For the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Sounders will compete at the Club World Cup, with a chance to make the semi-finals when they battle Al Ahly in round two action on Saturday at Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier.
Seattle became the first club from Major League Soccer to capture the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) under its current name last season, defeating Pumas UNAM in the final, while the third-place finishers at this competition a year ago defeated Auckland City 3-0 on Wednesday to advance into the second round.
Match preview
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Since their early days in MLS, Seattle have been a force to be reckoned with, capturing the title on two occasions, finishing as runners-up twice and winning their first trophy on the continental stage last season.
Their Champions League triumph last May was the high point of the 2022 campaign for Brian Schmetzer and company, as the Rave Green missed the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time in team history.
On Saturday, they will be the first club from MLS to play a match at the Club World Cup, as the Los Angeles Galaxy could not do so in 2001 when the tournament was cancelled due to financial difficulties.
Except for last season, Seattle have been hugely successful partly because of their ability to adapt their style from one match to another, sometimes going with a possession-based approach and, in others games, focusing on counter-attacking.
Schmetzer has many talented and versatile players who can feature at different positions on the field, with Seattle ranked in the top two for the fewest goals conceded during the 2020 and 2021 MLS regular seasons.
Seattle conceded only once in their opening four matches of the 2022 CCL knockout stage before coming back from two goals behind to draw Pumas in the opening leg of the final (2-2) and then capturing the decisive fixture 3-0 in front of their home fans.
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The current leaders of the Egyptian Premier League are into the second round of the Club World Cup for a third successive campaign following a convincing victory on Wednesday.
Nadi El Qarn are a continental powerhouse, making their eighth appearance at this competition, winning the CAF Champions League in Africa a record 10 times.
Marcel Koller's men have only conceded in one encounter this year and are unbeaten since losing 2-0 in the CAF Champions League Final versus Wydad AC last May.
They have not lost a second-round fixture at this tournament since 2013, failing to concede a goal versus Al-Duhail in 2020 (1-0), while also posting a clean sheet a year ago in this round against Monterrey (1-0).
For the moment, they look to be well on their way to claiming their first Premier League title since 2019-20, sitting in first with 37 points after 15 matches, the only team in the Egyptian top flight who have yet to lose this season.
Breaking down their defensive line can feel like you are running into a wall, as they have conceded the fewest goals in the Egyptian Premier League in five of their previous six campaigns, and leading again this season, allowing a mere five strikes domestically.
Team News
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Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro was the second-highest scorer in the CONCACAF Champions League last season with five strikes, none bigger than his brace in the first leg of the final against Pumas to bring them back from 2-0 down, Raul Ruidiaz scored twice in the decisive leg, Fredy Montero and Jordan Morris each netted three times throughout the tournament and Stefan Frei was named the top goalkeeper.
All of those players except for Montero were named to the CCL team of the tournament, as were Cristian Roldan, Xavier Arreaga and Nouhou Tolo.
Over the offseason in Major League Soccer, the club declined an option on Will Bruin, Jimmy Medranda transferred to the Columbus Crew, while they signed Heber from New York City FC and Joao Paulo, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL featured last Saturday in their friendly defeat versus Hammarby (3-2).
Goals from Hussein El Shahat, Mohamed Sherif and Percy Tau helped Al Ahly advance to this round of the competition, as Mohamed El Shenawy only had to make one stop to collect another clean sheet.
At this stage of the 2021 Club World Cup, they got a goal from Mohamed Hany to advance into the semi-finals, Yasser Ibrahim scored twice to help them capture third place over Al Hilal, with the other strikes coming courtesy of Ahmed Abdel Kader and Amr El Solia.
Mostafa Shobeir sustained cartilage damage near the end of December, while Karim Fouad and Akram Tawfik suffered ruptures to their cruciate ligaments.
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Frei; Tolo, Gomez, Arreaga, A. Roldan; Rusnak, Rowe; Chu, Lodeiro, C. Roldan; Ruidiaz
Al Ahly possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Hany, Metwalli, Abdelmonem, Maaloul; Dieng; El Shahat, Afsha, Abdel Kader; Sherif, Tau
We say: Seattle Sounders 0-2 Al Ahly
The MLS campaign does not begin until late February, and Seattle have not played in a competitive fixture, aside from a few friendlies since October, while the Egyptians have competed in plenty of meaningful games this year.
We anticipate the firepower and experience of Al Ahly on the international stage will be too much for a Seattle team who might not physically be in the same kind of game shape as their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
