Welcome back, Capitán.
Seattle Sounders defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso returned to game action last Saturday in 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas after missing the previous four matches with a sprained knee. He entered as a substitute in the 59th minute and helped preserve all three points.
After training on Thursday, Alonso said he is feeling great and is ready to “play 90” minutes. The decision to start Alonso will be Head Coach Brian Schmetzer’s as his side welcomes Minnesota United to CenturyLink Field on Sunday (7 p.m. PT; FS1, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS).
Seattle visited Minnesota just two weeks ago and came away 4-0 winners, and although Alonso was sidelined, he’s confident heading into the match this weekend.
“They’re a counterattacking team, they have fast players,” said Alonso, “but if we control the ball and keep the ball, we’ll find a way to find Clint [Dempsey] and Jordan [Morris] and Will Bruin up front.”
Dempsey recorded a brace against the Loons on Aug. 5 while Morris and Bruin each chipped in a goal as well. The Sounders are riding an eight-match unbeaten streak, but despite the recent success, Alonso said the team is not resting on its laurels.
“We know what we have to do,” said Alonso. “We’re at home, we’re in second place…We’re not relaxed because with any loss you can go down [in the standings] pretty quick. We have to forget about what happened in the [previous] eight games and take it game-by-game and keep getting three points.”
