Sounders FC

RENTON — For Michael Seamon, Thursday was judgment day.

Two months ago, the Sounders FC midfielder had received a challenge. Coach Sigi Schmid sternly told him that he had to decide how serious he was about being a professional soccer player, and the level of his commitment would be determined in a preseason fitness test — a measure of endurance often referred to as the "beep test."

Consider the message received.

"I really wanted to work," said Seamon, Seattle's second-round draft pick in 2010. "I'm fighting for a job here because nothing's safe right now with the way my contract stands, so I need to push to have a spot on this team. That was basically all the motivation I needed."

He started eating healthier and committed himself in workouts. Two months later, it showed. About 10 pounds lighter than last year, Seamon finished an impressive third in the beep test Thursday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Schmid noticed.

"He's lost weight, his body fat is way down — he came in fitter than he's ever been," the coach said. "So from that standpoint, he's made real strides, and I think his soccer follows."

For Seamon, it certainly helped that a cloudy injury situation — one that cost him most of last season — became clearer. First, he had nerve damage and subsequently lost feeling in his right leg. As a result, he started running differently and partially tore a tendon in his foot.

Seamon tried to play through it, and all the while a diagnosis was difficult to come by.

Doctors "checked me for every single possible thing," the 23-year-old said. "I had MRIs and blood tests and everything, and they could not figure out what was wrong with me."

Eventually, the cause of the injuries was determined and Seamon recovered quickly. Medication helped with the nerves, and a special insole in his shoe helped with the tendon.

During jogs in the offseason, Seamon could tell he was 100 percent better, which he proved to his team and coach on Thursday.

"Now that I'm fully healed, I feel like a different person," he said.

Zakuani eyeing summer return

Sounders FC midfielder Steve Zakuani told ExtraTime Radio, a podcast on the league website, that he's confident he'll return this season. The 23-year-old suffered a broken leg nine months ago and is still recovering from nerve damage.

"March might be a bit too soon," Zakuani said. "But if you're talking late May, early June, do I think I'll be able to play? I think I'll be very close, if not ready, by that time, just because of the way (the recovery has) gone. ... I think I'm aiming for like the summer, sometime in the summer, and we'll see how that goes."

Notes

• Third-year midfielder David Estrada finished first in the beep test with a team-record time of 11:46. Rookie Andy Rose, a former roommate of Estrada's at UCLA, placed second. Five players on Thursday beat the team's previous record time of 10:50.

The beep test involves running back and forth 20 meters at a time for as long as possible. The runner must reach an endpoint by the sound of a beep that plays on an audiotape and gradually increases in frequency. If successful, another stage is added.

• Tickets for Sounders FC's March 7 home leg of a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against Mexico's Santos Laguna go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday.

• The first round of cuts could be coming soon. The team leaves Monday for Arizona, and Schmid said it was unlikely that everyone would make the trip.

Joshua Mayers: 206-464-3184 or jmayers@seattletimes.com.

On Twitter @joshuamayers