While the Seattle Sounders are off to the greatest start in club history and equaling the MLS record for longest unbeaten run to start a campaign, Alex Roldan is making history of his own:
The first Sounders field player in the club’s MLS history to play in goal.
The first Sounders player to receive an international callup to El Salvador.
The first Sounders player in the club’s MLS history to record a save and a goal.
When Stefan Frei went down with an injury in second-half stoppage time against San Jose on May 12, Roldan donned the gloves and made three clutch saves, setting off a chain of events that would cement him in Seattle record books.
Two months later, El Salvador Senior National Team Head Coach Hugo Perez officially called Alex into international duty for El Salvador on July 1, giving the 24-year-old his first callup. He will join his brother Cristian Roldan, who is set to join the United States Men’s National Team, for this month’s Concacaf Gold Cup. The Sounders duo are the first pair of brothers to start together in an MLS match for the Rave Green and may soon become the club’s first pair of brothers to face off in international play.
Just three days removed from the international callup, Alex Roldan secured the latest notch on his belt by scoring his first career MLS goal, through a first-half shot that slipped underneath Colorado goalkeeper William Yarbrough. The goal comes after having played 58 regular-season matches and adding five career assists, three saves and one clean sheet.
“Alex has the right mentality. He made something out of nothing, he always gives you 100 percent, he always fights,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer, “He’s got that Roldan blood in him.”
With a career resurgence following the decline of his option at the end of 2019 and a slew of personal accolades to celebrate in 2021, Alex’s mentality remains solely focused on the success of the team during this monumental campaign.
“Little bummed that we started off the game on top and unfortunately, we let them have one,” said Alex. “We battled really hard but I think the tough part is having to be composed in the final third with the ball and hopefully next time we can learn from this and get three points.”
Alex is scheduled to join El Salvador following Wednesday’s home match vs. Houston (6:00 p.m. PT; JOEtv, Prime Video, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS). The Concacaf Gold Cup group stage is set to begin on Saturday, July 10.
