The Seattle Sounders have lost five straight league matches and have won just two of their last 11 MLS games in a woeful stretch dating back to the start of June – but it looks like they can finally call on a key star in attack when Orlando City SC visit CenturyLink Field on Sunday afternoon (5 pm ET, ESPN2).
Sidelined by injury during the Rave Green's midsummer swoon, Obafemi Martins is expected to return to action against Kaka's Lions. And it's not a moment too soon, with his usual strike partner Clint Dempsey battling a hamstring problem that looks likely to keep him on the sidelines this weekend.
“Oba has trained all week, so it's good,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told reporters on Friday. “Clint hasn't trained.”
Martins suffered an adductor injury in Seattle's US Open Cup loss to the Portland Timbers on June 17 and an initial recovery estimate of three to six weeks has stretched to two months. Schmid reiterated his readiness to throw his Nigerian striker back into the fray against Orlando in remarks to the Tacoma News Tribune at Saturday morning's training session.
“He’s gone through training OK,” Schmid said of Martins. “So our expectation is that he’ll be involved in the game tomorrow.”
The Sounders could also hand debuts to all three of their newest arrivals, striker Nelson Valdez, midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz and defender Roman Torres.
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“Having this whole week of training has helped,” Schmid said on Friday. “Guys adjusting timezones and such has been good. We're happy with all that.
“They're trained and we'll see on Sunday.”
