TUKWILA — Obafemi Martins was held out of Seattle Sounders training Thursday while being examined for an undisclosed injury.
“We had to send him for an X-ray,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “He’s got a little bit of a complaint. We want to make sure with the X-ray, and then we’ll see and make a determination (Friday).”
Schmid declined to disclose what body part was being X-rayed, joking “I’m being Bruce Arena,” the Los Angeles Galaxy coach Schmid sometimes chides for being secretive.
Martins is second on the team and tied for third in Major League Soccer with six goals this season. Seattle’s Clint Dempsey and Columbus’ Kei Kamara have seven.
The Sounders return to MLS play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Cascadia rival and Western Conference-leading Vancouver.
Schmid also declined to say who would take Martins’ forward spot alongside Dempsey. However, the most obvious possibilities would be forward Chad Barrett or midfielder/forward Lamar Neagle.
Dempsey, Martins and Neagle are the only players to have scored goals for Seattle nine games into this season.
Added time
The Sounders will train Friday morning at Starfire Sports in Tukwila before traveling to British Columbia by bus. … If Sounders 2 beats the Kitsap Pumas in their U.S. Open Cup second-round match Wednesday at Starfire Stadium, S2 will also host the third-round match May 27 at Starfire against the winner of the Timbers 2-Michigan Bucks game. If the Pumas win, they would travel for the third-round date at either Portland or Michigan. That May 27 date coincides with a Sounders MLS match against the Colorado Rapids at CenturyLink Field. … U.S. Soccer announced Thursday that Commerce City, Colorado; Kansas City, Kansas; Carson, California; and Sandy, Utah, will be the sites for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying championship in October.
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