Seattle Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer indicated on Friday that defender Román Torres may play on Sunday vs. the Portland Timbers (2 p.m. PT; ESPN, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM).
“This is a good game for him to go in," Schmetzer said. "[Timbers forward Fanendo] Adi’s a big kid. He’s caused us some problems in past games."
Torres was activated on Tuesday after spending nearly a year recovering from a torn ACL he suffered vs. the San Jose Earthquakes last year. On Wednesday, Torres expressed his excitement to be healthy again and was on the 18-man roster in Seattle's 1-1 draw at Houston. Due to game circumstances, though, his long-awaited return had to wait.
“They're all disappointed when they don't play, and I actually like that," Schmetzer said. "His situation changed a little bit in the sense that the scoreline kind of went the way it did and so I wasn’t able to get him in. I had Scenario A, Scenario B, and so on, to try and find him some minutes, but it just didn’t manifest itself.”
Seattle trailed 1-0 in the 94th minute before Nicolas Lodeiro scored the equalizer to keep its five-game unbeaten streak alive. The Sounders will play their third match in eight days on Sunday.
