Not so long ago, certain portions of Major League Soccer preseason were merely rumors for most supporters.
Media coverage was sparse, or sometimes almost nonexistent. And with those foreign trips that teams liked so much, who knew what was really going on?
How times have changed. Now, preseason games are streamed regularly for viewing back at home.
And very soon, a preseason match will actually land on a major national network, practically unheard of previously.
We know today that Seattle will be one of the teams seen later this week as the NBC Sports Network televises Saturday’s final of the Desert Diamond Cup going on in Tucson.
Goals by Honduran midfielder Mario Martinez (last seen helping to smash the Sounders through a playoff round with a remarkable goal last fall) and trialist Philip Lund propelled the team past Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Unlike last week in RSL’s contest, Jason Kreis played a first-choice starting lineup.
Details on that match and the second contest Saurday in Tucson are here.
In that second contest, goals by Jerry Bengtson, Lee Nguyen on a penalty kick and Marko Jesic guided New England to a 3-1 win over New York.
New England has three points in the standing after two matches, RSL and New York have one each. The final group play contests are Wednesday in the tournament.