There shall be no Seattle Sounders–Real Madrid semifinal on the FIFA Club World Cup because the Rave Green’s keep on the event in Morocco as is over after only a single recreation.
Despite dominating Egypt’s Al Ahly for the primary half of Saturday’s quarterfinal in Tangier, the Sounders – the primary Major League Soccer crew to take part within the competitors — could not rating, shedding 1-0 after conceding an 88th minute objective to Al Ahly substitute Mohamed Magdy.
The Egyptians will now face Los Blancos, the 14-time European champion, Wednesday within the ultimate 4 (2 p.m. ET, FS2, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports app).
Here are three fast ideas on Saturday’s match.
Seattle had their possibilities …
The Sounders had been throughout Al Ahly early on at Ibn Batouta Stadium. That Brian Schmetzer’s crew had been capable of take the sport to a top quality foe (Al Ahly completed third on the final two Club World Cups) was considerably stunning; by the point the primary half was over, Seattle had registered eight photographs to their opponent’s one.
The dangerous information for Sounders followers – a pair hundred of whom made the 5,500-mile trip to watch their side in person — was that they weren’t capable of capitalize on any of them. All eight first half efforts had been off-target. Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnák every missed wonderful possibilities within the opening 45 minutes. Josh Atencio compelled a save out of Al Ahly keeper Mohammed El Shenawy early within the second half, however that was the one shot on objective for both crew till Magdy’s winner, which deflected off the foot of Seattle fullback Alex Roldán.
“I thought we were good, I thought we were evenly matched, [had] a couple of chances,” Schmetzer mentioned on the FOX Sports broadcast afterward.
The Sounders would rue these squandered alternatives in a while.
… however health was an element within the loss
This was all the time going to be a tricky recreation for the Rave Green. Seattle, which did not qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs final season for the primary time of their historical past, hadn’t performed a aggressive recreation for 118 days, for the reason that 2022 MLS common season resulted in early October. Club brass organized a few friendlies in Spain earlier than flying to Morocco, however with the brand new MLS season not scheduled to kick off till the top of the month, Seattle was very a lot in preseason type towards an adversary in the midst of their very own home marketing campaign.
Not changing these first half possibilities got here again to hang-out the Sounders, who predictably started to expire of gasoline because the clock ticked towards the 90-minute mark. Al Ahly had been in full management over the ultimate quarter-hour of normal time. If Magdy hadn’t scored late, the Sounders would’ve struggled mightily to maintain tempo throughout a further half hour of additional time. Maybe they might’ve gotten the competition to penalty kicks, however the disparity in health between the perimeters was the distinction in the long run.
Missed alternative for Sounders, MLS
Considering all they had been up towards, Schmetzer’s crew gave a decent account of themselves and MLS as an entire. They had been a bit unfortunate maybe, though to be honest Magdy beat Seattle backstop Stefan Frei however not the crossbar simply earlier than his objective.
Still, after turning into the primary MLS crew to lastly attain the Club World Cup following 20 years of futility, it is disappointing that they could not stick round a bit longer. Facing Real Madrid in an elimination match at a serious event is just not the form of alternative that presents itself typically for North American groups, particularly American and Canadian ones. It would’ve been a feather in MLS’s cap, and one other step ahead for a rising, formidable circuit. Seattle was near getting there. Very shut. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
“The deflection on the goal is unfortunate,” mentioned Schmetzer, who could not disguise his frustration with the defeat however nonetheless had solely reward for his squad.
“They put everything into the game.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer author for FOX Sports. Before becoming a member of FOX Sports in 2021, he was a workers author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has coated United States males’s and ladies’s nationwide groups at a number of FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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