TUKWILA, Wash. – Patrick Ianni knows a thing or two about international football.
In his time with the Houston Dynamo, Ianni competed in two SuperLiga campaigns, a Pan-Pacific Championship and two editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. During that stretch, the defender, now 25, played against teams from all over Central America.
Those experiences may make Ianni the player with the most savvy in regional competition. Before Seattle take on Marathón of Honduras on Thursday night in Group C of the Champions League, Ianni offered some pointers on the competition.
“First off, the crowds are a little more hostile than we’d see here,” Ianni said Monday before the team departed for Honduras. “Second, just taking care of your body during the travel is a huge part, so you’re ready to rock when you get down there. But at the end of the day, it’s just soccer. It’s all pretty much the same.
“The teams play a little differently. They are more possession-oriented than most MLS teams.”
[inline_node:307919]As Ianni mentions, adjusting to the different style of play may be the biggest challenge for the Sounders.
Perhaps more so than any other MLS team, the Sounders strive to play a South American style predicated on quick passing and off-the-ball movement. Several key players, like Fredy Montero (Colombia), Álvaro Fernández (Uruguay), Osvaldo Alonso (Cuba), Leo Gonzalez (Costa Rica) and the injured Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Colombia), all hail from Latin America.
As an organization, the Sounders have only played in one competitive match outside of Canada and the United States: a 1-1 draw in inclement weather against El Salvador’s Metapán. The heavy rain and poor field conditions may not have given the most accurate account of Seattle’s play, but the club did battle to a draw to advance to the group stage of the competition.
Thursday night’s match – the first of six group stage matches in what some have called the “Group of Death" in this year's tournament – will provide a measuring stick of the club’s progress. It will also provide a platform for individual players to advance their soccer careers.
“For our players, it gives them an opportunity to get exposure internationally,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “Guys on our team who have aspirations of maybe one day going on to play for the national teams of their respective countries.
“Anytime you get into international competition, it allows that national-team coach to see how you measure up, how you deal playing away from home, how you deal playing against foreign competition."
Notebook:
• Injury concerns may keep Montero and Steve Zakuani out of the lineup on Thursday. Montero was seen sporting a large ice pack on his quad at Monday’s practice – the after effect of a thunderous collision with Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton. Zakuani’s groin has been bothering him, keeping him out of the Chivas match. After training on Monday, Schmid said both were “day-to-day.”
• Perhaps an indication of how important Seattle is taking this competition, the ownership sprung for a private charter plane. That allowed the club to avoid a maze of domestic connections to get to Honduras. The Sounders flew down on Tuesday, giving the club all of Wednesday to acclimate before Thursday’s match.
