Injuries to Key Players Put Damper on Seattle Sounders Celebrations

The Seattle Sounders have won the Western Conference Final, but how are the injuries picked up in the final going to effect the the MLS Cup final?

Sounders fans are ecstatic with winning the Western Conference Final for the first time in MLS team history but in the back of their minds there is a list of injury concerns with some very key players, on top of Brad Evans and Erik Friberg who were late scratches to Sunday’s match.

During the only goal of the game, Nelson Valdez played Jordan Morris through who was able to lift the ball over an on rushing Zac MacMath. Though he scored, MacMath came in studs up on Morris’ knee who, when trying to celebrate, couldn’t stand up. There were multiple times during that Morris was shown struggling and had to come off the field to get it either wrapped up or get it checked out.

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After the game, Morris was asked about his knee and he seemed very optimistic about its state and spoke about wanting to stay on the field, even when his dad, who is the chief Sounders medical director, was trying to help check out his knee.

"It’s so funny having him [my father] on the sideline. I was kind of getting mad at him there. I’m like ‘I’m fine. Just put me back in.’ I would never yell at my dad off the field but on the field I was getting a little mad. But it’s fun having him around.I’m feeling OK. But obviously it’s so great that the team was able to accomplish this. And it’s for the fans. They deserve it."

It seems like Morris’ knee was more of an impact injury and not quite as serious as it could have been. This means, unless something comes up in further scans, Morris should be set and ready for MLS Cup.

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Another player Sounders fans are worried about is Ozzie Alonso. After going down from a hard tackle from Dillon Powers, Alonso had to be taken off in the 74th minute, also will a knee injury. Though he did look very uncomfortable soon after the injury, by the end and during the celebrations Alonso wasn’t favoring it quite as much as he was.

A knee sprain is much more serious than the impact injury that Morris seemed to take. Alonso is arguably Seattle’s most important defensive player and an MLS Cup Final without him, whether it is against Toronto or Montreal, would be a very bad time for Seattle.

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