Any question of how the Sounders FC won their second MLS Cup last season is excusable after the first 45 minutes of the club’s MLS season opener Sunday afternoon.
All the pageantry of a championship celebration was rolled out for the crowd of 40,126 at CenturyLink Field — including the unveiling of the title banner the majority of the same people saw won in November.
Then the match against the Chicago Fire started and a newcomer might have asked, “This is your champion?”
Once forward Jordan Morris was substituted into the game in the 46th minute, the Sounders regained that aura of a champion.