Champions League: Chelsea wins it on PKs. And don’t forget — the Sounders would want me to tell you — they’ll be at CenturyLink Field on July 18.

Champions League: Drogba header equalizes for Chelsea in 89th minute. Headed to added time at 1-1.

Lineups: Sounders have tweeted this: GK Meredith, RB Johansson, CB Parke, CB Hurtado, LB Burch, RM Rosales, CM Alonso, CM Caskey, LM Fernandez, F Montero, F Johnson. … Reserves: Weber, Cato, Estrada, Levesque, Ochoa, Rose, Scott.

Whitecaps have tweeted: Cannon; Lee, Bonjour, DeMerit, Rochat; Koffie, Davidson, Chiumiento; Le Toux, Mattocks, Salgado. … Reserves: Knighton, Barbara, Camilo, Harvey, Hassli, Thorrington, Watson.

Champions League halftime: Bayern-Chelsea scoreless.

Saturday morning: BC Place was thoughtful enough to open the gates early enough for fans to make this one a double-header. They are watching the Champions League final on the big (really big) screens hanging above the pitch before settling in for the (local) main event: Sounders FC at Vancouver Whitecaps at 2 p.m.

And while that worked out well for the fans, it poses a problem for Sounders coach Sigi Schmid — who is naturally not only a fan of soccer, but of German soccer.

“We can’t really see it, so I’m trying to record it, and I’m debating whether I want nobody to tell me the score,” he said yesterday. “But the chances of being able to get all the way back to Seattle and not know the score are probably impossible. I noticed there was a TV in the coaches room, so maybe we’ll see part of it.”

It’s a beautiful day in Vancouver, and the roof of BC Place is open. However, the upper deck is not opened — as it will be for the Whitecaps return visit to CenturyLink on Aug. 18.

We’ll also keep this blog post open at least to gametime, Read more »

Gameday has arrived. Double game day really. First UEFA Champions League final at 11:45; then Cascadia Cup opener at 2 p.m.

Here is the TNT game story on the Sounders-Vancouver meeting, and some basics below:

SOUNDERS FC (7-2-1; 22 POINTS)
AT VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (5-3-2, 17 POINTS)
2 p.m., BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, B.C.
TV: KONG 6/16. RADIO: 97.3 FM.
CLUB LEADERS: For Seattle: G 4, David Estrada; A 2, Alex Caskey and Alvaro Fernandez; S 48, Fredy Montero; SOG 16, Fredy Montero; GAA 0.29, Bryan Meredith. For Vancouver: G 3, Sebastien Le Toux; A 3, Davide Chiumiento; S 21, Eric Hassli; SOG 8, Camilo. GAA 1.16; Joe Cannon.
HEAD TO HEAD: In MLS competition, the Sounders leads 1-0-1, and 1-0 in Vancouver. The Whitecaps visit Seattle on Aug. 18, and the Sounders will return to Vancouver on Sept. 29.
NOTES: This is the first match of the 2012 Cascadia Cup, Read more »

The Sounders have concluded their training session at BC Place Stadium, site of tomorrow’s game against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

This was the Sounders first time in the renovated stadium — last season the derby was played at temporary Empire Field. So we asked some of the players what they thought. The top two items were the overhead scoreboard and the tuft — though not for the reason you might imagine.

ROGER LEVESQUE
On the stadium) They told me not to kick the ball too hard against the scoreboard, otherwise it might come down. It’s beautiful what they’ve done with the place. I’m looking forward to seeing it full tomorrow.

On the turf) The turf’s great. The little rubber pellets are brown rather than black, so it’s a little bit almost like you’re playing on real grass. They really thought that one through up here in Vancouver, Canada. We’re a little bit behind on that.

On the rivalry) It obviously goes back longer than I’ve been around. … It’s been great to be a part of it through the USL days and into MLS. I think it’s just going to gain traction as the two teams play each other more. I know we’ve got a big group of Emerald City Supporters coming up … taking busses. There should be a lot of green fans along with the blue and white. I’m looking forward to seeing that energy and feeling this place rocking.

JEFF PARKE
On the stadium) It’s kind of weird. It’s a bit enclosed. It seems like everywhere we could hit something. When you look up you feel like if you clear a ball you could hit the top of the net there, or the big screen – but I hear they bring that up so it’s not in play, even though we’ve been punting balls up there.

On the turf) It’s weird. It’s a little bit different. I notice they’ve got brown with the specs, so they tried to make it look like there’s dirt in there. It’s a little bit stiffer. It doesn’t play as rubbery as ours does, but it’s not bad. I hear when they wet it, it’s a good surface to play on.

Coach SIGI SCHMID
On the stadium It’s nice. You’ve got a controlled climate. The elements Read more »

Sounders U23 @ Kitsap Pumas    at Bremerton HS – 7pm kickoff

SoundersU23.com – On Saturday, May 19 the Sounders U-23 will complete a massive soccer day with the Narrows Bridge Rivalry against the Kitsap Pumas. The day includes the UEFA Champions League Final at noon, the Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps at 2pm, and then the Sounders FC U-23 and Pumas match up at 7pm.

The Sounders FC U-23 enter the weekend with four points after a win and tie last weekend in Canada. The Sounders U-23 beat the Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 with goals from Darwin Jones and Fernando …

Read more »

Tukwila, WA. – The Seattle Sounders FC U-23 and Sounders Women have partnered a historic soccer event on May 30 at Cheney Stadium. The Sounders Women will be at the men’s Sounders FC U-23 match to sign autographs and meet South Sound soccer fans.

FULL DETAILS here

SoundersU23.com – Here’s a news release from the club:

The Sounders FC U-23 have announced a partnership with Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza for their official post game destination. Following each Sounders U-23 home match, the team and staff invite fans and friends to join them at the closest Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza location for food and drinks.

Farrelli’s Director of Marketing & Communications, Clayton Krueger said, “We are really excited about this partnership for a few reasons. First of all, the Sounders are a tremendous local organization. We have been season

…

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The Sounders have concluded the local portion of this week’s training. No major news out of the session today at Starfire. (Although coach Sigi Schmid added Leo Gonzalez to the list of Sounders who will miss the Whitecaps game due to injury — along with Brad Evans, Patrick Ianni and Michael Gspurning.)

Tomorrow, the club will bus up to Vancouver in the morning, and train at BC Place Stadium in the afternoon, in advance of their 2 p.m. Saturday match against the Whitecaps.

We asked Schmid how a three-hour bus trip to Vancouver compares with an hour at the …

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Jaw-dropping goal from last night.

Sounders FC, of course, gets another look at the Eric Hassli show Saturday afternoon in Vancouver.