Sounders FC debuts against New York to start MLS

By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer

Freddie Ljungberg walked over to the gathered group of Seattle Sounders FC upper management – namely majority owner Joe Roth and general manager Adrian Hanauer – and posed a simple, timely question.

“Nervous?” the Sounders’ designated player asked.

Major League Soccer announced it was coming to Seattle 16 months ago. Now it’s time for the Sounders to actually raise the curtain on their expansion franchise, rid themselves from more than a year of pent up anticipation and play some soccer.

The 15th MLS franchise debuts on Thursday night when Seattle hosts the New York Red Bulls to begin the 14th season of the MLS.

“If my stomach ache and additional gray hairs are any indication of it, then yeah, I can believe it’s here,” Hanauer said on Wednesday after the Sounders final practice before the opener. “As a soccer fan I’m excited to see the team play because they play good soccer and as a citizen of the community I’m very excited for the whole Puget Sound region because I think this is a great thing for everyone here.”

If MLS wanted a showcase to kickoff its latest season for a national television audience, it got just what the league was looking for from the Sounders. Even with the NCAA tournament drawing Washington and Gonzaga fans down the road three hours to Portland, Ore., a sellout of more than 32,000 is expected for the Sounders opener. A parade of green- and blue-clad fans, led by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels and team owners, will march through downtown to the stadium. Even the band that was part of Drew Carey’s agreement to join the team as a minority owner will make its debut.

It’s all part of a 16-month build up to the opener for the Sounders. The team has sold more than 20,000 season tickets and increased seating capacity at Qwest Field to more than 27,000 for the remainder of the season, just so fans can purchase single-game tickets. They procured the first major sports marketing partnership with Microsoft Corp., getting the software giant to plant “XBOX 360 Live” on the front of their uniforms, and were awarded hosting duties for the 2009 MLS Cup before the franchise played its first regular season game.

Of course, that’s all peripheral to the actual game taking place on the field.

“Everyone has known for a long time in the Northwest this city has been waiting for the opportunity to have a MLS franchise,” Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “It’s here and the city has done everything it can to make it be the experience we’re all hoping it will be.”

The league could have done a favor for Seattle and set up one of the weaker teams as a jumping off point for the new franchise. Instead, the Sounders get a significant challenge from the start, with a Red Bulls’ team that reached the MLS Cup last season before losing to Columbus.

Coincidentally, that was the last game for Sigi Schmid as the coach in Columbus. Now in his first game with Seattle, he gets to see the Red Bulls’ again, trying to help Seattle become just the second MLS expansion team to win its first game.

“It’s a little bit of rolling the dice to see what their lineup is,” Schmid said. “Both teams the first five, 10 minutes of the game are going to look at each other and say ‘Ah ha, that’s what they’re doing.'”

For New York, the opener is the culmination of an offseason makeover that could have five new starters on the field Thursday night from the team that lost to Columbus 3-1 in last year’s MLS Cup. Still hanging around as the offensive star of the Red Bulls is Juan Pablo Angel, who led them with 14 goals in just 23 games last season.

“We’re excited especially with what happened last year reaching the MLS finals for the first time in this franchises history,” Angel said. “I think we are a more well-balanced team this year than last. It’s been a long offseason, we worked hard during the preseason and are looking forward to the start.”

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