The Seattle Sounders’ return to Lumen Field is just days away with a match that made the 7-week wait worth it.
“It's going to be special,” said forward Jesus Ferreira.
On April 15, the Rave Green face Tigres in what will be a do-or-die 90 minutes for both clubs. Following the Sounders’ 2-0 loss to the Liga MX team in Leg One of the Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals held in Monterrey, Mexico on April 8, the two sides will square off once again in Leg Two to determine who advances to the semifinals of the continental tournament.
With Tigres’ two-goal advantage on aggregate, Seattle will need to win by three goals in order to move on to the next round. If they win 2-0, the match will go to extra time to determine the winner of the tiebreaker. A two-goal win in which Tigres gets on the scoresheet would see the Liga MX side advance on the away goals tiebreaker.
“I think knowing what we have to do and knowing that we're with our fans …. hopefully we can turn this around,” said Ferreira.
To climb out of a 2-goal deficit is a daunting task, but the Sounders thrive under pressure — especially when it involves playing on their home turf of Lumen Field.
“The fans are always behind you. It's always a good crowd,” said Ferreira. “[And] I know a lot of people don't like coming here, so we’re going to have to play that to our advantage.”
The score of Leg One does not take away the fact that the Sounders had legitimate goal-scoring chances at Estadio Universitario. Along with midfielder Paul Rothrock’s near equalizer in the 63rd minute off a sliding effort, the team had three other quality chances to get on the scoresheet.
Upon recognizing that they were able to compete in a high-stress environment on the road, combined with the help of home fans in the stands, the players feel confident in a potential comeback over the Liga MX side.
“I think that we saw [in Leg One] that we are able to compete at the highest level,” said Ferreira. “We have the support of our fans and the support of each other. And so that's what it's going to take for us to turn this around.”
Seattle did it in 2013 with a Leg Two, 3-1 victory after an initial 1-0 loss to Tigres in the CCC Quarterfinals. And the team is determined to make it happen again on Wednesday night.
"It's not like it's not reachable,” said Ferreira. "I think we, in our minds, know that this is doable and it's going to take everybody.”
