Mauro Rosales Injury Update: Sounders Don’t Expect Midfielder To Play

If the Seattle Sounders are to become the first team in MLS history to come back to win a conference semifinal after losing the first leg by three goals, it looks like they'll have to do it without the services of midfielder Mauro Rosales. Sounders coach Sigi Schmid indicated that Rosales almost certainly won't be play on Wednesday and that a best-case scenario may actually be him returning to action for a possible Western Conference final on Saturday.

Rosales has been a key to the Sounders' attack most of the season. His five goals and 13 assists give him more total points than every Sounders player other than Fredy Montero, and Rosales had done all that in 1,860 minutes.

But a pair of knee injuries have limited Rosales to just about 30 minutes since Sept. 17. That was when a Chris Woolard tackle sprained Rosales' right knee. That caused him to miss the next three matches. Rosales was able to return for the Sounders' match on Oct. 15 and played well enough to help them score a comeback victor against the San Jose Earthquakes. But just a few minutes into the Sounders' next game, Rosales was taken down by a Ben Zemanski tackle that reinjured his knee. Since then, Rosales has been severely limited in practice.