TUKWILA, Wash. – Coming off a 90-minute performance for the US national team, Clint Dempsey is expected to be able to play for the Seattle Sounders in Saturday’s match against the Portland Timbers (3 pm ET, NBCSN).
How much he’ll be able to play and who else will be available to the Sounders, though, is still unknown.
“We’ll see how he feels,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said following Thursday’s training session, which came before Dempsey had rejoined the team.
The news was not as good for Brad Evans, who hasn’t played since leaving early from the match against Toronto on March 15. Evans received a kick to the calf muscle, and the bruising has limited his availability. He left Thursday’s session early, along with Osvaldo Alonso.
“We slowed down with Brad,” Schmid said. “We’re bringing him along slowly. Brad’s chances of playing are very small.”
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The decision to limit Alonso’s training was more precautionary, Schmid said, chalking it up to wanting to rest his defensive midfielder after he “put in a lot of mileage” against the Columbus Crew.
It also appears that Leo Gonzalez, who has come off the bench in each of the past two games, is nearing 100-percent fitness. Gonzalez was able to play a full 90 minutes in Sunday’s scrimmage against the University of Portland.
