SEATTLE – On Sunday night, the LA Galaxy know that to qualify for the MLS Cup Final, they must not only get through a hyper-motivated Seattle Sounders FC side and silence the raucous CenturyLink Field crowd, but also battle through the Seattle rain.
When the Galaxy arrived in the Pacific Northwest on Saturday afternoon, the weather was prototypical Seattle fare with a cold wind and steady rain. By the time kick off rolls around on Sunday evening, the forecast calls for much of the same with rain and temperatures in the low-50s expected.
“It’s exactly what we expected; you know what you’re getting up here,” said Todd Dunivant on Saturday after the team landed in Seattle. “I don’t think it favors one team or another, but it is what it is.”
How players react to the cold and wet weather remains to be seen, but even the Galaxy players from warm climes admit that they were ready for the frigid temps.
“We knew that it’d be cold and there would be wind,” said midfielder Marcelo Sarvas. “It’s actually good weather to play soccer, it’s not the best for me,” but it is good weather. It’s not hot, it’s comfortable.”
While the cold may not be ideal for the midfielder from Brazil, Englishman David Beckham is excited about the prospect of playing in the wet weather.
“I love it, I love playing in the rain. I hope it is cold, I hope it’s wet and it’ll be a nice night hopefully,” said Beckham on Friday. “It’s a lot easier playing in rain then it is running around in the heat. I’m sure it will [rain], the forecast calls is rain so we’ll see.
Beckham isn’t alone in his excitement as forward Robbie Keane believes that the wet field could serve the Galaxy well.
“If it’s raining, that’s something that I’m used to,” said forward Robbie Keane. “It won’t really affect me, but I like playing when it’s raining because the pitch is a lot faster and moves the ball a lot quicker and the way that we play, I think that could suit us because we like to get the ball down and play quick, so that could only help us. Of course, they’ll have an advantage because they’re used to playing on that pitch on a regular basis, but for us, that’s the way we play—quick and fast—so I think it could help us."
