Seattle Sounders captain Brad Evans is questionable for the team’s final preseason game in Arizona on Tuesday night, still battling the effects a tweaked hamstring that has kept him out of competitive action since joining the club last week.
Evans left the U.S. national team’s January camp on Feb. 2 due to hamstring tightness suffered after logging 45 minutes in the USMNT’s 3-2 win over Iceland on Jan 31. Although Evans has steadily increased his training regimen with the Sounders since he arrived in Tucson, he did not appear in either of the team’s first two preseason friendlies last week.
Evans trained fully on Saturday instead of playing the in the team’s 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers, but head coach Sigi Schmid hinted on Monday that Evans may also miss the team’s matchup against Mexican side Celaya FC on Tuesday night. The game will be available via live stream on SoundersFC.com (6 p.m. PT).
“We’ve just got to wait to ramp him up to full speed,” Schmid said. “We’re going to be a little cautious with that.”
Third-year defenders Jimmy Ockford and Damion Lowe traded starts in Evans’ stead in the Sounders’ two preseason games last week.
Schmid Happy With Dempsey
Clint Dempsey took a night off during the Sounders’ loss to Portland on Saturday night, but Schmid insisted he’s been happy with his star forward’s first full preseason with the club.
Dempsey started and logged 45 minutes against Vancouver Whitecaps FC last week before sitting out the Portland game. Thanks to international loans and USMNT duty, Dempsey has never been with the Sounders from the first day of preseason until the last, and Schmid said he’s taking a cautious and pragmatic approach with his star’s minutes with less than three weeks remaining before the Sounders take on Club America in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals on Feb. 23.
“His fitness has been coming along really well, and his numbers look good, which is one of the reasons we didn’t push him on Saturday,” Schmid said. “He’s played, cumulatively, a lot of soccer over the last 2-3 years. We just want to make sure [his fitness] has a chance to come back.”
