Sounders FC players get first taste of Qwest turf

The next phase of Sounders FC training camp started Wednesday.

Phase One was a lot of roster turnover, giving a number of players a trial and playing a week of exhibition games in California. Phase Two includes getting a feel for the FieldTurf at Qwest Field, playing exhibition games in Argentina starting next week and setting the final roster.

Wednesday was mostly about getting some work in on the emerald-green pitch at the home of the expansion Sounders FC, the first practice the team has held there. The team will practice again today at Qwest Field and presumably after it returns from Argentina, plus there are two exhibition games scheduled for the stadium, one Sunday and the other in March.

"The field and surface was good," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. "It looks nice with only soccer lines on it. I know [Seahawks coach] Jim Mora might not be happy about that for right now, but we will get the football lines back on there for him."

Schmid said it's important that the team practice or play on the field a few times before the Major League Soccer regular season starts March 19. Sounders FC opens at home against the New York Red Bulls.

"We want to make sure when we step out here for our first game, it's our sixth or seventh or eighth time out here," Schmid said, "so that we're a lot more familiar with [the field] than New York is. We want them [players] to be familiar with directions of the field, how it feels when you're standing wide when nobody else is out there, what the spatial, visual cues are that you see on the field."

Forward Nate Jaqua called Qwest's FieldTurf "the best [artificial] turf I've ever played on."

"It's not bad. It takes a little getting used to," Jaqua said. "And an unbelievable stadium."

The starting lineup is coming together. Forwards Jaqua and Fredy Montero, midfielders Brad Evans and Sebastien Le Toux, defender James Riley and goalkeeper Kasey Keller are virtual locks. Steve Zakuani and Sanna Nyassi are vying to be the other starting outside halfback, and Osvaldo Alonso is manning the other center-midfield spot at present with veterans Peter Vagenas and Freddie Ljungberg out with injuries. Taylor Graham, Nathan Sturgis, Patrick Ianni, Tyrone Marshall and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, a Colombian national who signed Wednesday, appear to be the top contenders for the three other defensive starting spots.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com