CARSON, Calif. – Marcelo Sarvas has been in this situation in a two-leg aggregate series before, albeit from the opposite side.
In the 2010 Campeonato de Verano, Sarvas’ Alajuelense dropped the first leg of their Semifinal Round series with Herediano 4-2 on the road, heading into the second leg at Alajuela’s Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto. In the second leg, Sarvas’ rojinegros jumped on Herediano from the start, scoring four goals to advance to the final—a series that Alajuelense would win handily.
That situation in the back of his mind, Sarvas believes that he knows what Seattle will be feeling once the first whistle is sounded on Sunday evening.
“In that situation, it’s much more about emotion. You go inside the field and say, ‘we have to beat them because after 90 minutes we’ll be out,’” said Sarvas. “People around you help a lot so you have to push yourself. For sure, [Seattle]’ll come hard, they will press us and the people in the stadium will push them for 90 minutes so we have to be ready for that.”
The Galaxy will need Sarvas to be ready as he may be pressed into action due to the question marks surrounding Juninho. The Brazilian midfielder is currently suffering from right Achilles inflammation that forced him to exit LA’s 3-0 first leg victory over Seattle after the first half.
“We are waiting till the last moment to see what happens. I hope Juni can feel better and can be ready to be on the pitch and Bruce [Arena] can decide what formation and what players we will play,” said Sarvas. “I hope that we will have everybody healthy, but if I have to play, I will play and I will do my job as I’ve been doing every game.”
But no matter the situation that he’s pressed into, Sarvas is expecting a knock-down drag-out match on the turf at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.
“My mentality is to go there and fight,” said Sarvas. “For me, it’s like a war and I go there to win and to fight for 90 minutes, but it will be a hard game. At the same time, we have players here who can manage this very well.”
