Sounders move on

TUKWILA — Seattle Sounders FC resumed practice Monday minus one very important part of the team.

As players took part in their first practice since Friday’s 1-0 win in Colorado, teammate Steve Zakuani remained at a Denver hospital three days after having surgery to repair his right tibia and

fibula, which were broken in Friday’s game.

“There’s a cloud over us for sure,” defender James Riley said. “We just lost one of our best attacking players and a great teammate. So it was a little bit of a different vibe at practice.”

In the big picture, Seattle must cope with how it will replace Zakuani, the former No. 1 overall pick who has arguably been the team’s best player this season, but in addition to that, coach Sigi Schmid will have to make sure players bounce back quickly from seeing a friend go down with a rather gruesome injury.

“We have to make sure we get it together for the next game,” Schmid said. “We got to continue to work hard and we certainly wish Steve all the best. I know he wants us to do same, just move forward.”

Heading into Friday’s game, Zakuani had a goal or an assist in four straight games, and after scoring 10 goals last season, he appeared on the verge of becoming one of the league’s best offensive players. Instead Seattle will have to find ways to cope without its dangerous left winger.

Schmid listed Alvaro Fernandez, Erik Friberg, Lamar Neagle, Michael Tetteh and Miguel Montano as possible options to take over for Zakuani, though he also noted that the team could change its formation a bit if that ends up being a better option.

As for Zakuani, Schmid said it’s too soon for a timeline on his recovery, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of Zakuani returning at the end of the season. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller even went so far as to predict a Zakuani return for the playoffs.

Brian Mullan, the Colorado midfielder who was red carded for the tackle that caused Zakuani’s injury, is almost certainly looking at further discipline from the league this week. Zakuani’s teammates seemed most upset with the fact that the foul appeared to be retaliation on Mullan’s part after he thought he was fouled seconds earlier and didn’t get a call.

“You never like to see players get injured,” Keller said. “But you really don’t like to see him get injured in situations like that where it’s so blatant and kind of a disregard for personal safety. It’s a shame.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.