Sounders have options in second leg of semifinal

The Seattle Sounders could play the second leg of their Western Conference semifinals series on Sunday evening in two very different ways.

Courtesy of the 2-1 lead over FC Dallas carried over from last weekend’s first leg, Seattle could sit back, slow the game down and hope to grind out the scoreless draw that would carry the team through.

Or the Sounders could throw caution to the wind, put the game in the hands of their star-studded attack and push for the away goals that would most likely doom top-seeded Dallas.

Recent results point toward the latter approach. Playing three crucial home games in a span of eight days, the Sounders turned them all into shootouts and won.

“A common factor over the past few games is that we’ve come out of the box flying a bit, trying to attack quickly and put the other team under a lot of pressure,” Seattle midfielder Andy Rose said this week. “We’re going to try to do the same.

“Against a team like that, with the pace and creativity that they have, you can’t just sit back and defend. You have to put your best foot forward and really push the game.”

Available personnel will also affect Seattle’s approach. Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso and Leo Gonzalez were all limited in practice this week with various injuries.

Asked whether those three are making the trip to Dallas, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said only that “they’re making progress.”

Expect a similar look to the lineup that eventually prevailed at CenturyLink Field, experience coming through late as Andreas Ivanschitz and Clint Dempsey both netted second-half goals.

“If we’re patient at the attacking end of the field, if you look at the end of the game there’s (Nelson) Valdez and Oba (Martins) and Ivanschitz and Dempsey, there are a lot of attacking options,” Schmid said.

“We want to get the ball to our attacking options, and they’ll take care of things from there.”

Martins, Pappa called up

Sounders Obafemi Martins and Marco Pappa have been called into the Nigerian and Guatemalan national teams, respectively, Schmid confirmed on Friday.

Because the playoff schedule was built around the upcoming window, this will not affect their availability for this weekend’s Western Conference semifinals against Dallas or a potential conference-finals series.

No Sounders were called up to the United States roster for its first two World Cup qualifiers against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. However, there is some local flavor with O’Dea product DeAndre Yedlin and Mercer Island native Jordan Morris both named to the squad.