Sigi Schmid: We’re Relaxed and Ready
Tyrone Marshall Unlikely to Play but Evans and Jaqua are Looking Good
In Washington DC on the eve of the 2009 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final, a relaxed Sigi Schmid talks about tomorrow’s starting line-up, the mood in the camp, and the passion of Seattle fans.
“Nothing in Seattle surprises me in terms of the way Seattle people have been in their support and their passion for everything.”
PROST AMERIKA: What’s the latest update on the injury situation?
SIGI SCHMID: Obviously going into this game Tyrone Marshall probably is unavailable. We’ll check for sure tomorrow but right now it doesn’t look like it. Obviously Jhon Kennedy Hurtado’s missing the game with a red card, Brad Evans came through practice today fairly well, so he feels a lot better, so again we’ve got to see, Nate Jaqua did more today at training so we’ve got to see tomorrow so those two guys are going to be game time decisions for us but Tyrone will definitely be out.
PROST AMERIKA: And is Freddie Ljungberg definitely going to be in your starting lineup?
SIGI SCHMID: Yeah, Freddie will be in the starting lineup.
PROST AMERIKA: You’ve played in MLS Cup finals. How does this differ from what you’ve been through before?
SIGI SCHMID: Well it’s a little bit different because you’re playing mid-week and there’s not the build-up and the lead-up to it like it is in MLS Cup final where everybody’s focused on it, the entire league, and everything else is on it so it’s a little bit different in that regard and that’s something — in U.S. soccer it’s probably still a challenge to put a little more prestige into the tournament. By the same token we all understand it’s a final, and although the lead-up is short and the preparation time is shorter than it would be for an MLS Cup final, it’s still enough for us to get ready.
Sigi: Fans Could Give the Side that Extra Lift
SIGI SCHMID: I think we’re relaxed, you know it’s – at the end of the day the outcome of the game means more but the game’s played the same way, you’ve still got to put one foot in front of the other, you’ve still got to pass, you’ve still got to run, you’ve still got to shoot when it’s there and you’ve still got to defend when those opportunities are present for you so the game’s all the same, it’s just the result means more.
PROST AMERIKA: Have you been surprised by the passion for this tournament in Seattle?
SIGI SCHMID: No, nothing in Seattle surprises me in terms of the way Seattle people have been in their support and their passion for everything, they have just been tremendous and so from that standpoint I’m not surprised at all.
PROST AMERIKA: Now there’s a lot of people coming from Seattle, we know, we’ve met them on the way, and have you met any of them here yet?
SIGI SCHMID: No, we’ve heard, you know I was on Fox Football Fone-in last night and there were a couple of people that called in already saying we’re going to be at the game, we’re from North Carolina but we’re Sounders fans and things like that so I think everywhere we’ve gone we’ve had a good representation of fans from Seattle and obviously this is an important game so we expect a good representation tomorrow night.
PROST AMERIKA: And how much will it mean to the team and to yourself having two or three hundred Sounders fans there?
SIGI SCHMID: It means a lot, you know it tells you how important it is to them and if you’re unsure or if you’re undecided or you need to get pushed over the edge that usually does it for you.
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