Seattle Sounders fans have been waiting for #thismoment since 2009, and after 120 minutes of scoreless play, a save no Sounders fan will ever forget, and Román Torres hitting the ball into the back of net, the Seattle Sounders have won the MLS cup championship.
It was no easy game. The Sounders didn't have a shot on target the whole game. Stefan Frei had to come to the rescue on several occasions after Toronto overcame our defense. Then, just when we thought the cup was ours, Álvaro Fernández's shot was blocked.
Yet, in the end, the Seattle Sounders persevered and brought home the MLS cup, and the best part of all is that we, the fans, were the only ones who saw it coming.
After Seattle rival, the Portland Timbers, won the MLS cup in 2015, it was time for Seattle to show that they could take home an MLS cup championship. The pressure was high as we headed into the 2016 season, as were the nerves. We had lost key player Obafemi Martins, as well as Lamar Neagle and Gonzalo Pineda. However, we still had our golden boy, Clint Dempsey and the highly-anticipated newcomer, Jordan Morris. Hopes were high.
Then 2016 crushed those hopes rather quickly. The MLS cup had never looked so far away. The absence of Martins led to an offensive breakdown for the Seattle Sounders. They simply couldn't score enough goals, resulting in many losses. The Sounders spent a large majority of the season below the red line, playoff hopes seemingly out of sight. Yet the fans stayed hopeful that the team could turn it around, that something would click and the team would hit their stride.
Then came July 26th.
This is the day that our former head coach, Sigi Schmid, mutually parted ways with the Seattle Sounders. Schmid was replaced by interim head coach Brian Schmetzer.
This is also the day that Uruguayan midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro was signed, alongside familiar face Álvaro Fernández.
With the fresh perspective of Schmetzer and the immense talent of Lodeiro, the Seattle Sounders were able to turn their season around, only losing two more games for the rest of the season. They showed themselves to be the team that the fans always knew them to be. Even with Clint Dempsey being sidelined in August, the team surged to success.
The Seattle Sounders made it to the playoffs by defeating Real Salt Lake 2-1.
Jordan Morris was named 2016 MLS Rookie of the Year. Nicolás Lodeiro was named 2016 MLS Newcomer of the Year.
The Seattle Sounders won the Western Conference Championship over the Colorado Rapids.
Then in Toronto, they won it all as their fans watched on.
The road to the championship was not easy. The Sounders faced adversity with every step, up until the very last moments. Yet they pushed past with each obstacle to rise to the top. Despite the injuries, the lack of goal scoring, the change of coaching staff, and the sidelining of Clint Dempsey, the Sounders became champions.
How could our MLS Cup story get any better than that?
The love for soccer is unceasing in the city of Seattle. Nowhere in the MLS will you find more support than you will at CenturyLink Field. Each game brings thirty to forty thousand fans dressed to the nines in their rave green, their scarves draped around their neck. Sound Wave performs at the pre-game rally. The Emerald City supporters lead fans to the stadium in the March to the Match, chanting all the while.
Born in 1974
Sounders, Sounders!
And now we win like never before
Sounders, Sounders!
We love our boys in famous green
The greatest team you'll ever see
Seattle Sounders,
Born in '74!
Sounders fans give their full 90 minutes. Sounders fans stand in the rain. Sounders fans don't hear a f**king thing.
This win means so much to Seattle soccer fans. For years, we have watched our team succeed without ever getting the ultimate prize. We got three consecutive U.S. Open Cup championships. We got the Supporters' Shield. We made it the playoffs every single season. Yet there was no MLS championship to show for it. Now, after years of waiting and believing, the championship is ours, and it feels so good.
Congratulations on the championship, Sounders! Thank you for the amazing season. See you next year.
