary restrictions that have prevented them from standing toe-to-toe with Liga MX’s deep-pocketed best for more than 20 years, they have slowly but surely started to close the gap.
"Looking back on my early years with the Sounders, I don’t think we had that many players that had played in Mexico, Europe or even with the U.S. national team," said veteran Sounders forward Fredy Montero, who spent 2009 to 2014 with the club before leaving for Sporting Lisbon and returning in 2019. "That makes a huge difference."
MLS is still fundamentally conservative when it comes to finances. Even with the 2026 World Cup hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada just over the horizon, there are no plans to let the league’s billionaire owners spend whatever they want on their teams.
Still, GMs and sporting directors have more resources and flexibility than they did even a few years ago. And a Seattle win Wednesday would help justify that approach.
"We are getting closer," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said during Tuesday’s prematch news conference. "Money is a factor in many facets of life. The quality of our play has gone up by importing players. I think the quality of the American players has gone up as well."
Wednesday marks another opportunity for the league to prove it.
Meanwhile, the Sounders players are trying not to be overwhelmed by the occasion — easier said than done.
"We are aware of the magnitude of the game," Rusnak said.
Ruidíaz, who in 2018 led Peru to its first World Cup appearance in 36 years, called Wednesday’s contest "one of the most important matches of my career."
Added Schmetzer: "There is some underlying pressure there, being the home team in front of a big crowd."
The experience of winning the 2019 MLS Cup final in front of more than 69,000 fans in Seattle should help. But the visitors won’t go quietly. From imposing goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera to star striker Juan Dinenno, they’ll be a tough out.
"Pumas is a hard opponent," Ruidíaz said. "We need to first keep the score at zero but also make better use of our chances" than they did last week, when the Sounders squandered several golden opportunities.
Both of Seattle’s strikes in Mexico came on Lodeiro spot-kicks.
Schmetzer wants the Sounders to be more aggressive at home. "But you never know how the game is going to unfold," he said. "There’s times when you have a game plan, and you want to be on the front foot, and you’re defending for the first 20 minutes."
The opportunity is there, though. And this time, the momentum is on the MLS team’s side. A Champions League win for the Sounders would be historic, but it wouldn’t be a fluke or even an upset.
"We’re prepared," Schmetzer said. "Eventually, it’s going to happen."
For fans in Seattle and across MLS, Wednesday night can’t come soon enough. The stars have aligned. History is waiting to be written. This has to be the one.
Doesn’t it?
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
