And then 20 minutes in, you knew it wasn't go to be it. From the start the game was nothing to get excited about. We controlled most of the possession, but continued to swing crosses in to 5'1 Mike Fucito, 5'8 Fredy Montero and 5'6 Mauro Rosales to no avail. It was like someone never told them that they couldn't win a header against Jay DeMerit.
Vancouver did nothing on offense all game - they are really terrible - and yet at halftime they had a 1-0 lead thanks to a Eric Hassli PK. At the time it looked a little soft, but after watching the replay I think it was a good call. Camilo beat James Riley in the box and Ozzie Alonso came in from the side and tripped him up. It was a poor tackle by Alonso.
The game continued on and I told The Wife we were not going to win. It just felt like we could do nothing right. And then out of nowhere, Tyson Wahl floated a ball in, Nate Jaqua put some pressure on the Vancouver defender and Mauro Rosales hammered home the finish off a bad clearance. We all breathed an initial sigh of relief but knew the job wasn't done. We still needed another goal and for the first time in a while, it felt like another goal was indeed coming. That's what funny about the sport - one minute you can't fathom your teams' performance and the next moment, you know something special is going to happen.
Luckily, good old momentum didn't let us down as Ozzie Alonso took a errant pass off of Pete Vagenas' back (thanks Pete!) and rifled a shot past Joe cannon from 20 yards out. It was a hell of a goal that led to my first jumping man hug (leave it to the Irishman). The stadium was euphoric and I remember saying that we needed to defend now - that there was a lot of time left. No less than 2 minutes later, Alonso made a mess of his trap inside our box and Eric "The Red" Hassli turned into Eric "The Sublime" Hassli as he vollied a shot from the corner of the 18 over the head of Kasey Kellerfor a wondergoal. I am a Sounders supporter through and through, but I have to give him tons of props. Obviously if Keller had saved it, it would have simply been looked at as a desperate attempt. Unfortunately for us, it didn't turn out that way. The goal was so shocking that his teammates didn't even know what to do after he scored - he silenced the crowd with what HAS to be the goal of the year. It was stunning.
We all left Qwest that night thinking that we let one slip away. Considering we were down 1-0 until the 80th minute, one might consider a draw a fair result, but we controlled the tempo and were up 2-1 with 6 minutes left. A loss like that leaves a bitter taste. And now some random notes:
- The Wife chants "Overpaid/Overrated" every time Fredy touches the ball. I have been trying to defend him noting that while he 'is paid to score goals' he brings more to the team than we think. After all, this is a team that lost its starting striker the night of the home opener...then it's back-up turned starter striker to a blood clot a few weeks later...and of course, the man who makes the team go to a broken leg. It's not like we are at full-strength and for a while I thought Fredy was contributing in other ways. Then I watched Saturday's game and I can honestly say that I did not see one positive thing out of him. Not one. OK, he tracked back once. And he took two shots on goal, but besides that not a single thing to write home about. I don't know what his problem is, but he either needs to fix it or we need to move him next year.
- A mentioned before, it was not the best night for Ozzie Alonso. In talking with my boys Irish Mike and D-Lib, we all agree that in fact, this has not been his best year. He is still making all the tackles we have become accustomed to, but he is turning the ball over way to much. I chalk it up to the fact that he is taking a more active roll in building up play. I think we are seeing that while he does has some offensive skill, he is best when he wins the ball and gives it to an attacking center mid to start the play
- James Riley continues to play solid D- so much so that Irish Mike is off his case.
- I can't believe that Miguel Montano got some playing time. He is just not good.
- Of course, I said the same thing about Lamar Neagle and he has quietly been solid. I'm not sure we can go the whole season without El Flaco and Friberg, but for now Lamar is doing admirably.
- Finally, nothing Sounders related, but the US lost to Panama in the Gold Cup. I assumed we would walk through the group and was initially shocked at the result. But when I take a step back, I guess I'm not the surprised. We are a team in transition right now. Howard, Dempsey and Donovan are still there, but we have a lot of young guys like Ream, Agudelo and to an extent, Altidore who still need some more seasoning. Add in that Jermaine Jones has not looked good since putting on the kit and that Michael Bradley may have regressed because of a lack of confidence, and this team should be in no way the favorite to win this competition. Count me as one of the few who are terrified by what Mexico might do to us the next 5 years (I hate you Chicarito)
