Clint Dempsey admitted Friday he wore down upon his return to MLS with the Sounders, a problem that was by compounded by U.S. Men's National Team demands. Talking to ESPN and reporters at the World Cup draw party at Kansas City's Sporting Park, he said he was working on conditioning and has yet to make a decision about playing in the EPL.

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The Sounders open the 2014 season March 8 hosting MLS Cup finalist Sporting Kansas City. MLS and the Sounders released Monday the 34-game schedule, which has the Sounders at the Clink for three of the first four matches. Thirteen matches will be televised nationally by ESPN or NBC.

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The Sounders FC Wednesday re-signed midfielder Brad Evans to a multi-year contract. Terms were undisclosed. The 28-year-old Evans has been a starter for Seattle since 2009, and ranks third in club history in games played (112), started (103), goals (17) and assists (19) and fourth in minutes.

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Osvaldo Alonso, voted by teammates as the Sounders' most valuable player for a fourth consecutive year, is now a a designated player, which gives him a big pay boost. The Sounders Tuesday announced his new, multi-year deal, but did not disclose terms. Alonso, 28, led the MLS in passing accuracy (88.58 percent) in 2013, when he started 26 regular season matches and logged 2,179 minutes.

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Despite speculation that Sounders coach Sigi Schmid might be shown the door after the team finished the season with only one win in its final 10 matches, majority owner Joe Roth Thursday announced that Schmid will return for a sixth season in 2014, citing Schmid's "resume and accomplishments."

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Acknowledging the midseason arrival of Clint Dempsey ratcheted up locker-room tension that helped create "maybe the most frustrating season in the 12 years I've been with the Sounders," general manager Adrian Hanauer said Monday that the fate of coach Sigi Schmid remains undecided.

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Three members of the Sounders -- midfielder Clint Dempsey, forward Eddie Johnson and defender Brad Evans -- have been summoned again to the U.S. Men's National Team for friendlies against Scotland and Austria. The trio will join the USMNT in Glasgow, Scotland.

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As closing acts go, the Sounders fell off the stage, into the orchestra pit and may not be recovered for days. Embarrassingly outplayed for 70 minutes Thursday night in Portland, Seattle scored two late goals, but the Timbers, clearly the superior team, prevailed 3-2 and 5-3 in the aggregate to move on to the Western Conference finals against Real Salt Lake.

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MATCH: Seattle Sounders FC (15-12-7, 52 points, 4th, MLS West; 1-1 MLS playoffs) at Portland Timbers (14-5-15, 1st, MLS West; 1-0 MLS playoffs) TYPE: MLS Cup Playoffs, West semis, leg 2. WHEN: Thursday, 8 p.m., Jeld-Wen Field. MEETING: 84th all-time (Sounders lead 42-30-11 across all competitions; Timbers lead 4-1-3 in MLS play. TV: NBC. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

For the Sounders, Thursday's second leg of the Western Conference semifinals comes down to this: A one-goal win would force overtime. A victory by two goals or more would advance Seattle to the Western Conference finals against LA Galaxy or Real Salt Lake. A draw or a loss will eliminate the Sounders and end their 2013 season.

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The Sounders lineup is battered but incrementally moving back to full strength as the club prepares for the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals Thursday at Portland's Jeld-Wen Field (8 p.m., NBC Sports).

Impressive is the list of injured that haven't been ruled out for their season-deciding match against the Timbers.

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As the most successful business enterprise in Major League Soccer history, the Sounders put money and muscle into 2013 to get an identical identity for their product on the pitch. For the fifth year in a row, they must make the claim the hard way. They are a playoff-quality team, but a championship-quality team? Not off Saturday's result.

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Sigi Schmid's major concern heading into the two-leg Western Conference semifinal series with Portland was that his Sounders would, as they traditionally have, squander their opportunities in the first leg. True to form, Seattle couldn't convert its myriad chances Saturday night and fell to the Timbers 2-1 at CenturyLink Field. A 90th-minute goal by Osvaldo Alonso provided Seattle a modicum of hope in the second leg.

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MATCH: Portland Timbers (14-5-15, 1st, MLS West) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-12-7, 52 points, 4th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS Cup Playoffs, West semis, leg 1. WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 83rd all-time (Sounders lead 42-29-11 across all competitions; Timbers lead 4-1-3 in MLS play. TV: NBC. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

When the Sounders shocked planet futbol two months ago by signing Clint Dempsey, the expectation was that Dempsey would provide an immediate boost to a Seattle offense that struggled to score. Largely due to Dempsey's repeated absences -- obligations to the U.S. National Team, a number of injuries -- it didn't happen until Oct. 27 when Dempsey, scoreless in seven matches, finally found the net.

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Still basking in Seattle's 2-0 win Wednesday night over Colorado, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid offered a joke Thursday on a teleconference that was funny only because his club managed to avoid falling in the loser-out round of the 2013 MLS playoffs.

"First off, I want to apologize for being a little late," he said in a teleconference. "I came to work dressed as a soccer coach as my costume, trying to fool people."

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"Out of the box" is a popular business phrase signifying creative thinking. In soccer, it is a phrase describing no thinking. The latter came to mind when Sounders goalie Michael Gspurning found himself on wrong side of the line with 10 minutes left in a loser-out game, against the equally desperate Colorado Rapids, that the Sounders led precariously, 1-0.

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Brad Evans rocketed in a wide-open shot in the 28th minute, Eddie Johnson struck in stoppage time and the Sounders survived an injury to DeAndre Yedlin and a red card to goalkeeper Michael Gspurning to defeat the Colorado Rapids 2-0 at CenturyLink Field Wednesday night. Having survived the knockout round of the MLS Cup playoffs, the Sounders will advance to meet Portland in the Western Conference semifinals Saturday.

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MATCH: Colorado Rapids (14-11-9, 51 points, 5th MLS West) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-12-7, 52 points, 4th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS Cup Playoffs, knockout round. WHEN: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 13th (Sounders lead 8-2-2). TV: KONG. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

The last thing the Sounders wanted was what they have: A play-in game with the Colorado Rapids, winner advancing to the Western Conference semifinals opposite Portland, loser going home. As the No. 4 seed in MLS West after their 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy last Sunday, that's the Sounders' fate Coach Sigi Schmid tried to put the best spin on it.

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The Sounders will win a match again, someday. If it isn't Wednesday, then it will have to be 2014.  If not then . . . well, let's not go doomsday.

By managing a tie Sunday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Sounders get to host a a game against Colorado at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the knock-out round of the MLS playoffs -- against a team that bashed them 5-1 Oct. 5. The brave post-game faces and rhetoric could not hide the fact fact that the Sounders  are still winless in the past seven games.

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MATCH: LA Galaxy (15-11-7, 52 points, 3rd, MLS West) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-12-6, 51 points, 4th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Sunday, 6 p.m., CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 12th (Galaxy leads 5-3-3). TV: ESPN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

Playoff qualifiers for five consecutive seasons, the Sounders will try to snap a franchise-record four-game losing streak when they host the LA Galaxy in a match expected to attract 66,000-plus. A win would secure a top-three seed in the Western Conference playoffs and avoid the dreaded knockout round, a one-match, win-or-go home affair next week.

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The Sounders have made the playoffs, but through the backdoor of a basement that opens onto a dark alley. The undramatic success came after the Los Angeles Galaxy had a scoreless draw with San Jose Sunday night, eliminating the Earthquakes from the playoffs.

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