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The Seattle Sounders will begin the most important tournament in their history when they take on Al Ahly in the Club World Cup. While the Club World Cup might be taken as a friendly competition by some, for the non-European teams who don’t get a chance to prove themselves against Europe’s best, this is quite an important tournament. It’s even more important for the Sounders who hold the distinction as the first Major League Soccer Club to compete in the tournament.
The Sounders will face Al Ahly, an Egyptian side that has already won one game in the competition, beating Auckland City FC on Thursday. Head coach Brian Schmetzer was careful to give respect to Al Ahly but it would also be fair for the Sounders to be thinking about a potential semifinal match against Real Madrid.
Seattle will have an injury boost with midfielder Joao Paulo available to start the match even though Obed Vargas will not be available for selection according to Schmetzer. Paulo is critical to how the Sounders play but after getting injured in the team’s run to winning Concacaf Champions League, he was finally able to get back to action for the first time since May of 2022 in the lead up to this match.
Paulo will be on a minutes restriction and the team was able to learn how to win games without him last season, but there’s no questioning that the team is better when he plays. The depth around him has also gotten stronger with Heber joining the squad from New York City FC and the team will need all of it in this competition.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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