I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of friendlies. Prior to Saturday’s game against Club Necaxa, the only other time I had attended one in person was the 2010 game against Boca Juniors.
Interestingly enough, that was the first Seattle Sounders match I had attended. Now, my daughter will be able to say the first Sounders match she ever saw in person was a friendly, too.
In doing so, I had a bit of an epiphany about the nature of friendlies and how they fit into the Sounders ecosystem. At their worst, they are blind money-grabs that disrupt the season and anger the fan base.