West Ham United faced a setback in their opening game of their pre-season campaign, when they were defeated 3-0 by MLS side Seattle Sounders on Wednesday morning.
Left with nothing
Hopes were high for Slaven Bilic's side as they headed to the CenturyLink Field, to take on the MLS side.
Bilic used the players that he had, to their full potential, fielding 21 players including debuts for Sofiane Feghouli, Havard Nordtveit and youngsters Antonio Martinez and Domingos Quina.
Sounders have been struggling domestically, currently sitting mid-table in the Western Conference, but their fitness was clear from the go. It was the Hammers who were the first to get their sights in, with youngsters Lewis Page, Moses Makasi and Marcus Browne all testing Stefan Frei who was up to the task.
Sigi Schmid began to take over, as the half began to come to a close, with Adrian producing a fine save after Andreas Ivanschitz's equally fine effort.
Three minutes before the break, the Sounders managed to take the lead. Herculez Gomez showed great pace to get beyond the defender, and Adrian came rushing out and ended up bringing the striker down, and he coolly slotted home the spot-kick.
Big impact
Feghouli looked to be a good signing, having picked him up from Valencia, producing some excellent passes and opportunities, to try and get back into the game.
The contest was all but over with 20 minutes to play, as the Sounders added their second goal of the game.
A free-kick in from Oalex Anderson was flicked on which looked to have caught out substitute goalkeeper, Raphael Speigel and Jordan Morris was on hand to turn home the rebound.
Morris rounded off the victory just two minutes later, Joevin Jones played a great through ball and the striker was on hand to blast it home from the corner of the six-yard box.
Making progress
Despite the defeat, it was a big game for young full-back, Page, and the 20-year-old has shared his delight at getting through the contest.
He told whufc.com "we didn't deserve to lose 3-0" as the side have "only had a couple days of training" so the team are "a bit low on match fitness."
Page continued saying the Sounders "were probably out there to prove a point with their fans against a Premier League side" but admitted "it wasn't a a really a full strength side for us either."
He concluded that "we have to take the positives out of it" and managed to get "through it without any injuries and it's another 45 minutes under our belts."
West Ham United will take on the Carolina RailHawks at the WakeMed Soccer Park on Wednesday, July 13 with kick-off at 1am BST.