Since joining Sounders FC as the club’s inaugural head coach, Sigi Schmid has reached several coaching milestones while at the helm in Seattle.
In the 2009 regular season finale, he became the all-time wins leader among Major League Soccer coaches when he surpassed Bob Bradley with his 125th career victory. Since then, he has celebrated unprecedented milestones when he reached 150 and 175 coaching wins and on Monday, he will get his first crack at win No. 200 when Seattle faces the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field. And while he has greeted each with the respect and honor they deserve, he has never approached them with any fanfare.
“I never think about those things,” Schmid shrugged when asked about possibly reaching his 200th win against a club he coached from 1999-2004. “If it comes in that game, it will be great. It just means that I’ve had a lot of good players and I appreciate that.”
There aren’t many stiffer tests in MLS than the one Seattle will face on Monday night at CenturyLink Field when the LA Galaxy comes to town. LA is the only team with more wins (87) than Seattle since Sounders FC entered MLS in 2009, though Seattle could draw even with a victory over the Galaxy on Monday.
It’s no coincidence that the Galaxy is led by Bruce Arena, who sits in second on the all-time win list with 166 MLS regular season victories.
That sort of challenge is exactly what has driven Schmid throughout his illustrious coaching career, and has been exemplified by Sounders FC this season as it sits atop the Supporters’ Shield standings at 12-4-2.
“If you’re going to get your 200th win, you want it to be against the best and I think Bruce is one of the best coaches in MLS,” said Sounders FC forward Chad Barrett, who played for Arena while with the LA Galaxy in 2011 and 2012 and knows the significance of the milestone in Schmid’s career. “It would mean a great deal to him and we want to do that for him, since he’s done so great for us in getting this team to play together.”
Kickoff in Monday’s nationally televised match is scheduled for 7 pm on ESPN2.
