SEATTLE — The Sounders weren’t supposed to be here.
They shouldn’t have been hosting MLS Cup at a sold-out CenturyLink Field. They shouldn’t have been spraying each other in beer and champagne as they danced to salsa-infused hip-hop after beating Toronto FC handily. They shouldn’t have been crowned the champions of MLS once again.
“Some people didn’t think we’d be here at the beginning of the playoffs,” Sounders forward Jordan Morris said. “We wanted to prove we deserved to be here.”
Exactly zero Sounders were finalists for the league’s major year-end awards, such as Coach of the Year, despite Brian Schmetzer taking the Sounders to three MLS Cups in four years at the helm of the team.