Seattle Sounders FC’s inaugural game last week was so successful that the Major League Soccer commissioner said it moved him to tears.
But even at that, the opening was not complete.
The Sounders’ most internationally recognized player – midfielder Freddie Ljungberg – wasn’t ready to play.
Now he is.
Ljungberg, who played 10 seasons in the English Premier League and has appeared 75 times with the Sweden national team, on Thursday declared himself fit for his MLS debut Saturday night when Real Salt Lake visits Qwest Field.
“I’ve been feeling good, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” said Ljungberg, who underwent offseason hip surgery. “I’ll probably play a part of the game … so I don’t overdo it.”
Ljunberg speculated that he could take the field for roughly the final 30 minutes.
That also sounds right to coach Sigi Schmid, who on one hand doesn’t want to rush Ljungberg; and on the other, doesn’t want to discourage any starters who contributed to the Sounders’ inaugural 3-0 win over New York.
“In general, the team played well last week, they got confidence playing as a group,” Schmid said. “It’s unfair to say to somebody, ‘Well, you’re out now because of this or that.’ But having options is good.”
Schmid has at least a couple of new options this week.
Midfielder Nate Sturgis (left quad strain), who was picked up from Salt Lake in the expansion draft, is available to face his former team.
And then there is Ljungberg, 31, who played nine seasons for Arsenal and was instrumental in the Gunners’ run of two EPL and three FA Cup championships between 1995 and 2005. He also has scored 14 goals with Sweden and served as its captain during the 2008 European championships.
The Sounders brought him to MLS as their designated player – a high-profile player who can be signed without counting against the league salary cap.
According to the MLS Players Union, Ljungberg makes $1,314,000 in guaranteed compensation; the next highest-paid Sounders player is goalkeeper Kasey Keller ($300,000).
Compared to what he is used to in England, even the Sounders’ chanting, scarf-waiving, sell-out crowd of 32,532 – which commissioner Don Garber described as one of the great events in the history of the league – doesn’t quite measure up. That figure would rank 12th in average attendance in the EPL – just behind West Ham, just ahead of Middlesbrough. It represents about half of the 75,292 average drawn by EPL attendance leader Manchester United.
“It’s a bit different in Europe,” Ljungberg said Thursday. “Maybe the stadiums where I’ve played are a bit bigger, so maybe it gets even a bit louder because there’s more people. But for the amount of people that were here, they screamed their lungs out, so it was amazing.”
The on-field product also seems to pale by comparison.
“I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed,” Ljundberg said. “I wanted something different in my life. I played at the top level for 15 years or something, so I know that. But what I’ve seen so far (in MLS) is that everybody’s very well prepared, they have good fitness and they work very hard for each other. They tackle quite hard sometimes, but I think that’s not what we try to do here. We want to play (a more free-flowing offensive game) with maybe more passes. We want the fans to enjoy it.”
After watching the first game from the sideline, Ljungberg said he is eager to get out on the pitch and perform.
“I feel like, as we say in Europe, I’ve been a cow that goes out to the green grass after being in the barn for a while,” he said. “That’s how I feel. I just want to get out.”
Expect that to happen in the second half Saturday.
Extra time
Fans attending the game are encouraged to donate to the Nothing But Net promotion intended to help fight the spread of malaria through the use of bed netting. Fans who donate also will be entered into a drawing to win a trip for two to the MLS All-Star Game this summer in Salt Lake City. … Sounders Chris Eylander and Taylor Graham will appear the QFC grocery, 4101 49th Ave. NE, in Tacoma for an hour starting at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808
blogs.thenewstribune.com/soccer
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