MLS

Sounders to play Al Ahly in FIFA Club World Cup second round

Published Feb. 1, 2023 11:46 p.m. ET

Almost nine months after becoming the first MLS team to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, the Seattle Sounders finally know which opponent stands between them and a date with Real Madrid in the semifinals.

With the Sounders watching from their training base in Marbella, Spain, Al Egyptian side Al Ahly beat New Zealand's Auckland City 3-0 in the tournament opener Wednesday in Morocco, which is hosting the seven-club event. Seattle will travel to Morocco on Thursday and face Al Ahly in Tangier Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET, FS2, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports app.) in a single elimination match. The winner will meet mighty Real Madrid, the 14-time and current European champ, on Feb. 8. The final is three days later in Rabat.

Not that the Sounders are looking beyond Saturday's foe.

"We definitely don't look past Al Ahly," longtime Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei told FOX Sports shortly after the Egyptians advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal. "We know we have to give them the utmost respect."

"They're very dangerous on the counter," defender Alex Roldan added. "They like to whip in a lot of crosses. We definitely have to be strong on the back line and make sure we don't give up anything easy on them."

That's not just lip service from Frei and Roldan. The Sounders aren't just saying the right things. These are not simply experienced professionals who know better than to provide an adversary with bulletin board material. While the Sounders have broken a glass ceiling just by getting to the Club World Cup, this is Al Ahly's third consecutive trip. They've won the bronze medal two years running, too, knocking out then Mexican champ Monterrey last year.

The Club World Cup has a long way to go to become anywhere near as relevant as, say, the UEFA Champions League, of course, let alone its namesake for national teams. Yet its mainstream stature will surely explode in the years to come, with FIFA planning to expand the 2025 edition to 32 teams.

For now, it's still mostly a curiosity for fans, at least those outside of Europe. The midseason timing and location — usually North Africa, the Middle East or Japan — is often criticized by both leagues and supporters in the old world even though European clubs have won 14 of the 18 Club World Cups all-time, including the last nine. (Real Madrid has the most titles, with four.)

South American clubs have won the other four titles. Clubs from anywhere else are typically viewed as cannon fodder. But Liga MX power Tigres reached the final two years ago. Since 2016, clubs from Japan and the United Arab Emirates have, too.

Still, part of the reason it took an MLS team so long to win the CONCACAF Champions League and qualify for the Club World Cup is that the former was staged during the league's preseason. The timing for of this tournament is similarly terrible for Seattle, which hasn't played a competitive game since way back on Oct. 9. "In a normal year I think this would be just past Week 1 for us heading into MLS preseason," Roldan said. "But were not using it as an excuse."

Seattle scheduled tune-ups in Spain against Austria's Wolfsberg and Sweden's Hammarby. By contrast, Al Ahly is 15 games into its domestic campaign, its last just over a week ago. Fitness is therefore a serious concern for coach Brian Schmetzer's men. They can't allow Saturday's contest turn into a track meet. This isn't likely to be a free-flowing, end-to-end affair.

"We'll have to find the right moments to slow the game down," Roldan admitted.

There's no guarantee it works: CONCACAF's best has reached the last four just five times over the last decade. "In a knockout phase right away like this, there's no room for error, Frei said. "We have to be able to bring a result to the table right away to move on and go to the next round."

As much as not getting ahead of themselves is admirable, nobody can blame the Sounders are dreaming of facing Real Madrid just a little. While their sharpness and cohesion might be lacking Saturday, motivation won't be.

"If we do find ourselves moving forward it's an incredible opportunity," said Frei, who has lined up against Los Blancos twice in exhibitions. "But they're friendlies, right?" Frei said of those games.

"For an MLS team to have the opportunity to play against arguably the best team in the world for something meaningful would be a privilege."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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