Third game in eight days will test Sounders FC's stamina

Sounders FC's first meeting with the Chicago Fire on May 2 was one of the team's more memorable matches of the season.

Memorable as much for the result on the road as it was for the character it helped build.

Seattle lost Fredy Montero to a red card for what the official deemed a high elbow to Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares' head. Sounders FC had to play almost all of the second half with 10 players, and trailed 1-0 in the 74th minute at Bridgeview, Ill.

That's when Sounders FC defender Tyrone Marshall headed in a free kick from Freddie Ljungberg for Seattle's first goal off a set piece this season. Seattle hung on to force a 1-1 draw.

The Fire was in second place in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference then. Now the Fire is in first, and has the advantage of not having played during the middle of the week as Seattle did on Tuesday. Chicago (7-3-7) will be without leading scorer Brian McBride on Saturday at Qwest Field because of a right shoulder injury, but Sounders FC played a grueling match with Houston in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals after an emotional friendly with Chelsea last Saturday and its fitness will be tested.

"It's just something that comes with the territory, playing a Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday," defender James Riley said. "It's a testament to our character. It's more mental."

Riley is one of the more fit Sounders FC players and learned a lot from Steve Ralston, a former MLS veteran, who showed him how to take care of his body and get proper nutrition. He feels Seattle has one of the fittest teams in the league.

"We have a lot of fit guys," Riley said. "We're definitely up there, and that's a testament to the coaching staff."

Another Sounders FC player who draws much of his advantage with his legs is midfielder Steve Zakuani, a speedster who played a shorter season in college last year than what he will face in MLS this season.

Zakuani wants to play and isn't always happy when he has to come off the bench or be substituted for in a game, but realizes that playing 60 minutes per game in three games is better in the long run than 90 minutes in two and sitting out the third.

"You get to a point where there's physical fitness and there's mental fitness," coach Sigi Schmid said. "It's that time of the season where it's hot and the weather's warm and so mentally you start to get a little fatigued ... We've got to find the balance."

As for strategy against the Fire, Schmid felt his team was fortunate to get a draw after not playing well at Chicago, and he wasn't very happy with his team's defensive effort against Fire All-Star midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the last meeting. Blanco assisted on Chicago's goal in May.

"We've got to do a much better job of limiting what he can do," Schmid said. "He's going to get the ball, he's going to see the ball. He doesn't really defend. He floats to a lot of different spaces. It's just a matter of us making sure that we get tighter to him quicker."

During practice this week, a few Sounders FC players reminded the rest of how the team struggled on the road against the Fire. But getting a draw also built some character, that the team showed the ability to overcome adversity to walk away with something.

"Sometimes you're going to have some of those games," Schmid said. "But when you have that game and still come out with a point, it's a good thing ... those things are important for the building of the team mentality."

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