SEATTLE – There have been a number of achievements at Lumen Field that will be permanently stored in Seattle sports lore.
NFC Championships, an MLS Cup – a cornucopia of SportsCenter top-10 highlights. But what happened Sunday will have a unique place in Emerald City history: The Sounders made the GOAT look like a JAG.
If you need help decoding, that’s the “greatest of all time” playing the role of “just another guy.” In his first meaningful game against the Sounders, Lionel Messi was neutralized with a combo of physicality and strategy, leaving the Argentine visibly frustrated throughout the evening.
The end result was Seattle beating Inter Miami 3-0 in the Leagues Cup final and hoisting a trophy in front of a raucous, record crowd. It might be true that this is Messi’s world and we’re all just living in it. But on Sunday we found out – it’s not his city.
“Some people were saying there were going to be more Miami fans – no,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. “Our fans were the loudest, and I’m super proud of that being a kid from Lake City.”
Never before Sunday had there been so many people packed into Lumen for a Sounders game. Before the match, MLS commissioner Don Garber said the stadium would have been sold out regardless of Seattle’s opponent, but come on – without Messi, there aren’t 69,314 fans squeezed into the venue.
The man won the Ballon d’Or for the world’s best player a record eight times, and at 38 years old, is still averaging a goal per appearance in MLS. But Schmetzer was correct that the vast majority of the crowd was pulling for the Sounders, with the rave green overwhelming the Miami pink at Lumen. Fans even booed Messi whenever he touched the ball in the early minutes.
This is a player who had five straight matches from the end of May to mid-July in which he scored two goals. He notched a pair in the League’s Cup semifinal – one in the 77th minute and another in the 88th – to beat Orlando last Wednesday. But Sunday, after being bodied and denied throughout the evening, Messi finished with just one shot on target.
The crowd wasn’t displeased.
They were too busy going berserk for Osaze De Rosario, who headed in a goal off a pass from Alex Roldan in the 26th minute to put the Sounders up 1-0. They were too busy cheering for Roldan scoring on a penalty kick in the 84th minute, after Georgi Minoungou drew a foul on a breakaway. They were too busy celebrating Paul Rothrock’s clinching goal in the 89th minute, prompting perhaps the loudest roar of the season.
After the game, Schmetzer noted how Miami has an internationally renowned roster, featuring other superstars such as Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and De Paul Rodrigo. But he wanted to talk about his players – ones who might not have the profile but certainly had the performance.
Still, the Sounders made the best to ever play the game look normal Sunday night. How did they pull that off?
“One guy cannot mark Messi, it’s impossible. He’s too good even at his age. He’s got too much experience,” Schmetzer said. “Tonight just wasn’t his night maybe. I mean that happens in sports. You never know the outcome of the game before you play the game. Tonight was just our night … he’s a superstar and he deserves all the accolades that I can give him and that people can give him. But tonight our collective was just a little bit better.”
This was one of the bigger wins in Sounders history. The League’s Cup might not have the mystique of an MLS Cup or a CONCACAF Champions Cup, but it’s a prestigious trophy that was captured against what might be MLS’ most talented team.
Unfortunately, the celebratory cheers from the crowd quickly turned into boos when a scuffle broke out after the game. Suarez was seen spitting in the face of Sounders head of security Gene Ramirez.
It was ugly, and a reflection of how frustrated Seattle had the Herons all night. But Schmetzer emphasized how that shouldn’t be the story of Sunday evening.
I’ll second that. The Sounders were spectacular in their defeat over Miami Sunday. They played as close to a perfect match as possible.
They dominated both sides of the ball, capitalized on all their scoring chances and did something extraordinary – make Messi seem ordinary.