LAFC debuts against defending West champ Seattle
The Major League Soccer schedule-makers didn't do expansion Los Angeles FC any favors for its debut.
LAFC will travel to Seattle to meet the two-time defending Western Conference champions on Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field, where the Sounders were 11-1-5 last season.
However, LAFC coach Bob Bradley is trying to look at the positive.
"Players love going to Seattle, at CenturyLink, it's a special opportunity for us," Bradley said in a conference call this week. "Preseason only gets you so far, but you need real matches.
"With a new team, a new club, that first match is something that is so important. (You want to) make a strong first impression (and) make sure all of our great supporters see the work ... and the kind of team we want to build."
Bradley, the former U.S. national team coach, guided the Chicago Fire to the MLS title in 1998 -- the only expansion team to claim the championship.
Bradley has some talent to work with, including U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman, Mexico standout Carlos Vela and Uruguayan youngster Diego Rossi. LAFC will have former Sounders backup Tyler Miller, the first pick in the expansion draft, in goal.
Seattle lost to Toronto FC 2-0 in last year's MLS Cup after beating Toronto on penalties kicks to win the league title in 2016.
"Last season was a good season by many standards," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said according to the (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune. "But that sickness in our stomach is still there, and it's because of one contest, one match. ...
"People might say, ... 'OK, the Sounders went to the MLS Cup twice, had a good year, won a conference championship in front of our fans.' But that emptiness is still there, and we will use it to push us toward another good season and, hopefully, another title cup."
The Sounders will attempt to do so without forward Jordan Morris. The U.S. international is lost for the entire season after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a CONCACAF Champions League match last week against Santa Tecla in El Salvador.
--Field Level Media
