MLS in CCL Part 5: Seattle Sounders

[Music] oh [Applause] seattle what happened this was supposed to be your year i mean it was set up perfectly for you you're the defending mls cup champs you've got the easiest path to the final of any mls team by far and you already got two away goals in the first leg how did you blow this and no the fact that olympia went on to knock off montreal the next round doesn't make it any better yeah 2020 ccl was a massive letdown for sounders fans because no disrespect to olympia but seattle were the heavy favorites in this one and i don't know if anyone outside of honduras really believed that olympia had a shot in this one the sounders have made the cockacaff champions league more times than any other mls team with 2022 being their seventh appearance but to be honest they haven't been that great in their first six appearances last in the group stages in 2010-2011 smacked by a 7-3 goal aggregate in the quarter finals in 2011 2012 a semifinal appearance in 2012 2013 hey that's pretty good they even managed to meet league of mexicans in the quarters but then they went back to being knocked out in the quarters in 2015-2016 knocked out in quarters again in 2018 and then of course that embarrassing round of 16 defeat to olympia in 2020 i don't know if i even need to say it because at this point liga mx's dominance in this tournament is pretty well known since rebranding to the champions league league mx has never lost 13 editions 13 liga mx champs now seattle has been the model franchise for mls pretty much since they arrived matt doyle wrote an article explaining why they've been so successful i recommend everyone check it out but i'll summarize it here strong academy check killer dps check savvy veterans check virtually no weaknesses in the lineup for mls standards year after year check and a head coach that players love and are willing to fight for check no yeah i should also mention they got a few passionate fans that show up for the games like seriously when's the last time you heard a player complain about his time playing with the sounders i mean it just seems like everyone is on the same page and everyone just wants to win and speaking of winning they do a lot of that they're on their own impressive streak having never missed the mls cup playoffs in their history they won u.s open cups early they've won mls cups recently and in between those they even managed to win a supporter shield in 2014 but the only trophy missing in their trophy case the same trophy that's missing and everyone's trophy case was the most important trophy of all the concacaf league and everything tells you that this should be mls's best hope at eventually winning this tournament except further history of choking in this tournament and after a while after so many toke jobs you kind of just start to expect it after lafc's run to the final in 2020 2021 was a bit of a reality check on the one hand this was the first time that all five mls teams advanced out of the round of 16. yeah over half of the teams in the quarterfinals were from mls that's awesome and this included toronto who took out liga mx side leon but after the quarters just one mls team remain league mx spanked columbus toronto and portland and philly made it through but that's because they had to play atlanta in the quarters in the semis they got spanked 4-0 in aggregate to club america now some people weren't thrilled about how seattle qualified because the pandemic canceled the us open cup it was determined that the last spot for the ccl that is normally given to the open cup champion would be given to the highest ranked us-based division one club based on 2021 mls regular season record not already qualified personally i think this was better than how they handled 2021 when they just gave the last spot to atlanta for being the holdover champion from the 2019 us open cup so okay a little bit lucky for seattle i'm sure some lower division teams felt a bit screwed for not even getting an opportunity but then again on the other hand it's not like this spot was just given to them they still needed to get a hell of a lot of points in 2021 just to get in but i'm sure seattle doesn't care what people think they don't care how they got in they're in and now they are ready to battle seattle sounders motagua oh no not another team from honduras maybe he's still the ptsd from 2020 with olympia but this matchup just didn't make me feel great also for all that seattle has accomplished over the years some were beginning to question perhaps unfairly perhaps prematurely but some were beginning to question if seattle's era of dominance was coming to an end i mean if you remember how last season ended for the sounders they lost in the first round of the playoffs at home to an rsl side that didn't even register a shot on goal yeah can you imagine losing in the playoffs when the other team doesn't even have a shot on goal when would that happen the first leg in honduras scoreless not the most convincing performance as they put out a pretty strong lineup but we're still out shot 11-6 but at least it's not a loss and contrary to popular us m t fan based belief leaving central america with a draw isn't a complete failure but now there was some pressure in the return leg in seattle an away goal from otago would mean seattle would have to win outright and another subpar performance would probably mean the sounders would be eliminated that didn't happen not even close actually minus this one chance early on seattle basically dominated from the opening whistle a second goal early in the second half gave the sanders some breathing room and then a third goal gave them more breathing room and then a fourth goal gave them more breathing room and the fifth goal probably wasn't necessary but man did it feel good as someone who isn't a sounders fan but is actively rooting for an mls team to win this tournament it was nice to see the sounders flex their muscles assert their dominance and beat a team they're supposed to beat the only bad news which was really really bad news was that raul ruiz diaz one of the most under appreciated stars in this league had to leave the field at halftime with a hamstring injury ruling him out for the next couple weeks and for the quarterfinal matchup seattle sounders club leone club leone arguably the best team in league mx in the last calendar year but also a team with a miserable history against mls teams in this tournament remember 2020 when they blew a 2-0 lead to lafc or how about last year when they lost to toronto fc a team that wasn't even close to making the playoffs no way they lose to an mls team three years in a row right bang bang freddie montero with two goals in a span of eight minutes two nil seattle and then in second half stoppage time jordan morris with the dagger second straight home game at lumen field second straight blowout for the sounders a win that felt extra sweet considering it was leon who topped the sounders in the league's cup final a year ago rewinding back to 2018 we saw three mls teams win their first leg quarter-final against league mx teams it was a historic round for sure even though in the end it was still liga mx hoisting the trophy with both the sounders in revolution winning 3-0 this also started to feel historic but then bruce arena said this and then the revolution gave up a three goal lead and then the revolution lost in the pk shootouts oh and nycfc barely advanced against camuna casiones on away goals so yeah not feeling so historic anymore if the sounders really blow this we will literally never hear the end of it from league mx fans and the haters of mls please dear god i don't ask for much but please do not let seattle blow this they didn't in a master class of bending but not breaking seattle stayed strong and got their moment at the end of the first half a pk was awarded and montero slotted at home his third goal of the series and now 4-0 on aggregate plus the all-important away goal this one was done sure leon did get a consolation goal at the end but it didn't really mean anything and for the second time in team history the sounders were heading to the ccl semifinals seattle sounders ny cfc this was the first time in the modern day ccl that two mls teams met this late into the tournament it also meant that a mls and ccl part five was inevitable and as a neutral i wasn't sure who had the better chance in the final i know a lot of people look at the near collapse by city against comuna casteones but the way i saw it was that all those goals that were scored against them came after cities subbed off their first team so okay their depth is now in question but their first team yeah their first team is still about as good as anyone in mls the sounders hosted the first leg and just like the last two rounds got off to a good start a beautiful build buildup finished off by the new signing from rsl albert rusnak and the 16th but then just 11 minutes later 21 year old thiago andrade equalized for city the first away goal that seattle gave up this tournament a goal that brian spencer can't be too thrilled about as andrade was left wide open in the six yard box after the sounders lost the header it was really the first time in the ccl that they faced any bit of uncertainty we've seen them fold under pressure before in this tournament but was this sounders team different well they didn't sulk for too long javier aryaga put one in but it was called off for offsides in the 33rd but just a minute later jordan morris blasted it in one timer a shot no keeper in the world would touch 2-1 sounders they would keep up this pressure getting more opportunities and eventually earned another pk in which ladero cool as you like sent shawn johnson the wrong way 3-1 sounders and yet another very solid performance at home second leg sounders traveling to the home stadium of the new york red bulls yeah it wasn't even for a schedule conflict this time apparently yankee field dimensions aren't approved for concacaf competition i know it's easy to make fun of nycfc for having a new home field for what seems like every game but i just think that shows mental toughness it shows that they're able to play tough wherever they land but unfortunately for them there is an advantage to playing at yankee field because they're used to the small dimensions and they weren't able to use those advantages in this series raul rui diaz is now healthy after his hamstring pull finishes off the new cross and gives the sounders the important away goal and puts the aggregate at 4-1 like the leone's second leg they did eventually give up one in the second half but another fantastic exhibition of bending but not breaking and just like that the sounders are now onto the finals seattle sounders pumas also making their first ever finals appearance in this tournament were club universidad nacional ac aka pumas unam to get here they had to get past costa rica saprissa they had to erase a 3-0 deficit against bruce arena in the revolution and they had to top many people's pick to win it all cruz azul and like seattle the formula was pretty simple survive on the road and dominate at home outscoring their opponents united two at home in their first three rounds the only team that was better at home was of course the seattle sounders who up to this point outscored their opponents 11-1 at lumen field now the one thing seattle really had going for it was the scheduling gods you see the league mx season was coming to a close and they were gearing up for their closure playoffs and pumas were right on the bubble of making it at the time they were sitting at 12th place meaning they were in must win mode just to qualify the mls season meanwhile is only about a quarter of the way through so someone decided to give seattle a break while pumas had four massive games in 12 days seattle had four games in 15 days including an entire week off between champions league final matches mls wasn't messing around they wanted to make sure seattle was as fresh as possible for this one okay this was it seattle and mexico city for the first leg during a torrential downpour honestly weather that they should kind of be used to but with living in seattle and whatnot the job was simple leave without having the series be over just give yourselves a chance at home in the second leg a couple of early opportunities for pumas handled by stephanie fry who up to this point have been having an excellent tournament so far but then disaster for seattle a 50-50 ball inside the box resulted in dideno falling down and the ref calling foul maybe it's the bias mls fan of me but i didn't like the call it's certainly not the worst call i've ever seen but it's not one i would have made and apparently i wasn't the only one to think that as when stephen fry made the massive save on the pk a swarm of people online all tweeted out the same thing ball don't lie except we all spoke too soon i mean come on this is concacaf we should have known better with var they determined that fry was off his line which to their credit he was and retaking the pk is the right call but what i want to know is why couldn't they have used var on the initial pk call why'd it only come down to the pk save because concacaf amazingly this is the first time all tournaments that seattle has been losing this goal seemed to wake up the sounders though as they pushed for an equalizer late in the first half seeing the zhao apollo half volley from just outside the six yard box sky over the bar that one hurt but then early in the second half daneno again his ninth goal of the tournament and now is 2-0 oh boy here it is here's the seattle we were supposed to see here's the mls curse rearing its ugly head again maybe not maybe the sounders team was different maybe that mls curse was just a bunch of hogwash because unlike so many mls teams before them even after going out 2-0 they didn't crumble they only seemed to get stronger and they only kept fighting and in the 73rd minute they got their chance a handball in the box another somewhat controversial call as some were arguing this was natural positioning it was ball to hand not hand to ball okay i gotta be honest i've always hated that argument you can argue anything as natural positioning when you're sliding or jumping so if i was fifa president for a day the first thing i would do is just change the damn rule anything from the elbow down no matter what position is a handball no more arguing sorry for the rant i've always wanted to get that off my chest though anyways yeah ladero finished it and a huge goal for the sounders personally i would have taken a 2-1 loss heading home to the second leg but maybe that's why i'm at home making youtube videos that i'm not a professional soccer player because the sounders didn't quit and remarkably in stoppage time they got another penalty the third one of the game and again a little controversial i gotta be honest just like the first pk i didn't really agree with this one i think rolled on was absolutely looking for contact and i felt like he went down a little easy but it's the concave champions league final pumas were gifted a pk in the first half so i didn't feel too bad about this one anyways yeah lidero finished it a huge goal for the sounders tie game after falling down 2-0 to come back and tie it up 2-2 absolutely massive seattle even managed to outshoot pumas not that that really means all that much but it does show that maybe seattle wasn't all that much of an underdog in this one after all however the job wasn't done far from it in fact both real salt lake and montreal left mexico withdrawals in the first leg of their finals too and we all know how both of those series turned out now for some reason that i cannot figure out that i cannot explain only for the final away goals do not count why only make that rule count for the final i don't get it but essentially what that meant was that there was an even playing field for the second leg and it was all up for grabs in seattle leg two a ccl record crowd of over 68 000 packed into lumen field was this finally gonna be the year the first half wasn't great and by wasn't great i mean damn near disastrous in the 11th minute fan favorite knew who totally left the game with a quad injury and then came kellan and then in the 29th star xiao paolo left with a knee injury an injury that would later be diagnosed as a torn acl and he was replaced by 16 year old obed vargas i don't care if you're a talent prospect i don't care if you're a wonder kid coming in off the bench in the first half of a final that's a tough spot to be in for anyone but one of the strongest aspects of this sounders team was its depth and both row and vargas stepped up and the sounders didn't lose a beat each team looked nervous and at times sloppy there weren't a lot of golden opportunities then it happened [Applause] a sweet solo run by rusnak and the layoff by aryaka the shot by rui diaz the deflection that la talavera is spinning like a washing machine 1-0 sounders and just like that we were halfway there halfway to glory for what wasn't the best half of soccer seattle had to be happy holding onto a 1-0 lead the game opened up in the second half as both teams were finding their rhythm fry with the play of the game with this huge save off the header from off the turf fry coming up big in a final when have we seen that before and just as doubt was starting to set in if seattle was going to be able to hold on in the 80th minute oh my god it was really happening 2-0 sounders i was still celebrating just eight minutes after that goal ladero put in the rebound to officially put it away the final whistle blew and it was all over [Music] this wasn't just a win this was a statement the sounders didn't crawl over the finish line they sprinted through it they dusted pumas the seattle sounders the [ __ ] seattle sounders were champions of the concacaf champions league and for the first time since the tournament rebranded to the champions league liga mx would not be hoisting the truck for the first time mls was lifting the trophy oh my god it's now been some time since the glorious night and i've done some reflecting yes this was historic but in the sounder's history it kind of felt like deja vu like i said they've always been good but in the beginning of their mls existence they just could not figure out how to win in the playoffs they couldn't quite get past the galaxy dynasty of the early 2010s having lost to them three different times i think those playoff failures helped shape this team it made them tougher it made the front office realize they had to go out and spend some cash and eventually in year 8 2016 it all came together when the sounders topped toronto fc in the pk shootout in mls cup the sounders had multiple failures in the ccl just like they had multiple failures with mls cup playoffs this win means so much no it doesn't mean that mls has surpassed league max they still got a couple trophies on us but it is the first real step to eventually catching we get mx no longer is this dark cloud of never winning hanging over the league an mls team making the ccl final used to happen once in a blue moon it's now happened three times in the last five years mark my words this will not be the last time an mls team wins it it's not just a monkey off the back it is a full grown gorilla and man does it feel good congrats sounders fans you have officially reached the concacaf mountaintop thank you for watching please subscribe for more mls content and i'll see you next time for taitica den flews [Music] you

Channel: DannyTRadio

Views: 12,950

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Id: BO28sB8agCU

Length: 24min 49sec (1489 seconds)

Published: Mon May 23 2022