Heber didn’t need Friday’s story time before Sounders training. The newly acquired forward is an avid fan of football.
“Or soccer for you guys,” Heber quickly self-corrected for U.S. fans.
So, he’s familiar with the trouble the Sounders have against Real Salt Lake despite Saturday being the first time he lines up against the Western Conference foe. But coach Brian Schmetzer gave Heber — and the team — an earful anyway during the morning film session.
“I went all the way back to Sigi [Schmid],” Schmetzer said of his predecessor and club’s original MLS coach from 2009-16. “RSL was kind of our bogey team. We couldn’t get past them. They had that ridiculous 29-game home win streak that [former Sounders forward] Lamar Neagle ended in the driving rain.
“Then I thought we kind of got on top of them a little bit and we were good. But then they kicked us out of the playoffs and when [current Sounders assistant] Freddy Juarez was the RSL coach — I brought this up in the meeting — we were ahead 2-1 and one of his guys on a corner kick drew level. And there was the game last year.”
RSL is on a four-game win streak against the Sounders, including the embarrassing postseason loss in 2021 at Lumen Field where they didn’t take a shot at goal in regulation and carried a scoreless draw through extra time. The visitors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals 6-5 on penalty kicks.
In their last visit to Lumen, RSL defender Andrew Brody slotted home a game-winner in the 64th minute — two minutes after Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnak equalized an expected 1-1 draw. It marked the first time since 2018 that RSL has swept the Sounders in regular-season play.
Saturday’s match at Lumen is a continuation of the Sounders (1-0) trying to regain their authority on their own turf. Opening the season with an entertaining 4-0 win against Colorado on Sunday was a start.
RSL (1-0) used a late goal by captain Damir Kreilach to win its season opener 2-1 at Vancouver last week. It is 4-11-2 at Lumen in regular-season play.
“The [Colorado] game wasn’t so easy,” said Heber, who dedicated his goal in the 53rd minute to his fiancée who was in attendance. “We made the game easy because the chances we got, we scored. At home, we need to be like that. The chances we have we need to score to make the game easy for us. But [Saturday] is going to be a very tough game. Every time when Salt Lake comes here, they make it difficult for us.”
The playoff loss to RSL played a part in Schmetzer altering his tactics this season to getting the team in more scoring positions. The Sounders outshot RSL 21-0 in regulation, but just three were on-goal and often the team was just whipping the ball from side-to-side with 39 crosses in the match.
“Sometimes it’s hard when you play a defense in the low block because they squeeze the center of the midfield,” Sounders midfielder Joao Paulo said. “You need variations. When we face teams like RSL in that playoff when they defended the whole game, maybe having a rotation or a variation in front and buildup would’ve got the [forwards] more involved.”
Saturday will be a true indicator of how the Sounders are progressing. Unlike Colorado, Salt Lake is traveling to Lumen with their first-choice players available for selection. Forward Rubio Rubin missed the opener because of a one-game suspension for a red card shown in the playoffs last year while midfielder Diego Luna is recovered from an illness and midfielder Pablo Ruiz was granted his U.S. green card and is back from Argentina.
For the Sounders, striker Raul Ruidiaz should see minutes as a reserve. He missed Sunday’s win as a precautionary measure to heal his strained right hamstring.
During Friday’s open training session at Lumen Field, Ruidiaz, Heber and forward Fredy Montero flexed their skills in the box with showpiece goals. Montero is the club’s leading goal-scorer through all competitions (76) while Ruidiaz leads the Sounders in MLS goals with 59.
“[Raul] wants to be on the field not just because Heber’s here,” Schmetzer said of the club’s offseason addition. “It adds a little fuel, but Raul wants to be with his teammates. He’s always been good with the young guys. He made Obed [Vargas] and Danny Leyva carry his big boom box. He’s always been good with the group, and he misses that. It’s a big part of his life.”
Ruidiaz, like the rest of the Sounders, hope losing to Real Salt Lake becomes part of their past.
“We’ve lost a few points to them,” Schmetzer said. “We want to rectify that.”
Note
- Saturday’s match against RSL will only air through the Apple TV app and is not one of the free matches the subscription service will offer weekly. Viewers will have to purchase an MLS Season Pass in order to watch or listen via 93.3 KJR FM, in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM, and KDNA 91.9 FM in the Yakima Valley. T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers have free access to MLS Season Pass.