Here’s our game story from the Sunday paper.

Here’s a story from Vancouver writer Jim Jamieson in the Provence, who was clearly impressed with Seattle’s soccer potential.

And here’s our running blog from last night:

The crowd was announced at 47,052. Most of them have to be going away satisfied. Brazil got the win. Canada had to have been encouraged. And this was an open game with lots of individual flair. The beautiful game, indeed.

I will say this: from what I saw of Mexico here in April, from what I saw from Canada

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The first wave of Sounders FC merchandise is now available online.

I’ve also been told that some or all of these items will be available at the Qwest Field fan shop in time for tonight’s Brazil-Canada match.

As of now, it does not appear that the recently unveiled green jersey is available. And the only jersey-styled T-shirt is blue, which may or may not say something about the next kit to be revealed. But I hope not. While the Sounders’ green is a very distinct green, their blue is a pretty basic right-out-of-the-crayon-box bland blue.

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Brazil and Canada each got some training time Friday on the real grass field brought into Qwest Field for their friendly at 7:30 tonight.

Advance ticket sales are reported up to around 43,000, meaning there should be good tickets available for anyone wanting to walk up.

Here’s my story from the Saturday paper, and here are some good notes on the match from the Sounders FC Web site.

And here’s a bit of what we heard in some of the interviews leading up to the match.

Canada midfielder Dwayne De Rosario on playing Brazil:
…

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One last reminder that the Tacoma Tide has moved its game against Spokane to 2:05 p.m. Saturday at Curtis High School.

The previously scheduled evening kickoff was scrapped to allow fans to avoid a conflict with the Brazil-Canada friendly at Qwest Field, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

FC Barcelona’s MLS-organized tours of the U.S. will begin this summer with games in Chicago and New York.

Sounders FC has informed MLS that it would like Barcelona brought to Seattle at some point during the five-year partnership, but if that happens, it will be further down the line.



Here’s is the announced schedule for the Spanish club that has 18 La Liga trophies, a record-setting 24 Copa del Rey championships and two UEFA Champions League titles:

Sunday, Aug. 3 vs. Chivas de Guadalajara of Mexico at Chicago’s Soldier Field (4 p.m. PT).

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The Brazilian National Team arrived today in Seattle to begin preparations for their Saturday night match against Canada at Qwest Field. The Canadian team arrived at the start of the week.

About 37,000 seats have been sold, maning there are lots of good ones left. (Ticket information is available at www.soundersfc.com. Perhaps there will be a big walk-up Saturday with fans driving down from Canada.

There will be some media events Friday, and I’ll post here again after those.

After the game, Brazil moves on to Foxboro, Mass., where they will meet Venezuela on Friday, June

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With all of our talk about the Sounders FC jersey and jersey sponsor, I don’t think we’ve discussed this, an artists conception of the home pitch, with 40,000 seats covered, in effect, with a billboard. However, in fairness, a pretty cool-looking billboard.

I’ve been to a few of the soccer-specific stadiums — Columbus, Dallas and L.A. — and I love them. However, I also think that Qwest can be a very good MLS home, and I think the idea of covering the seats is a good one.

And probably better than the New England Revolution’s NFL-styled home,

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Washington Youth Soccer stages its men’s and women’s under-19 State Cup tournament all in one shot this weekend at Washington Premier Football Club’s fields on River Road between Tacoma and Puyallup.

Matches kick off at 6 and 8 p.m. Friday and at 10 a.m., noon, 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday. The semifinals are at noon and 2 p.m. Sunday, with the finals set for 6:30 p.m. Monday.

These are best teams in the state at the highest age group in youth soccer. Winners will represent Washington at the Region IV tournament next month in Hawaii, with the

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