Issue 14 | Sounders Monthly by Seattle Sounders FC

ISSUE 14 | JULY 2018

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IN THIS ISSUE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN KRASNOO

CREATIVE DIRECTOR TY KREFT ASSISTANT EDITORS ROBERT CASNER ALEX CAULFIELD DANNY CIACCIO KELLY SCHUTZ MATT WINTER COVER ILLUSTRATOR DAN LEYDON ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATION IAN MORK MATTHEW SHIPLEY CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS MIKE FIECHTNER JANE GERSHOVICH CORKY TREWIN LINDSEY WASSON QUINN WIDTH CHARIS WILSON GETTY IMAGES USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES REUTERS

CLOSER LOOK

Sounders celebrate pride, Raúl Ruidíaz signs a DP deal and Gustav Svensson rejoices in Sweden's World Cup win

2018 SCHEDULE

Catch up on where we've been and see what lies ahead

10 MEET THE TEAM

Get to know a little bit about your 2018 Sounders FC First Team

12 EL NUEVO NUEVE

Raúl Ruidíaz is ready to hit the ground running

WORDS BY RYAN KRASNOO & DANNY CIACCIO

18 COMEBACK KIDS

Oral History: Reliving last July's epic 4-3 comeback vs. D.C. United

WORDS BY RYAN KRASNOO

28 WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CHRIS HENDERSON? © 2018 BY MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER, LLC AND SEATTLE SOCCER, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF SEATTLE SOCCER, LLC IS PROHIBITED. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 159 SOUTH JACKSON, SUITE 200 SEATTLE, WA 98104 887-MLS-GOAL SOUNDERSFC.COM

An in-depth look at Sounders FC scouting

WORDS BY RYAN KRASNOO

38 10 QUESTIONS: NICOLÁS LODEIRO

Nico opens up about his favorite part of training, his greatest moment as a Sounder and more

CLOSER LOOK

JUNE 24, 2018

Jordan Morris, Bryan Meredith and members of the Sounders FC staff march in Seattle's annual Pride Parade.

JUNE 29, 2018

Peruvian international forward RaĂşl RuidĂaz signs his contract at Starfire to become the latest Seattle Sounders Designated Player.

JULY 3, 2018

Gustav Svensson jumps on goalscorer Emil Forsberg's shoulders to celebrate Sweden's 1-0 win over Switzerland to advance to the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.

2018 SCHEDULE DATE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 THURSDAY, MARCH 1 SUNDAY, MARCH 4 SUNDAY, MARCH 18 SATURDAY, MARCH 31 SUNDAY, APRIL 15 SUNDAY, APRIL 22 SUNDAY, APRIL 29 SATURDAY, MAY 5 WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 SUNDAY, MAY 13 SATURDAY, MAY 26 SATURDAY, JUNE 2 SATURDAY, JUNE 9 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 SATURDAY, JUNE 23 SATURDAY, JUNE 30 WEDNESDAY, JULY 4 SATURDAY, JULY 7 SUNDAY, JULY 15 SATURDAY, JULY 21 WEDNESDAY, JULY 25 SUNDAY, JULY 29 SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 SUNDAY, AUGUST 26 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

OPPONENT

SANTA TECLA FC SANTA TECLA FC LAFC FC DALLAS MONTREAL IMPACT SPORTING KC MINNESOTA UNITED FC LAFC COLUMBUS CREW TORONTO FC PORTLAND TIMBERS REAL SALT LAKE REAL SALT LAKE D.C. UNITED NEW YORK RED BULLS CHICAGO FIRE PORTLAND TIMBERS COLORADO RAPIDS NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION ATLANTA UNITED FC VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES NEW YORK CITY FC MINNESOTA UNITED FC FC DALLAS LA GALAXY PORTLAND TIMBERS SPORTING KC VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC PHILADELPHIA UNION LA GALAXY COLORADO RAPIDS HOUSTON DYNAMO ORLANDO CITY SC HOUSTON DYNAMO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

TIME

WATCH ON

7:00 PM 7:00 PM 2:00 PM 2:00 PM 7:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 6:00 PM 1:00 PM 4:30 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM 6:30 PM 7:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 1:30 PM 6:00 PM 4:30 PM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 7:30 PM 2:00 PM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM 1:00 PM 6:30 PM 1:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 4:00 PM 1:00 PM 7:30 PM 4:30 PM 2:00 PM 1:30 PM

GO90 GO90 ESPN JOETV JOETV ESPN ESPN FS1 JOETV FS1 ESPN JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV FOX JOETV JOETV FOX JOETV JOETV ESPN JOETV FS1 ESPN FS1 JOETV JOETV JOETV FS1 JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV

RESULT L

1-2

4-0

0-1

0-3

0-1

2-2

3-1

0-1

0-0

2-1

0-1

0-2

2-1

1-2

1-1

2-3

2-1

0-0

1-1

MATCH DATES AND TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE. ALL TIME PACIFIC. MORE INFO AT SOUNDERSFC.COM/SCHEDULE. STREAM ALL MATCHES LIVE ON YOUTUBE TV 9

A: CHAD

TONY ALFARO

OSVALDO ALONSO

#15 | DEFENDER

A: CHAD

WAYLON FRANCIS #90 | DEFENDER

CALLE BROWN

#6 | MIDFIELDER

STEFAN FREI

#24 | GOALKEEPER

#25 | GOALKEEPER

A: CHAD

KIM KEE-HEE

KELVIN LEERDAM

VÍCTOR RODRÍGUEZ

CRISTIAN ROLDAN

#20 | DEFENDER

#18 | DEFENDER

A: CHAD

JORDAN MORRIS #13 | FORWARD

LAMAR NEAGLE #27 | FORWARD

#8 | MIDFIELDER

A: CHAD

NOUHOU

#5 | DEFENDER

ROMÁN TORRES #29 | DEFENDER

HENRY WINGO

#23 | MIDFIELDER

#7 | MIDFIELDER

Q: WHO IS THE FUNNIEST GUY ON THE TEAM?

A: CHAD

WILL BRUIN

#17 | FORWARD

HANDWALLA BWANA

JORDY DELEM

CLINT DEMPSEY

CHAD MARSHALL

JORDAN MCCRARY

BRYAN MEREDITH

#70 | MIDFIELDER

#21 | MIDFIELDER

#2 | FORWARD

A: CHAD

NICOLÁS LODEIRO #10 | MIDFIELDER

#14 | DEFENDER

#30 | DEFENDER

#35 | GOALKEEPER

A: CHAD

ALEX ROLDAN

#16 | MIDFIELDER

A: CHAD

RAÚL RUIDÍAZ #9 | FORWARD

TECHNICAL STAFF

HARRY SHIPP

GUSTAV SVENSSON

#19 | MIDFIELDER

#4 | MIDFIELDER

BRIAN SCHMETZER

DAMIAN RODEN

DJIMI TRAORE

RAVI RAMINENI

GENERAL MANAGER & PRESIDENT OF SOCCER

GONZALO PINEDA

JOHN HUTCHINSON

CHRIS HENDERSON

PREKI

WADE WEBBER

TOM DUTRA

MARC NICHOLLS

GARTH LAGERWEY

VP OF SOCCER & SPORTING DIRECTOR

HEAD COACH

ASSISTANT COACH ASSISTANT COACH ASSISTANT COACH

CLUB DIRECTOR OF GOALKEEPING

HIGH PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF SOCCER ANALY TICS S2 HEAD COACH

S2 ASSISTANT COACH DIRECTOR OF PL AYER DEVELOPMENT

BY RYAN

C I AC C Y N N A D & O O K R A SN

Raúl Ruidíaz almost quit soccer. The Seattle Sounders’ new Designated Player was 16 when he nearly walked away from the sport. He didn’t think he had a future in it. At only a diminutive 5-foot-7, he knew he was undersized for a prototypical target forward. His youth coach never gave him enough of a shot and told him he didn’t like the way he played. He was all but ready to explore being a doctor or another career outside of soccer, but decided to bet on himself instead. “I thought about leaving football and studying,” Ruidíaz said. “But thank God I came back playing.” Ruidíaz, who turns 28 on July 25, began his career with Lima’s Universitario in Peru’s first division in 2009, but he started out wide as a winger. It wasn’t until two years later when striker Johan Fano was out due to injury that Ruidíaz was thrust into the lineup as a No. 9. The club didn’t have another true forward, so Ruidíaz started in Fano’s stead and led Universitario to the Copa Sudamerica quarterfinals. “I had played as a 9 in my youth, so I said I could play as a 9,” Ruidíaz recalled. “I was the club’s leading goalscorer in Copa Sudamericana. And that’s how my career as a 9 started.”

MLS IS A LEAGUE THAT IS GROWING, AND I WANT TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW WITH THE LEAGUE AS WELL. RAÚL RUIDÍAZ

In Ruidíaz, the Sounders have a dynamic, versatile scoring threat. He’ll be able to make runs behind the back line, directly attack defenders, creatively combine with the midfielders and, despite his stature, he has a knack for placing headers, too. If there’s opportunity to score, “the Peruvian Messi" finds a way to make it happen. “You can see immediately that the variety of the shots and goals he took was really different [from one another],” Sounders General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey said. “That spoke to a very flexible striker and looked like a guy who didn’t need a lot of room to score goals…We wanted somebody who is just technically a very good finisher, a good striker of the ball, always has things on target.” Ruidíaz came to Seattle directly from Russia, where he participated with Peru in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the country’s first in 36 years. He took the field off the bench in a couple matches, but Peru were unable to advance past the group stage. In all, the Lima native has 31 caps for Peru, including four goals. While in Russia, Ruidíaz discussed Major League Soccer and what he should expect playing there with countryman Yoshimar Yotún, who joined Orlando City SC last summer and was recently named to the 2018 MLS All-Star Game. “We discussed the competitiveness of the league and how it’s growing,” Ruidíaz said. “Without a doubt, I decided to accept the offer that I was offered here.” Ruidíaz had heard of MLS and recognized its growth on a global scale. He played with Peru at CenturyLink Field in 2016 at Copa America and got a first glimpse at his future home. He knew now was the right time to make the move, one which both club and player are confident will be successful. “It’s a league that is growing and is very competitive,” Ruidíaz said, “and I want to have the opportunity to grow with the league as well.” Ruidíaz is as interesting off the pitch as he is talented on it. He is a massive Dragon Ball Z 15

fan and dyed his hair blond to look more like the main character, Goku, in front of his son. He has a neck tattoo that says “Never lose hope,” in English, no less. Ruidíaz also has a tattoo of his mother on his hand. He kisses it every time he scores, which has been in multitudes over the last few years. He’s been a revelation since joining Liga MX’s Morelia in 2016, recording an astounding 40 goals in just over 70 matches. He is a two-time Liga MX goalscoring champion and was named the 2016/17 Player of the Year and Forward of the Year. The Sounders made an eight-figure investment in their new No. 9, who is under contract until 2022, and are hoping his eyepopping goalscoring numbers continue in Seattle. He can score in a plethora of ways, and Seattle will be reliant on him to help jumpstart an offense that has struggled out of the gate in 2018. “Offensively, I think I can help out by seeking out the spaces and be able to find them,” Ruidíaz said. “I’m going to give 100 percent to be able to support the Sounders’ objectives.” The situation Ruidíaz is entering is not entirely dissimilar to the one that fellow Designated Player Nicolás Lodeiro walked into in summer 2016. The Sounders were bottom-dwellers of the Western Conference and lacked a special playmaker in the midfield. All Lodeiro did was score four goals and record eight assists in 13 regular-season matches before scoring four more in the postseason to lead the Sounders to their first MLS Cup title. To expect Ruidíaz to have the same instant impact is a lot of pressure, but a certain possibility given his track record and current form. He scored at least nine goals in each of the last four Liga MX seasons — each 17-match campaign is the same amount of games that the Sounders will have remaining after Ruidíaz becomes eligible when the transfer window opens on July 10 — and could be the difference between another end-of-season sprint to the playoffs or missing the postseason for the first time in the club’s first 10 MLS seasons.

torn ACL in February, the club’s position of need was evident. Will Bruin is a productive forward, particularly in the air, while 35-yearold Clint Dempsey makes more sense underneath the attack. Lagerwey believes Ruidíaz is the missing link in the offense, a lethal and elite finisher primed to thrive in front of players like Lodeiro, Dempsey, and Víctor Rodríguez. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the guy we wanted in the window immediately when Jordan was injured, but certainly we tried to address this as soon as we could,” Lagerwey added. “[Ruidíaz] is someone who could be with us for half a season — 17 games — and hopefully that is enough to drag us back in the playoffs.” Added Head Coach Brian Schmetzer: “This club has always been a winning club. Having players who have it within themselves to be winners, to help their teams be successful, to have the type of character to do the little things that it takes to help their club be successful, those are all the attributes that we want to have in our big players. “We’re always going to try and get the best players available and try to win games, try to win championships. That’s what we do in Seattle."

OFFENSIVELY, I THINK I CAN HELP OUT BY SEEKING OUT THE SPACES AND BE ABLE TO FIND THEM. RAÚL RUIDÍAZ

When Jordan Morris went down with a 17

SCARVES UP! LIKE, 30,000 FEET UP. OFFICIAL AIRLINE

ON JULY 19, 2017, THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS TRAILED D.C. UNITED 3-0 AT CENTURYLINK FIELD IN THE 50TH MINUTE. WHAT WOULD TRANSPIRE OVER THE NEXT 27 MINUTES HAD NEVER HAPPENED IN MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER’S 22-YEAR HISTORY. ONE YEAR LATER, RELIVE SEATTLE’S EPIC 4-3 COMEBACK THROUGH THE VOICES OF THOSE WHO LIVED IT. Lloyd sam scored in the 50th minute put the visitors up 3-0 on the evening and surely had wrapped up all three points. I remember thinking, this is not good. I think they only had three shots, and it was one of those games where they converted everything. We felt like we weren’t playing all the bad, but it seemed like their three only shots went in. At that point, you just kind of say, ‘Well, it’s not our day.’ I was excited because I got a chance to start the game. There were a couple other younger guys who were getting a chance to start, so everyone was amped up and ready to go. Then all of a sudden you give up three goals and the wind is let out of your sails, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, what just happened? What did we do?’ It was frustrating. We were at home. We were in a part of our season where we needed to get something going a little bit, and at home against D.C., they were somewhat struggling at the time and it seemed like that would maybe be a

good time to get not just three points, but a solid performance. The way we went down was tough. When you go down three, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s a s--- game for us.’ That’s the first thing that goes through your mind. You’re 3-nil down at home. I know the fans were whistling at halftime, they were unhappy. We were like, ‘How can we turn this around?’ Nobody expected it. It can happen at any time against any team, but it was a bit shocking and very frustrating. Me and Ozzie [Alonso] were up there [in the press box] cursing to the Heavens, but not really able to do anything.

Kelvin Leerdam, who began the match on the bench, had just signed from Vitesse in the Netherlands and was in his first Sounders match, one in which he didn’t even know if he could take part. I didn’t even know until four or five hours before the game that I was able to play. I was already happy that I got my paperwork done in time so I could be ready to suit up at least. As a defender, you’re hoping to start the game. I didn’t know, the club didn’t know [if I could play yet]. I was with [Head of Team Security and Player Relocation] Gene [Ramirez] in Vancouver

OH MY GOD, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHAT DID WE DO? – HARRY SHIPP

[British Columbia] that morning. I was already happy that I was available for the game, but the way the game was going was not a good way.

The Sounders entered the halftime locker room down 2-0 disappointed, but not in a panic. But the one good thing, and we had it a few times last year, is that no matter what the score was at halftime, it was always calm. There are going to be guys saying, ‘We need to do this, we need to do that,’ but under all that is a belief that you’re going to come back and at least get a point. We were saying that if we got one, we’d be back in it. But don’t give one up. A lot of time things don’t go according to plan, and we gave one up. I thought we were playing decent and then we go out in the second half and it felt like the first or second minute they score. Then you hang your head down. The first half we had played so poorly. We were down 2-0. We were upset with how we played, and for them to get another goal, we were like, ‘Oh my God.’ That was a wake-up call. Last year, a lot of times, we would give up a goal to wake up. We had to fix that. Luckily, it worked out for us and lit a fire.

Seattle would take less than a minute to bring one back when Will Bruin’s glancing header put the Sounders on the board in the 51st minute. We had that silent confidence that we knew we were capable of scoring. Sometimes it’s just breaking that ice, getting that first goal. I was able to put that first one in and we just started bombing numbers forward because at that point, what did we have to lose? Joevin [Jones] played a good ball in to Will right away. That made us forget about the goal we had just conceded out of halftime. It was huge and it was the type 22

of stuff that Will’s good at it, getting on the end of crosses, and that was something we felt we could attack them with going forward the rest of that game…The first goal was the biggest one. Once you’re within two goals, no matter how much time is left, you have a chance to get a point. I think we had the better of the game. They just scored the chances they had. Luckily, when Will scored we had a lot of time left. You know if you can get one little chance and you finish that one quickly after the goal from Will, you know you still have a chance to turn the game around. When Will scored, there was a sense of urgency, a sense of belief, like, ‘We’ve done it before, we can do it again.’

Eleven minutes later, the Sounders would pull within one when a Brad Evans diving header made the score 3-2 with just under half an hour remaining. You could feel the stadium shaking, getting louder. That just makes you want to play even harder and push further even more. Once you get the second goal, you’re at home, you feel the crowd’s energy and finally they’re having something to cheer about, at that point I think we knew we were at least getting a third. At that point, we bombed everybody forward. We felt like D.C. were on their heels and it was just a matter of time to score the third and the fourth.

The Sounders had already come back from a 3-0 deficit to earn a point at home against the New England Revolution in April, and felt like they could repeat that comeback. We came back in Montreal that year and came back against New England, so we definitely felt like we had a chance in the game. It was like a, ‘here we go again’ sort of thing. Those games can be emotionally draining. We knew that we had shown we could do it and we wanted to one-up it.

I think I got subbed on in the New England game when it was 3-1 maybe, so I was on the field for the last few goals of that. You have the energy of the crowd and once you get one goal anything can happen. That first one was key. One of our best attributes last year was not panicking both in the locker room and in the tunnel and on the field once we were down. Throughout the year, I believe you need to have hardship to recall down the stretch. It’s really good when you have some of those moments in the beginning where it was difficult, but you were able to find a way. Whether that means grinding out a result man down in hostile territory, or a comeback, or whatever it may be, those are important because as the season progresses and bodies get tired, there is absolutely no room for error…The squad you have during the season is the one that needs to make that experience to believe that together you can

climb out of those holes.

In the 74th minute, the Sounders found their equalizer when Gustav Svensson scored on a volley off a corner kick. Four minutes later, Cristian Roldan scored the go-ahead goal and game-winner. Lot of pressure at that point coming back from a 3-0 deficit to 3-3 and trying to score that go-ahead goal 1-v-1 with the ‘keeper. A lot of pressure. I megged him, but I think I had Joevin [Jones] open too. I don’t get those opportunities very much, so I felt like I needed to take advantage of it. Guys were like, ‘Let’s go for a fifth! Let’s keep going!’ When Gustav is scoring, you know everybody is contributing. I remember being relieved and excited. We had played so poorly at the beginning of that game, I think it was honestly a sense of

I HOPE IT NEVER HAPPENS WITH THE SOUNDERS AGAIN BECAUSE I HOPE WE'RE NEVER DOWN 3-0. – CRISTIAN ROLDAN

relief. You didn’t want a bad half of soccer to cost you three points, especially against a team that we went into the game believing that we were better than.

The Sounders became the first team in MLS history to win a game after being down 3-0. That was never done before in the league, so there were a lot of compliments going to our players and our team and to the fans who stayed until the end of the game. It’s something that doesn’t happen a lot, but when it happens, you see what it can do to our club and the team. After the game, we were unbeaten for a long time. I don’t know if it set us off, but it showed that everybody was on the same page to always go for the win and never give up. I didn’t know that until after. With how much parity there is in this league, you don’t see it that often. It’s pretty cool to be a part of that. I didn’t know that until after the game. I was actually kind of surprised. There are so many games over the course of one year, let along 22 years. You think it would have happened at some point. I hope it never happens with the Sounders again because I hope we’re never down 3-0. But if it comes to that point, it’d be great to come back and win a game 4-3. 26

The locker room after the match was one of mixed emotions. We were very happy, obviously, but on the other end of it, why were we down 3-0 at home? It was a little bittersweet, but it was like, ‘Let’s turn this around.’ Against New England we had to fight back, now D.C. we had to fight back — no more. You go through a season where we felt like we were a talented team and a very good team, and those are games you expect to win. It wasn’t necessarily like a playoff game or an MLS Cup where you’re celebrating this epic comeback. It was more like, ‘What did we do in that first half, and why did we play so much better in the second half?’ You start reflecting on the reasons why we were able to come back and win the game and how we can play like that for 90 minutes instead of 30 or 40. We were down 3-0 at some point at home, which never happens. [Head Coach Brian] Schmetzer drilled us a little bit. The attitude we had in the second half was fantastic. I think we went on a couple win streaks after, so it definitely helped our season going forward. It’s one of those moments where you look back and wish it didn’t happen, but you’re really glad that it worked out.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CHRIS HENDERSON? BY RYAN KRASNOO

CHRIS HENDERSON WOKE UP IN A HALLWAY AT A HOTEL IN GHANA. It was 2008, and the Seattle Sounders’ VP of Soccer and Sporting Director was on one of his first scouting trips ahead of the team’s inaugural Major League Soccer season the following year. He was traveling with owner and then-General Manager Adrian Hanauer. The two went out for dinner late into the evening, and Henderson got sick almost immediately. Around midnight, Henderson stepped out of his room to knock on Hanauer’s next door to tell him that he was probably going to faint, but he never made it that far. “I ate something bad and within an hour I was passed out in the middle of the hallway in the hotel,” Henderson said. Henderson walked to the lobby and the hotel employees tried to convince him to go to the hospital. He was adamantly against that proposition, and he kept trying to explain that he just needed to find Hanauer, who stayed with him that night to make sure he was OK. During that trip, the two were in Accra, the country’s capital of 1.5 million people on the southern coast by the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, looking for any and all possible targets. They went to a match played on a dirt field in the city’s heart. There were no stands. Fans piled six or seven people deep all the way around the field. There was a guard in full military gear with a six-foot pole, and if any of the fans got too close to the pitch, the guard would prod them back. If a player got injured, the fans would drag him off and a sub would run onto the field. “There were some tackles that I’ve never seen before in my life,” recalled Henderson. “Adrian and I are sitting there at midfield in two pull-out chairs, and it’s like 98 degrees. It was an amazing experience, and there were some good, talented players.”

Such is part of the life for Henderson, the 47-year-old Edmonds, Wash., native and arguably the best soccer player the state has ever produced. Henderson graduated from Everett’s Cascade High School and was the 1989 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. At just 19, he was the youngest player on the United States national team, where he earned 79 caps, and participated in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He spent two years at UCLA, where he led the Bruins to the national title his sophomore season, before turning pro and plying his trade for Germany’s FSV Frankfurt and Norway’s Stabæk. He began his MLS career with the Colorado Rapids in 1996 in the league’s inaugural year and would retire in 2006 as MLS’ all-time leader in games played. As Sporting Director, Henderson assists the General Manager in all areas of soccer operations, including scouting, player management, coaching decisions and the club’s youth system. Hired in 2008 after one season as an assistant coach for the Kansas City Wizards, Henderson’s travels as a player and scout have taken him to over 150 countries.

I ENJOY THAT, TRYING TO ABSORB SOMETHING TO SAY, ‘WHAT CAN I BRING BACK TO THE SOUNDERS? WHAT ARE THEY DOING THAT’S DIFFERENT?’ CHRIS HENDERSON 31

There are nuances abound that Henderson has learned to expect and cope with throughout the years. Henderson usually travels alone and must deal with the constant adjustment of schedules with little to no warning and be malleable enough to make decisions on the fly. He’s been on trips where the league changes the night of the match, or the agent he’s working with failed to acquire the tickets to the game he said he would. “Whenever I go to a stadium, I email the club and I say, ‘Hey, can I get a scouting ticket?’” said Henderson. “There are so many times you go there and the agent says they’re going to take care of everything, you show up and they don’t have tickets for the agent. What are you going to do? You’re at the stadium and maybe the game’s sold out. I’ll say, ‘See you guys, I’m going in.’” In certain areas of Argentina and Brazil, Henderson often rides with agents in bulletproof cars. He reminds his scouts

to be mindful of everything. Even minute details like not wearing the opposing team’s colors by mistake have to be taken into consideration. “If you’re going to see Boca [Juniors] vs. River [Plate],” he said, “you’re not going to walk into Boca’s Stadium, La Bombonera, wearing a red shirt.” Not every part of Henderson’s travels is stressful, though. It’s taken him to some of the world’s most beautiful and interesting locales, some he never would have had the chance to experience otherwise. His favorite place he’s been to in his decadeplus of traveling is the Toulon tournament, a youth competition on the southern coast of France. “I like going to a new place that I haven’t been before,” said Henderson. “You meet new people, you try new foods, see new cultures, you go to clubs, you go to stadiums. Everything is new. I enjoy that,

trying to absorb something to say, ‘What can I bring back to the Sounders? What are they doing that’s different?’ It could be in youth development, it could be in facilities, could be First Team training. There’s always something small that I try and bring back and tell our scouts, tell our coaches that I picked up.” Henderson usually spends about four-and-ahalf months a year on the road. His schedule is heavy from January to early May and then again from late August through early October. Where he goes is largely dependent on where they are in the transfer window and the specific targets the club is after. When he’s in a given place, Henderson tries to plan so he can get two weekends out of it, and he’ll take in five or six total matches. He’ll watch some on the first weekend he arrives. During the week he has meetings and watches trainings and meets with players, clubs or agents. Then he’ll watch several more the following weekend before either returning to Seattle or venturing off to another location. The Sounders have an ongoing depth chart at every position of players the club is following. Every transfer window, new players are added to the list because they’re either coming out of contract, or for some reason or another they’re available. When approaching a new transfer window,

Henderson & Co. want to narrow down targets and aim to see every player live and meet with them in person. In 2008, on the same trip that Henderson and Hanauer took to Ghana, they also went to Colombia where they had been following Deportivo Cali’s Fredy Montero. While Henderson and Hanauer were watching film of Montero every week, he kept scoring. The more interest the Sounders had in him, it seemed, the more incredible goals he continued to score. “[Montero] had a bicycle kick, a diving header, a bent ball in the upper corner,” said Henderson. “I’m like, ‘OK, stop scoring please.’ His value is going up.” Things like a player’s market value can fluctuate drastically, even on a week-toweek basis. If a player starts to rack up goals, or a player who hasn’t been playing much suddenly becomes a routine starter, his value increases and he becomes much more expensive. “When we went to see Fredy play, we met with him,” Henderson said. “You see him on the field and then you actually meet with him and you realize that this is a kid. It’s completely different than in the stadium. He’s asking questions that a 20-year-old would ask that are different than someone like [former Sounders goalkeeper] Michael Gspurning,

THE HISTORY OF SOCCER HERE, THE FANS, THE ATTENDANCE AT EVERY GAME, THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE STADIUM, THE TRAINING FACILITY — ALL THOSE LITTLE THINGS SELL THE CLUB. CHRIS HENDERSON 34

whose been at all these big clubs.” What wasn’t lost on Henderson was how difficult or tricky it would be to convince a young foreign player to play for a newly created team in a league that was just over a decade old. Nowadays, Henderson explained, where MLS is with the amount of teams and the ownership groups, it’s far easier to lure players to MLS than it ever was 10 years ago. “It’s important to see the motivation of the player,” Henderson said. “You start to talk to him about it. Does he watch games in MLS? Does he know players on your team? You start to dig in a little bit. You can usually get a feeling if he’s just coming for the money or he really has interest in coming.” In addition to persuading a player that MLS is the best place for him to continue his career, Henderson then has to sell the Seattle Sounders. “The history of soccer here, the fans, the

attendance at every game, the atmosphere at the stadium, the training facility — all the little details, how we treat our players,” said Henderson. “All those little things sell the club and they realize, ‘Wow, this is as professional as any club in the world. And I know if I go there I’m going to have a chance to win something, improve, have a great experience and be connected with the people in the community.’” One distinct advantage that MLS has over some of its foreign counterparts is that so many players, particularly those who grew up in places with less-than-ideal living conditions, want to live in the United States. It’s a massive selling point, one that will only continue to grow as the league does. “Many people around the world come and vacation in the U.S., they see it, they get a glimpse,” Henderson said. “The players get paid on time. You hear stories around the world of problems that players have and they don’t have those kinds of problems here. When they see that they can continue with 35

IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THE MOTIVATION OF THE PLAYER… DOES HE WATCH GAMES IN MLS? DOES HE KNOW PLAYERS ON YOUR TEAM? YOU START TO DIG IN A LITTLE BIT. CHRIS HENDERSON their national team when they’re playing here and all those details that we bring into the club and the players, and they see how our league is growing and top players are starting to come, that is a big draw. “Sometimes it’s about selling Seattle,” he added. “A player will name the five places they visited: New York or Miami or L.A., and it’s about saying, ‘Seattle is a beautiful place and we love the game here.’” The technical staff’s latest acquisition is one of the club’s biggest yet, as the Sounders signed Peruvian international forward Raúl Ruidíaz to a Designated Player contract on June 29. Seattle had Ruídiaz on its radar for three or four transfer windows, but its interest grew rapidly in the last six months after Jordan Morris went down for the year with a torn ACL. “Many times you’re spending months and months of work on certain players and you always have to be pliable, adjustable, change on a moment, even if you have your list of guys who you follow,” Henderson said. The Sounders’ scouting operation looks entirely different in 2018 than it did even three or four years ago, let alone when Henderson started in 2008. There were only two or three total people scouting, Henderson included, but that number has blossomed into five scouts worldwide in addition to numerous other contacts, who Henderson interacts with for opinions and

information on certain players. “I think about my first seven, eight years, it was a pretty thin operation,” Henderson said. “Most of it before was just relationships: people I met through playing and coaching in this job who you trust and rely on, and you’re using those contacts.” Henderson has been one of MLS’ most successful and revered Sporting Directors in the past 10-plus years. Under his watch, the Sounders have won an MLS Cup, a Supporters’ Shield and four U.S. Open Cup titles. They’ve made the playoffs in each of the club’s first nine years in MLS. He played a massive role in signing Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Djimi Traore and Montero, who won the 2009 MLS Newcomer of the Year. Success in scouting is so often because of networking and being savvy enough to manage and leverage those connections, and it’s something at which Henderson continues to excel. “You look at players we have at our club by timing and chance: [Andreas] Ivanschitz, Gonzalo Pineda, Mauro Rosales,” he said. “Those were all about relationships. Those were about people calling us first because of our relationship and saying, ‘Hey, Chris, bring this guy in and take a look at him.’ Those players had enough confidence in their ability to come in and train for a couple days and when it’s a good player, you know in one session if he might be a fit.” 37

NICOLÁS LODEIRO IS THE ENGINE IN THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS MACHINE. THE URUGUAYAN DESIGNATED PLAYER PULLS THE STRINGS IN ATTACK AND HAS PLAYED A LARGE PART IN THE CLUB REACHING BACK-TO-BACK MLS CUPS. 38

01. MY NAME IS

02. MY NICKNAME IS

03. MY SECRET TALENT IS

04. STEFAN FREI MAKES ME L AUGH WHEN

05. JORDAN AND CRISTIAN REALLY NEED TO

06. MY FAVORITE MLS STADIUM IS

07. MY LEAST FAVORITE FOOD IS

08. MY FAVORITE PART OF TRAINING IS

09. MY GREATEST MOMENT AS A SOUNDER IS

10. MY FAVORITE ATHLETE AS A KID WAS

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