SB Nation Seattle - Seattle Sounders To Play Jaguares In Community Shield Match February 20thhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48997/seattle-fave.png2012-02-09T11:03:07-08:00http://seattle.sbnation.com/rss/stream/25513192012-02-09T11:03:07-08:002012-02-09T11:03:07-08:00Sounders To Host Jaguares In Community Shield February 29th; Admission Will Be Free
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.sounderatheart.com/">Seattle Sounders</a> have announced the details of their third-annual Community Shield game, and they're a little bit more interesting than years past. Mexican Primera club Jaguares will be Seattle's opponent and admission to the game will be free. In keeping with the Community Shield's goal of raising money for charity, donation's will be accepted at the gate.The game will serve as the Sounders final tune-up prior to the home leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final against Santos Laguna.</p>
<p>The first Community Shield match in Seattle took place prior to the 2010 season, when the Sounders hosted the then-USL <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stumptownfooty.com/">Portland Timbers</a>. Last season's edition saw the club stick to a format more closely resembling that used in many European leagues, with the US Open Cup champion Sounders taking on the defending MLS Cup winning <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.burgundywave.com/">Colorado Rapids</a>. The decision to bring in Jaguares is likely down to Seattle's desire to take on high-level Mexican competition in order to more adequately prepare them for Santos Laguna, arguably the best team the MLS-era Sounders will have ever faced in a competitive match. While past Community Shield games have seen Seattle play a mix of starters, reserves and youth players, the circumstances surrounding this game will presumably motivate coach <span>Sigi Schmid</span> to give his starters a longer run-out than one would normally expect during an exhibition game.</p>
<p>The Community Shield match will be the Sounders second exhibition match against a Mexican Primera club of the pre-season; the team previously confirmed that they will be playing Atlante in a closed-door training match in Cancun on February 22nd. The Jaguares game will be the last of a busy pre-season slate for the Sounders; the team has already taken on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.eightysixforever.com/">Vancouver Whitecaps</a> during training camp in Arizona and will head to Florida to participate in four additional exhibition games on February 13th before heading to Cancun. With cuts still needing to be made and several spots at the back-end of the roster still in contention, expect more than a few interesting developments in the coming weeks.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/seattle-sounders/2012/2/9/2787323/seattle-sounders-community-shield-jaguares-free-admissionAaron Campeau2012-02-07T12:45:18-08:002012-02-07T12:45:18-08:00Seattle Sounders To Play Mexican Primera Club Atlante In Closed-Door Friendly
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<p>As part of their preparation for their March 7th CONCACAF Champions League match against Santos Laguna, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.sounderatheart.com/">Seattle Sounders</a> will take on Mexican club Atlante in a closed-door friendly on February 22nd in Cancun. The game is officially being referred to as a "training match" and there is at this time no indication that it will be viewable by the general public.</p>
<p>Though it's difficult to think that the match will feature both teams fielding full-strength lineups for 90 minutes of highly competitive soccer, it will nonetheless give the Sounders a chance to measure themselves against high-level Mexican competition ahead of the crucial home-leg of the two-legged CCL quarterfinal matchup against the 2011 Primera Division Apertura runners-up.</p>
<p>The Sounders have also announced four additional training games to take place in Florida in earlier in the month, and if <a target="_blank" href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketmaster.com%2Fevent%2F0F004842CB1545FF%3Fartistid%3D1292961%26majorcatid%3D10004%26minorcatid%3D11&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fseattle.sbnation.com%2Fseattle-sounders%2F2012%2F2%2F7%2F2782760%2Fseattle-sounders-atlante-friendly-preseason-schedule" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Ticketmaster's website</a> is to be believed this year's Community Shield match will take place on February 29th at CenturyLink Field. There's been no official word as to who the Sounders opponent might be in this year's edition of the annual charity game, but <a target="_blank" href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundersfcblog/2017446189_another_clue_to_a_preseason_fr.html#.TzFzQjhtnM4.twitter">Joshua Mayers has speculated</a> that it could be another Mexican team. The Community Shield match will also be notable as the first game to take place on the new FieldTurf surface currently being installed at CenturyLink.</p>
<p>The Sounders confirmed pre-season schedule is below:</p>
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<p><b>Orlando City SC, Bradenton, FL February 13<sup>th</sup>, 1:00 PM Pacific<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.massivereport.com/">Columbus Crew</a>, Bradenton, FL; February 15<sup>th</sup>, 8:00 AM Pacific<br> U-17 U.S. National Team, Bradenton, FL; February 16<sup>th</sup>, 7:00 AM Pacific.<br> University of Gulf Coast, Bradenton, FL; February 19<sup>th</sup>, 1:00 PM Pacific<br> Atlante FC, Cancun, Mexico; February 22<sup>nd</sup>, 4:00 PM Pacific</b></p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/seattle-sounders/2012/2/7/2782760/seattle-sounders-atlante-friendly-preseason-scheduleAaron Campeau