Fresh off helping Uruguay qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup, midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro is on to more pressing matters: Getting his defending champion Sounders into the playoffs.
That seemed a certainty a few weeks back, but a loss in Philadelphia prior to the World Cup break has made things tighter than anyone wants. With only five points separating the Sounders from seventh-place Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference, another defeat would make things urgent indeed.
A loss at home Sunday to FC Dallas — holding down the conference’s sixth and final playoff spot — could cost the Sounders any shot at a home advantage during the postseason, if they even make it.