[Editor's note: Ignore the Josh Feit byline. SoundersNerd wrote this article. He'll have his own byline soon enough.]
I speculated in the pre-game that we’d face second-from-bottom Columbus, not defending champion Columbus. I was wrong, and it just proves that you can’t judge a team by the stats and salaries of its big names.
The visiting team was on fire the first half without stars Schelotto, Hejduk or Carroll. The Sounders, on the other hand, were lack of cohesion + series of unbelievable fuck-ups. Not just bad passes and missteps, but major, colossal, forehead flattening fuck-ups: Ljungberg tripping over the ball on his first touch; Allowing Columbus to weave an impressive header right between Marshall and Hurtado, two of our strongest players; Ljungberg MISSING A PENALTY! I’m sorry, Mr “Starter for Champions League Champions Arsenal/Captain of the Sweden’s World Cup team/I look good in underwear/I get paid nearly as much as a Mariner” Ljungberg, YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO MISS PENALTIES! (Note to Josh: I know you don’t like caps, but this hit a nerve. Taken them out if you want.)
Luckily, there’s a second half—which takes place after the coach spanks you during halftime and you start again of piss and vinegar.
As a result, the Sounders made a game of it: Jaqua’s equilizer (and for the assist, Freddie, you’re forgiven for that PK) was simply phenomenal. Montero completed phase two of his comeback. We proved some new guys, especially Wahl. I’ve never seen a indirect freekick at the six in professional soccer and that was… fun? (Having had similar experiences on my co-rec teams, I don’t know why Montero didn’t just chip it magically into the top corner. Why pass it to Ljungberg when just he missed the PK?)
And can’t we go a whole game without a red card? Tyrone is known for playing dirty (he had an extended suspension two years ago for breaking a someone’s leg in a hard tackle). This was perhaps our stupidest red card yet: A bullying move away from play that didn’t intimidate, but was just caught by the ref. (Google image searcj “Vinnie Jones” to see how it’s supposed to be done). If not for the missed PK, it would’ve been the low point of the game.
In the end, a tie. I’m tired of justifying ties. I want to win.
