Sounders captain Ozzie Alonso out for MLS Cup due to quad strain

The Seattle Sounders will be without captain Ozzie Alonso for Saturday's rematch against Toronto FC in the 2017 MLS Cup final.

The Cuban defensive midfielder failed a fitness test for a quadriceps strain he initially suffered in September. Despite playing in the last 16 minutes of the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Alonso wasn't able to recover fully to defend his team's title.

"The desire is there but I can't. I can't," Alonso told MLSsoccer.com. "I feel okay, but I have had a lot of setbacks and I won't be able to play. I had another setback a few days before the (Nov. 30) game against Houston, but I can't. I tried to be ready for this, but the injury won't allow me."

Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer added: "We're sad about that. He's a tough competitor so it was tough news to take.

"He's disappointed. He wants to do whatever he can to help the team, he's the captain of the team. It's a bit of a blow but we're going to deal with it."

Alonso was also hurting ahead of the 2016 MLS Cup final but powered through a sore knee to lift the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. Schmetzer will likely turn to Sweden international Gustav Svensson in his absence, but could also deputize Nicolas Lodeiro to play in the middle of the park.

Still, losing Alonso will be a blow for Seattle, as the Cuban midfielder was instrumental in building plays from the core. He ranked second in passing accuracy in 2017, completing 90.98 percent of his attempted passes. Svensson is a defensively resolute replacement, though, as the versatile Swede won an average of 2.7 tackles per match to Alonso's 2.5.