Seattle Sounders seek to "send shockwaves" vs. Atlético Madrid | OneFootball

By Ari Liljenwall

There can be a sense of freedom that comes with being the underdog.

Going into Thursday's Group B matchup with perennial Spanish power Atlético Madrid in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (6 pm ET | DAZN), Seattle Sounders FC are embracing the role.

"I think tomorrow's a great chance to represent ourselves on the global stage," winger Paul Rothrock told reporters on Wednesday. "I think this sends shockwaves everywhere if we can win tomorrow. And I think there's belief in the group that we can do that."

Desperate opposition

Seattle dropped their opening match to Brazilian side Botafogo 2-1, but did put forth a competitive performance that nearly saw them take a point off the 2024 Copa Libertadores champs.

Atlético Madrid come into the match needing a bounce-back result after dropping their group-stage opener, 4-0, to UEFA Champions League-winners Paris Saint-Germain, who are widely considered a tournament frontrunner.

"I think they have more to lose than we do," Rothrock said of Atlético. "They're the projected favorite in this, but they also need to win this game, and so do we. But I think if the Botafogo game gave us anything, it did give us some confidence, and also a little bit of an edge that we still have more to prove.

"And I think everybody came out of that game with a little bit of that disappointment that's kind of good sometimes for teams, where you played a decent game, you represented yourself well, but you left some stuff on the table. So, I think we can use that as an extra boost of energy tomorrow."

Embracing the moment

Procuring a shock result will require eliminating the errors that spelled Seattle's doom against Botafogo: The Rave Green suffered two first-half concessions, then found themselves unable to capitalize on a wave of second-half pressure applied to their Brazilian counterparts.

"I think from all the games in the Club World Cup so far, we've seen the teams that maybe aren't the favorites, but they're getting plenty of chances," said forward Danny Musovski. "Even LAFC against Chelsea had plenty of chances.

"So, yeah, I think definitely throughout a 90-minute game, you're definitely going to get chances, it's just about being optimistic, and even though they might be controlling the game a lot at moments, it's just about those few moments that we get where maybe we can capitalize."

After the matchup with Atlético, Seattle will play their group-stage finale against PSG at Lumen Field on Monday.

Going into their final two matches in what some have dubbed the tournament's "Group of Death", Musovski said Seattle will hope to lean on the positive strides they showed late in the Botafogo match.

"I would definitely agree with that – that is the mentality: We have nothing to lose," Musovksi said. "They're the team that's expected to win, and all the pressure's on them.

"So, that's how we were [thinking] even going into Botafogo a little bit – they're the ones that's expected to win, and I feel like when we had that mentality, we played fairly well."