Seattle Sounders vice-president Gary Wright is delighted to have secured a friendly with Premiership giants Chelsea. "It's not just a team you're bringing in from England, you're bringing in one of the elite teams in the world," said Wright of the July 18 friendly.

When Chelsea came to town and played before a full house in 2004, the team practiced at the former Seahawks facility in Kirkland.

"Everything was done first-class, so they felt good about coming to Seattle the last time," said Wright, a former Seahawks executive. "So they had that in the back of their mind."

Enter Sounders majority owner Joe Roth, a Hollywood movie executive.

"Joe Roth and Peter Kenyon (Chelsea's chief executive) have become good friends," Wright told the News Tribune. "This (appearance) is for Joe Roth as much as anything."

"Our goal is to make Seattle the soccer capital of the United States," Wright said. "There's no reason why Seattle shouldn't be considered that; we have a real opportunity to do that."