The Andrew Thomas rise in Seattle feels almost superhero-level

The Sounders dominated possession, and had the best chances to score, but they lacked the finishing quality that would have ended the game in regulation. According to Obed Vargas, the Sounders had to adjust to players being shadowed and penetrating the 5 in the back line.

Vargas and Ferreira had the best chances to score, with several other players coming up short on half chances. Strategically, Puebla's strategy almost worked. They needed the official to ignore their antics on defense, and he did. At one point, the Puebla defender laced a dead ball at Ferreira but missed.

The attempt alone deserved a red card. Professional fouls, late tackles, a two-handed push in the back, were all ignored, and no cards were doled out until later in the second half. Puebla packed in their defense and relied on diving to get calls for anything resembling an offense, and the official was suckered into numerous foul calls that simply were not fouls.

That also went their way. All they needed was a couple of breaks and they could force a shootout where anything would be possible. Since the Cup was set up so that there would be no overtime, that also benefitted the team trying to steal a win.

Danny Musovski gave them one of those breaks. Musovski was dribbling toward the goal when the Puebla defender grabbed his arm and pulled it up from behind. In doing so, Musovski's arm came in contact with the face of the defender. Outraged Musovski jumped up to yell at the official and wound up bumping into him, earning him a red card and possible multi-game suspension.

The red card was warranted, but the poor officiating, or as Brian Schmetzer politely stated, "It wasn't great officiating," the yellow card was not. Musovski will miss the semi-finals against the LA Galaxy and the finals if they win in LA. Even down a man, the Sounders dominated play, but they could not come up with a goal that advance them in the tournament.

There is a dimension of shootouts and penalty kicks that separate them from the run of play, and it all happens between the ears. To start out with, goalkeepers are not normal players. The position requires a trait that most people don't want or have. It takes an odd person to dive face-first at the exact location where someone is trying to kick.

In training, these misfits pass on odd stories of mind games with opponents about to shoot from the spot. They talk about present themselves as larger in the net. They may attempt to scuff up the spot, on one occasion a player put a flammable gel on his jersey and lit it before the shot (the player missed the shot and the keeper was red-carded for inflicting emotional distress) to get in the head of the shooter. In my playing days I received a yellow card for sprinkling grass on the ball before taking the net. That player missed also.

Seattle fans are starting to see Andrew Thomas in a whole new light

Many athletes talk about being in the zone, or locked in. Andrew Thomas smiled a big toothy grin at the first shooter, the commentator said it looked like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. That was a great sign for rave green. Thomas stuffed that shot. Before the final shot of the shootout, Andrew Thomas saw a nervous fan in the crowd and gestured to the crowd that he had this one. He was locked in. When goalkeepers are locked in on a PK, they don't guess which side it is going, they wait, they read the kick, and they spring.

After diving to right post, Thomas turned back to the fan behind the net for his "I told you so" moment as his teammates rushed him and Seattle advanced. Some people detest shoutouts, but they are a part of the game and they are exciting.

All 4 semifinalists are from the MLS, Puebla being the final team to be eliminated from Liga MX.

The Sounders will play Sporting Kansas City in MLS league play next. The last time they played was on July 12th and the Sounders won 3-2. Morris, Rusnak, and Ferreira scored in that match. It will be up to others to step up considering Morris and Rusnak are not expected to play.

The next two games will be against one of the Sounders' rivals, the LA Galaxy. The first game will be for the Leagues Cup semifinals in LA, where the winner will play in the finals and qualify for the CONCACAF tournament. The winner of the finals at the end of the month will automatically advance to the quarterfinals in the CONCACAF tournament. The following game for the Sounders is the MLS match in Seattle against the Galaxy.

Seattle won their last match 4-0, scoring on an own goal, a brace by Musovski and the debut goal by Snyder Brunell. Musovski will not be able to play in the semifinal match due to the red card suspension.

Brian Schmetzer reported that he doubts that the Galaxy will put 5 defenders in the back line, which the Sounders have had some difficulty scoring against. Once they are done with the matches against the Galaxy (and hopefully the finals of the Leagues Cup), the Sounders will travel to Florida to take on Miami and superstar Lionel Messi.

Success in these matches would provide the Sounders with some hardware, a good starting position for the CONCACAF tournament, an opportunity to move up in the standings, and if they beat Miami, bragging rights.