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IN THIS ISSUE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ROBERT CASNER
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CREATIVE DIRECTOR TY KREFT ASSISTANT EDITORS ALEX CAULFIELD DANNY CIACCIO RYAN KRASNOO KELLY SCHUTZ MATT WINTER
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CLOSER LOOK
The Sounders Academy celebrates a title, Gustav prepares for the World Cup and Ozzie works on his baseball skills
2018 SCHEDULE
Catch up on where we've been and see what lies ahead
COVER ILLUSTRATOR DAN LEYDON CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS MIKE FIECHTNER JANE GERSHOVICH JONATHAN GRIFFITH ROBERT MORA CORKY TREWIN LINDSEY WASSON QUINN WIDTH CHARIS WILSON GETTY IMAGES USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
11 MEET THE TEAM
Get to know a little bit about your 2018 Sounders FC First Team
12 ON THE HUNT
Magnus Wolff's Eikrem journey from Manchester United to Seattle
WORDS BY KRISTAN HENEAGE
22 NEXT IN LINE
Alex Roldan is carving a name for himself
WORDS BY RYAN KRASNOO
30 LLORE CONMIGO, PAPI © 2018 BY MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER, LLC AND SEATTLE SOCCER, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF SEATTLE SOCCER, LLC IS PROHIBITED. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 159 SOUTH JACKSON, SUITE 200 SEATTLE, WA 98104 887-MLS-GOAL SOUNDERSFC.COM
Reliving Waylon Francis' famous World Cup moment
WORDS BY RYAN KRASNOO
36 10 QUESTIONS: ALEX ROLDAN
Midfielder Alex Roldan answers the important questions
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CLOSER LOOK
APRIL 22, 2018
The Seattle Sounders U-17 Academy team is recognized for its Generation adidas Cup trophy at CenturyLink Field prior to the First Team’s match against Minnesota United.
MAY 11, 2018
Gustav Svensson sits down for an interview ahead of leaving to compete with Sweden in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
MAY 19, 2018
Osvaldo Alonso gives a thumbs up before throwing out the first pitch for the Mariners' game against the Detroit Tigers at Safeco Field.
2018 SCHEDULE DATE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 THURSDAY, MARCH 1 SUNDAY, MARCH 4 SUNDAY, MARCH 18 SATURDAY, MARCH 31 SUNDAY, APRIL 15 SUNDAY, APRIL 22 SUNDAY, APRIL 29 SATURDAY, MAY 5 WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 SUNDAY, MAY 13 SATURDAY, MAY 26 SATURDAY, JUNE 2 SATURDAY, JUNE 9 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 SATURDAY, JUNE 23 SATURDAY, JUNE 30 WEDNESDAY, JULY 4 SATURDAY, JULY 7 SUNDAY, JULY 15 SATURDAY, JULY 21 WEDNESDAY, JULY 25 SUNDAY, JULY 29 SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 SUNDAY, AUGUST 26 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28
OPPONENT
SANTA TECLA FC SANTA TECLA FC LAFC FC DALLAS MONTREAL IMPACT SPORTING KC MINNESOTA UNITED FC LAFC COLUMBUS CREW TORONTO FC PORTLAND TIMBERS REAL SALT LAKE REAL SALT LAKE D.C. UNITED NEW YORK RED BULLS CHICAGO FIRE PORTLAND TIMBERS COLORADO RAPIDS NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION ATLANTA UNITED FC VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES NEW YORK CITY FC MINNESOTA UNITED FC FC DALLAS LA GALAXY PORTLAND TIMBERS SPORTING KC VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC PHILADELPHIA UNION LA GALAXY COLORADO RAPIDS HOUSTON DYNAMO ORLANDO CITY SC HOUSTON DYNAMO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
TIME
WATCH ON
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GO90 GO90 ESPN JOETV JOETV ESPN ESPN FS1 JOETV FS1 ESPN JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV FOX JOETV JOETV FOX JOETV JOETV ESPN JOETV FS1 ESPN FS1 JOETV JOETV JOETV FS1 JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV JOETV
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3-1
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2-1
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MATCH DATES AND TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE. ALL TIMES PACIFIC. MORE INFO AT SOUNDERSFC.COM/SCHEDULE. STREAM ALL MATCHES LIVE ON YOUTUBE TV 9
TONY ALFARO
OSVALDO ALONSO
CALLE BROWN
MAGNUS WOLFF EIKREM
WAYLON FRANCIS
STEFAN FREI
KIM KEE-HEE
BRYAN MEREDITH
JORDAN MORRIS
LAMAR NEAGLE
VÍCTOR RODRÍGUEZ
ROMÁN TORRES
HENRY WINGO
#15 | DEFENDER
#22 | MIDFIELDER
#35 | GOALKEEPER
#90 | DEFENDER
#13 | FORWARD
#6 | MIDFIELDER
#24 | GOALKEEPER
#27 | FORWARD
A: ZINEDINE ZIDANE
NOUHOU
#5 | DEFENDER
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#29 | DEFENDER
#23 | MIDFIELDER
#25 | GOALKEEPER
#20 | DEFENDER
#8 | MIDFIELDER
Q: WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE ATHLETE AS A KID?
A: MICHAEL JORDAN
WILL BRUIN
#17 | FORWARD
HANDWALLA BWANA #70 | MIDFIELDER
A: PATRICK KLUIVERT
KELVIN LEERDAM #18 | DEFENDER
JORDY DELEM
CLINT DEMPSEY
#21 | MIDFIELDER
#2 | FORWARD
A: DIEGO MARADONA
A: ALLEN IVERSON
NICOLÁS LODEIRO
CHAD MARSHALL
JORDAN MCCRARY
ALEX ROLDAN
HARRY SHIPP
GUSTAV SVENSSON
#10 | MIDFIELDER
#14 | DEFENDER
#30 | DEFENDER
A: JORDAN MORRIS
CRISTIAN ROLDAN #7 | MIDFIELDER
#16 | MIDFIELDER
TECHNICAL STAFF
#19 | MIDFIELDER
#4 | MIDFIELDER
BRIAN SCHMETZER
DAMIAN RODEN
DJIMI TRAORE
RAVI RAMINENI
GENERAL MANAGER & PRESIDENT OF SOCCER
GONZALO PINEDA
JOHN HUTCHINSON
CHRIS HENDERSON
PREKI
WADE WEBBER
TOM DUTRA
MARC NICHOLLS
GARTH LAGERWEY
VP OF SOCCER & SPORTING DIRECTOR
HEAD COACH
ASSISTANT COACH ASSISTANT COACH ASSISTANT COACH
CLUB DIRECTOR OF GOALKEEPING
HIGH PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF SOCCER ANALY TICS S2 HEAD COACH
S2 ASSISTANT COACH DIRECTOR OF PL AYER DEVELOPMENT
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MAGNUS WOLFF EIKREM'S JOURNEY FROM MANCHESTER UNITED TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS
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ON THE HUNT BY KRISTAN HENEAGE 13
AS PAUL MCGUINNESS STEPPED INTO A GYM IN MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, HE WAS STRUCK BY WHAT HE SAW. THERE IN FRONT OF HIM STOOD A SMALL, SKINNY TEENAGER, A MOP OF UNKEMPT BROWN HAIR RESTING ON HIS HEAD AND AN ACCENT THAT MOST CERTAINLY WASN’T LOCAL TO THE AREA. “When he came to us on trial he was very small, but he ran rings around everybody,” McGuinness, a former youth coach at Manchester United, said of Magnus Wolff Eikrem. “He was so clever and ahead of the game, and good technically, that even though a lot of them were bigger and stronger, he looked like a kid who could really do something. I remember one session, it was maybe only three or four aside, but he had all the answers. “He had the sort of technique of someone like say, David Beckham. He was small when he first came to the club at 14 or 15, and Magnus was reminding me of him in his technical work and his love for the game.”
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“I was quite young, and being in the same place as all these world-class players, it was quite a shock,” Eikrem said of his early days at Old Trafford. “Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, everyone. Seeing them and being around them was really good. At first, I went on my own, then my mother came to live with me after a year and stayed for six months. Then Joshua King came over with his family so I just stayed with them.” Stationed at the club’s Trafford Training Centre, near the village of Carrington, Greater Manchester, Eikrem was challenged physically, mentally and technically on a daily basis. The hallways of the academy building are adorned with murals of past graduates such as Giggs, Scholes and Beckham. Talk of their achievements still echoes. The academy’s fingerprints are not only found on those who graduate to the status of First Team regular at Old Trafford, like Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, but also those who leave for other clubs, such as Chelsea’s Danny Drinkwater or Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck. Trying to distill such a comprehensive education in a compendious way is impossible, but when pressed, one thing did stand out to Eikrem. “Being around all these big players and seeing how humble they were, [I was] just trying to work as hard as they did,” he said. “They were earning so much money and winning trophies every year, but every day in training they were on it. That’s what stuck with me.”
Eikrem, who signed with the Seattle Sounders this past offseason, was a long way from his home in Molde, a small town on the western coast of Norway. Molde was where he had grown up and first been spotted by scouts attending a soccer school organized by his hero, and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
McGuinness would often find Eikrem still out on the pitch after training, a bag of balls beside him, practicing his free kicks and refining his already impressive technical skills.
The emotions bubbling inside of him would be a lot for an adult to process, let alone a boy who had grown up idolizing everything by which he was now surrounded.
As a youngster at Manchester United, Eikrem could have fielded offers from across Europe, but in soccer, timing is often everything, and Eikrem’s decision to
Eventually, however, the necessity of ingame experience supplanted anything that could be taken from just training alone.
HE HAD THE SORT OF TECHNIQUE OF SOMEONE LIKE SAY, DAVID BECKHAM.
PHOTO WOLFF EIKREM DURING HIS TIME IN THE MANCHESTER UNITED YOUTH ACADEMY
PAUL MCGUINNESS FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED YOUTH COACH
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“Leaving Manchester United is always difficult, but I had to play,” Eikrem said. “I was getting [to be] like 20, 21, so I wasn’t that young anymore, and it was my hometown club. I knew Ole was going to go back home and I knew he was going to win things at Molde. He’s been a big part of my career, and when he took over the reserves I started playing. “He’s been through so much and so I was learning from the best, and along with Warren Joyce, they were a great pair,” Eikrem continued. “I loved Ole’s training sessions, and how he spoke to me. I remember once I was injured and he just
told me, ‘I don’t care if there’s something wrong, you have to just stay on the pitch…’ That gave me great confidence.” There was a blend of nervousness and pressure attached to joining Molde ahead of what would be their centenary. Not only had Eikrem grown up supporting the club, but the team was attempting to usurp a dominant Rosenborg side that had won all but three of the previous 15 Norwegian league titles. Solskjær was ambitious, though, and his plan was to build a young and vibrant roster with Eikrem at the heart of things. During the offseason, the club also signed American Joshua Gatt and Eikrem’s good friend Jo Inge Berget, who also made the move to MLS before the 2018 season when he signed with New York City FC.
PHOTO WOLFF EIKREM CELEBRA TES SCORING FOR MALMÖ FF
move on in January 2011 came just months after his mentor in the reserves, Solskjær, had chosen to do the same, swapping a coaching role with Man United for a senior position at Molde FK.
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PHOTO WOLFF EIKREM CELEBRAT ES AFTER SCORING HIS FIRST GOAL FOR SOUNDERS FC AT CENTURYL INK FIELD
HE’S TECHNICALLY CLEAN, A GOOD PASSER, HAS GOOD VISION AND IS A GOAL-DANGEROUS TYPE OF PLAYER THAT LIKES TO COMBINE WITH OTHERS BRIAN SCHMETZER SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH
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The team won back-to-back league titles in 2011 and ‘12 — the first in the club’s history — and the Norwegian Cup in ‘13. As well as club success, Eikrem also achieved his other goal of senior national team recognition when he made his debut for Norway in 2012.
Eikrem struggled to find his rhythm amid the chaos. Cardiff was relegated at the end of the season, and Solskjær was sacked not long after. The pair struggled to earn the trust of his replacement, Russell Slade, and by December 2014 Eikrem had asked the club to release him from his contract.
“For the years he was in Norway, he was the best player in the league,” Berget said. “He’s a smart guy, he reads the play very well and his right foot is pure class. He’s one of the best I’ve played with as a playmaker. He always knows when to pick a pass and how to pass. He likes to dictate the play verbally, with the ball, controlling the tempo.”
“Some players can just sit back and relax on a good salary, but he wanted to play and get even better and that says a lot about who he is,” Berget said.
Fueled by momentum and the success of two league titles, Eikrem’s potential was fast being realized. That caught the attention of clubs abroad, notably Dutch side Heerenveen, who signed him in June 2013. Things started well. He scored his first goal for the club against Dutch giants Ajax, but by the start of 2014, he was on the move once again, joining Solskjær for a third stint. This time his mentor had chosen to return to English football and left Molde to take the reins at Cardiff City in the Premier League. “It was a no-brainer,” Eikrem said of his decision to join Cardiff. “I saw the guys like Danny Drinkwater, Craig Cathcart and James Chester all playing in the Premier League or the Championship, and so I wanted to go back. Maybe it was too early for me to join them, but at the time it was a no-brainer.” Eikrem was one of three Norwegians to join Cardiff that month, along with Berget and Mats Møller Dæhli. Unfortunately, the Welsh capital would not be a happy home for them. “It didn’t go as any of us had planned,” Berget said. “Solskjær knew what we were capable of when he brought us in, but the club got in a bad situation where they were bottom of the table and struggling each game. It was hard to bring in new players who’ve never played in the Premier League before and for them to save the team from going down.”
For the first time in his career, Eikrem was unemployed. The plight of trying to find work paled in significance to the greatest struggle of his career, though, when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 16. “The world just suddenly changes,” he said. “I had to be more careful. It took quite a bit of time to get over it and get used to it and play soccer again. I think I was out for maybe three or four months. I was training a little bit, but it was really hard to get used to.” In the midst of such a situation, it can be difficult to believe that normality will ever return. Eikrem could have been forgiven for drowning in self-pity, but just as his future in the game seemed uncertain, he received a special visitor at his bedside. “It was maybe the second or third day there in the hospital when [legendary former Manchester United manager] Sir Alex Ferguson came to visit me,” Eikrem said. “He told me about the other players who had diabetes, and that it wasn’t going to be a problem, take your time, and then he looked at my mum and said, ‘He’s going to be tall enough, so don’t worry.’ That was a massive boost for a 16-year-old, the manager of the biggest club in the world telling you that, but that just goes to show how the place was.” Thankfully for Eikrem, there was one other player who had left Cardiff in almost identical circumstances a little over a month after him: Berget. When his good friend landed in Sweden with Malmö in mid-January 2015, it seemed only right that a reunion with Eikrem would follow seven days later. 19
SCARVES UP! LIKE, 30,000 FEET UP. YOU CAN’T STOP SOUNDERS FC. OFFICIAL AIRLINE
HE’S ONE OF THE BEST I’VE PLAYED WITH AS A PLAYMAKER JO INGE BERGET NYCFC FORWARD AND FORMER TEAMMATE
“I’ve played with Jo Inge on the youth national teams, at Molde, at Cardiff, at Malmö, I shared a room with him at Malmö. I’ve probably spent more time with Jo Inge than I have my girlfriend at some points,” Eikrem said laughing. In Sweden, the pair enjoyed times more reminiscent of Molde. They won two Allsvenskan league titles in 2016 and ‘17 and tasted Champions League football. There was also individual success for Eikrem along the way, who was named the 2016 Swedish league midfielder of the year. “He made a league record of assists in Malmö with his corners and free kicks in 2016,” Berget explained. “He had a lot of great moments at the club, but setting the record of assists is pretty standout.” It’s certainly a period the 27-year-old reflects on positively, even if he caveats talk of his success with the frustration that they did not win the 2016 Svenska Cupen final. He still bears a fiercely competitive side instilled in him by Manchester United. Sweden was also where Eikrem showed his versatility, playing not only centrally but also out wide. Reminiscent of a chess player in his ability to control and dictate the game from anywhere on the field, it is that blend of technique and intelligence that first drew Seattle’s interest.
“He’s technically clean, a good passer, has good vision and is a goal-dangerous type of player that likes to combine with others,” said Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “He’s got a good pedigree and he finds ways to be effective in the attacking part of the field. I think he plays well with Nico [Lodeiro] and I think he fits also with Clint [Dempsey]. I know Clint enjoys playing with him. “You know the experienced guys on our squad, they measure a new guy up,” Schmetzer continued. “They won’t tell me, but I can see it in their body language a little bit, if they’re happy or frustrated. The new guy that comes in they give him the up and down, and Magnus has passed their test so far.” Eikrem is looking to bring us unique and incisive skill set to Seattle, along with a winner’s mentality fortified all throughout Europe. The Norwegian says he can feel that same character in the Sounders’ locker room, where winning is not a hope but an expectation. And although Eikrem is only a few steps into his career at CenturyLink Field, history suggests that wherever he goes, success often tends to follow.
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RISTIAN, C R E H T O BIG BR LOOK OUT, AN IS CARVING ALEX ROLD R HIMSELF A NAME FO ASNOO R K N A Y R BY
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SEATTLE SOUNDERS ROOKIE ALEX ROLDAN NEVER REALLY IMAGINED HE’D BE A PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER. HE HAD DREAMS, SURE, BUT SO DID EVERY KID. HE KNEW THAT.
pretty well for the game and I thought I put in a good shift.”
Somewhat underrecruited out of high school like older brother Cristian was, Alex spent four years at Seattle University where he scored 14 combined goals in his junior and senior seasons to become one of the premier attacking midfielders in college soccer.
Going to college locally in Seattle, Alex tried to get to every Sounders home game he could over the past three years to watch Cristian play. He was there during Cristian’s rookie season in 2015, he watched Cristian help the club to its first MLS Cup in 2016 and was there to see Cristian play his way into the U.S. national
Little did he know when his college career ended last fall that he’d be starting in Major League Soccer for the two-time defending Western Conference champions just four games into his rookie season. His counterpart in his first professional start? U.S. international defender Graham Zusi and Sporting Kansas City in one of the hardest away venues in the entire league. “I made sure I knew my role in terms of what KC was going to bring on that righthand side,” Roldan said of his pregame preparations before the match on April 15. “Graham Zusi is a veteran outside back and has a ton of national caps. I knew it was going to be a tough opponent to go up against for my first start, but I prepared
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Roldan fared extremely well, and not just for a rookie. He held his own in 88 minutes in a 2-2 draw. He completed 83 percent of his passes from left midfield as well as earned a secondary assist on Cristian’s goal. They became only the seventh set of brothers in MLS history to start together and only the fifth to combine for a goal. After the match, Alex called their parents who had been watching, but they were only interested in Cristian’s finish. “It wasn’t really about my assist,” Alex said with a laugh. “It’s a great goal, a beautiful goal that Cristian scored that put us up 2-1. The pass I had [to Will Bruin] was just to get [Cristian] there, and the credit goes all to him for putting that ball away into the net.”
I HATE COMPARING HIM TO CRISTIAN, HE’S HIS OWN PLAYER, BUT HE DOES HAVE SOME OF THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS THAT I LIKE. HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
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team in 2017 with a Herculean campaign in central midfield, leading MLS in tackles and duels won.
and I was lucky enough to get one. I was fortunate enough to put in a good shift and help my teammates out.”
The moment of lining up next to his brother wearing the same professional uniform after the last three years was not lost on Alex, but he knew he still had a job to do.
Roldan’s first career start didn’t happen by accident. He had been training well in preseason after the Sounders selected him in the first round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia, the same round and location that Seattle drafted Cristian three years earlier out of the University of Washington. It’s hard not to compare Alex to his brother, who is only 13 months his senior but is in his fourth professional season. The temptation is understandable. But he’s still trying to forge his own path in this league while following the successful trajectory of Cristian’s early career.
“It was a great feeling to be on the same pitch as my brother,” Alex said, “but that being said, once the game starts my head’s in the game and I’m concentrating and I’m hoping to get three points out of it.” Before his first start, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer told Alex to be confident, to trust his abilities and what got him to this level. He had earned the right to be in the starting lineup. He just had to prove it. “It was a good feeling having that opportunity,” said Alex. “A lot of rookies in the league are hoping for that chance,
“That’s a good storyline,” Schmetzer said of the two brothers starting and sharing the field together. “I hate comparing him to Cristian, he’s his own player, but he does have some of the same characteristics that 27
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I like. He’s determined, he’s got a little bite to his game. Alex has a lot of nice attacking movements in his game. Cristian, is he a No. 6 or a No. 8? He does some of the dirty work that goes unseen. But then he scores that goal to outdo his brother. It’s good having both on the field, and Alex has a good future if he keeps his head down and keeps playing.” The competitive banter is not lost on Alex either. When he first signed, he joked that he was a better passer than his brother, who now has three international caps with the United States after making his debut during the Gold Cup last summer. He lives with Cristian, is his roommate on the road and is always looking to him to try and improve. “If he has any questions, it’s great that I’m there,” said Cristian. “On the field, we’re competitive guys. I don’t want to lose to Alex very often, so I think it makes for a really good dynamic. “With him being a rookie,” he added with a smile, “it’s great because I can bully him around a little bit and let him take the water bottles instead of me doing it.” A first start is a nice story and a wonderful beginning for a 21-year-old with a lot of upside, tremendous pedigree and a plethora of veterans in the midfield from whom to learn, but Alex is not resting on his laurels. He knows how hard he’s worked to get where he is and how rare some of these opportunities are that he has. “It’s great when you have your first career start and you put in a decent performance, but that doesn’t really matter if the next performance is not the best,” Alex said. “One thing I’ll take away from that game is
that I have to be consistent if I want to be in this league, and I have to perform day in and day out.” Alex has only gotten better and has taken his role to heart. Alex started four of the next five matches since his first one in Kansas City and is looking more and more comfortable in the midfield. Every time his number has been called upon, Alex has answered in impressive fashion and continues to make Schmetzer’s choices difficult when fielding a lineup. “I’m trying to prove a point here and hopefully get the eyes of the coaches to see the potential that I have,” Alex said. “They’ve taken care of me, and I’m learning a lot from them along with the veterans. I’m picking up a few things from them every day, and that’s helped me grow in a short amount of time. Hopefully I can continue to grow as the season progresses.”
I’M TRYING TO PROVE A POINT HERE AND HOPEFULLY GET THE EYES OF THE COACHES TO SEE THE POTENTIAL THAT I HAVE. ALEX ROLDAN
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HOW WAYLON FRANCIS GAVE COSTA RICA ITS RALLYING CRY
BY RYAN KRASNOO 30
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IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT IN JOSE MIGUEL CUBERO'S LIFE, AND HE COULDN'T STOP CRYING.
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Fullback Waylon Francis sprinted onto the field in Brazil and wrapped his arms around his sobbing countryman while his teammates rejoiced all around them. Cameras swarmed, and Francis screamed in joy at Cubero, Llore conmigo, Papi, llore conmigo, que aquí lloramos los dos: “Cry with me, buddy, cry with me, here we both cry together.” On June 29, 2014, Costa Rica had just defeated Greece in penalty kicks in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals, the farthest the small Central American nation had ever gone. No one expected Los Ticos to even qualify for the knockout rounds. Drawn into Group D with perennial powers Italy, England and Uruguay, Costa Rica stunned everyone by winning the group and taking on Group C runners-up Greece.
Cubero told Francis, who joined the Seattle Sounders via Columbus Crew SC this past offseason, he was crying for family reasons and couldn’t contain his emotions. He was overwhelmed by the moment. “We need to celebrate,” Francis told Cubero, via The Columbus Dispatch. “This one is for Costa Rica.” When footage of Francis and Cubero embracing and Francis proudly yelling those now-famous words was broadcast, his Costa Rican people heard him. For the greatest moment in the country’s footballing history, its people now had a rallying cry to forever cement that accomplishment into its annals. “The whole world knows the phrase, Llore conmigo, Papi, and the whole world in Costa 33
Rica made memes with Llore conmigo, Papi,” said Francis. “Every time the Costa Rican national team plays in a match they’re making phrases with Llore conmigo. “Four million Costa Ricans were all crying together with the same emotion knowing that we made history at the World Cup,” continued Francis, who sports and sells his own merchandise with Llore Conmigo, Papi emblazoned on it. It’s been almost four years since that magical Costa Rica run, one that ended dramatically against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Los Ticos fell on the wrong side of a penalty-kick shootout, but the memory of that moment is just as palpable now as it was at Arena Pernambuco in São Lourenço da Mata in 2014. One still can’t thoroughly discuss Costa Rica soccer without mentioning Francis’ phrase he unintentionally coined. Last year, Francis filmed several commercials in his native country for Gollo, an appliance company that parodied his legendary moment with Cubero. It took Francis 10 to 20 takes to film the commercial over a day and a half of shooting because it was difficult for him to recreate the raw and vulnerable emotions he had displayed so passionately three years prior. “I’m never going to forget this good moment,” Francis told the Dispatch. “I remember everything about it. It’s always going to be on our minds…It’s the first time that it happened for us in our history. That’s why people take it so personal. That’s why people love it.”
This summer represents Costa Rica’s first opportunity to try and recapture 2014’s magic when it heads to Russia for the World Cup in Group E with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia. Costa Rica was one of three CONCACAF teams to qualify alongside Mexico and Panama. Francis, 27, has five caps for Los Ticos, with his last one coming two years ago in a friendly against Venezuela. Although he won’t be joining the squad this time around, the sentiment he left behind four years ago is something his entire country will carry with it as it looks to make another deep run. “The group is competitive, but we hope that we can have another World Cup like the last one,” said Francis. “Costa Ricans don’t want anything less than that, so we have to be well-prepared and know it won’t be easy.”
WE NEED TO CELEBRATE. THIS ONE IS FOR COSTA RICA. WAYLON FRANCIS 35
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DESPITE SHARING A NAME WITH OLDER BROTHER CRISTIAN, ROOKIE ALEX ROLDAN HAS FORGED HIS OWN PATH SO FAR IN THE SOUNDERS' MIDFIELD. THE SEATTLE UNIVERSITY PRODUCT STARTED FIVE OF HIS FIRST EIGHT MATCHES AND IS OFF TO A VERY PRODUCTIVE FIRST PROFESSIONAL SEASON. 01. I WISH MY NICKNAME WAS
02. MY CELEBRIT Y CRUSH IS
03. MY TEAMMATE WITH THE BEST FASHION GAME IS
04. I HAVE AN EXTREME FEAR OF
05. JORDAN & CRISTIAN REALLY NEED TO
06. MY PET PEEVE IS
07. STEFAN FREI MAKES ME L AUGH WHEN
08. MY FAVORITE PART OF TRAINING IS
09. IF I COULD HAVE A SUPERPOWER IT W OULD BE
10. BRIAN SCHMETZER IS
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