Sounders FC midfielder Sanna Nyassi, a native Gambian, scored two second-half goals as the Sounders fielded new line-ups and went on to beat defending champions Shandong Luneng of the Chinese Super League 2-0 in a training match at Oxnard, CA. The match result was updated live via the Sounders Insider Blog on SoundersFC.com
Nyassi is the buzz name of the early days of training games for Seattle. On Monday he scored and goal and notched an assist as Seattle beat LA Galaxy.
The first goal was scored when Stephen King, the only holdover from the first half, sent a ball over the top to Sanna Nyassi on the right side and Nyassi chipped it over the Shandong keeper in the 56th minute.
The second goal was scored when Sebastien Le Toux launched the ball over the offside trap to the speedy Nyassi, who found himself 1one on one with the keeper. Nyassi drew the keeper out of the box and went around him, leaving nothing between him and the goal but open turf. He dribbled to point-blank range and hammered it in for the 2-0 lead. Nyassi now has three goals and an assist in the first two exhibition games.
On his Tuesday lineup, head coach Sigi Schmid said “It was important for us to see how different guys reacted. We had a chance to be able to use some guys in different positions like Evan Brown at left back, and see what he could do there. And we had Sebastien (Le Toux) up front again to see what he could do there. It was good.”Schmid on Sanna Nyassi’s performance: “He obviously has good speed. If a team is going to play an offside trap, then a player like him or if we had played a player like Steve Zakuani, are going to tear a team like that apart. So that’s what Sanna did. He finishes goals well. The first one he finished very well by chipping it over him. The timing of his run was very good. Roger (Levesque) made a very unselfish run to open up that space for him. He was very effective. He’s a dangerous player. He’s the kind of player that is the kind of guy that can impact the game by coming off the bench, or being in the starting lineup.”
Schmid on different combinations making roster decisions difficult: “Things are always difficult. That’s what they’re supposed to do. Supposed to make my job as difficult as possible. If they’re not doing that then they’re not doing a good job. But actually it’s also pretty easy. I think some decisions have become pretty clear. At this stage, things are in our minds getting to pretty much a sharp final point.”
Reports and quotes provided by Sounders FC.
Photo credit: Rick Morrison
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It would be nice to hear about areas of needed improvement. From reading summaries of all the preseason games you'd think Sounders were almost perfect. Also, it'd be nice to hear a little bit about the opposition, perhaps a brief overview.
ReplyDeleteSince we are relying on the Sounders for much of this information, good luck with those requests. Visit the forums where more of that is happening. I'll talk about our roster and other teams more when I have actually had a chance to see matches. :)
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