Seattle Sounders play their second game of the season in less than an hour, kicking off at 4:30 Pacific time at New York Red Bull. We knew that Steve Zakuani would be out of the match, his having giving us a pretty big clue by tweeting that he'd be watching the game at home on TV. Still, many wondered about who would replace the left winger, with some putting their money on new signing Mauro Rosales. Instead the Argentine is on the bench, with Servando Carrasco filling in in midfield.
Interestingly -- to a person who likes geography, anyway -- the Sounders will have representatives from eight different nations on the field, if one counts Carrasco's Mexico dual citizenship. And I do. Along with Mexico Seattle will be waving the flags of the U.S.A., Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Cuba (if Ossie's cool with that), Jamaica and Sweden. The more you know!
Sounders Starting XI: Keller, Riley, Parke, Hurtado, Gonzalez, Fernandez, Alonso, Carrasco, Friberg, Montero, White
Substitutes: Boss, Wahl, Scott, Ianni, Levesque, Neagle, Rosales
New York Starting XI: Sutton, Solli, Marquez, Ream, Miller, Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere, Agudelo, Henry
Substitutes: Coundoul, Borman, Tchani, Hertzog, Rodgers, Robinson, Mendes