Fredy Montero is coming home.
Sounders FC announced on Thursday that Montero, a club legend and star of the inaugural MLS team, had rejoined the Rave Green ahead of the 2021 season.
Montero, 33, first joined Sounders FC on loan from Deportivo Cali as Seattle ramped up for its first season in Major League Soccer. A thrilling attacking talent with a penchant for flair, Montero’s meteoric rise featured four consecutive seasons with double-digit goals and at least seven assists.
Now that he’s back where he belongs, let’s take a look at five of Montero’s most memorable moments in Rave Green.
Long-Range Goal Against Real Salt Lake
Few players in league history boast the technique and shooting range Montero flashed throughout his time in Seattle.
Playing in front of a boisterous crowd at Lumen Field in 2009, Montero unleashed a swerving shot from 30-yards that left one of the best MLS goalkeepers of all-time, Nick Rimando, flailing as the shot flew into the back of the net.
Golazo Against the Galaxy
Truly special forwards make you feel like they could create a goal every time they have the ball at their feet. That was especially true for Montero, who boasted an ability to paint the corners from anywhere inside the opposition half.
In his second season in Seattle, Montero somehow one-upped his ridiculous goal against RSL from the year before. Picking the ball up in transition, Montero spots the Galaxy back line dropping off into space. Montero capitalized on the mistake by smacking a knuckle ball that zoomed into the upper corner from 35-yards.
Brace in Inaugural Match
When Montero first showed up in Seattle, he was a relatively unknown prospect from Colombia. But in Sounders FC’s debut match in MLS, he instantly put his name on the map as he scored the first goal in club history, assisted the second, and completed his brace with the third.
The club’s ascent from exciting upstart to annual contender for MLS Cup can be traced back Montero’s match-winning display in front of 32,523 supports at Lumen Field.
Hat Trick at Chivas USA
The list of players who’ve bagged hat tricks for Sounders FC is pretty exclusive.
As one of the most prolific attacking players to ever don the Rave Green, it makes sense that Montero is in that rarified air. On August 25, 2012, he netted three goals, each of them a showcase for his robust skillset, in a 6-2 win over Chivas USA.
Game-winning in 2011 U.S. Open Cup Final
Another reason Sounders FC quickly cemented its status as a premier club in MLS was the speed with which the club filled out its trophy cabinet.
With the score deadlocked in the second half of the 2011 U.S. Open Cup final, Montero poached a goal that proved decisive as the Sounders lifted their third trophy in their first three seasons.
Honorable Mentions
Brace off the Bench in Dallas
Montero entered a gridlocked road match and quickly supplied two individual moments of magic, securing three massive points.
Ridiculous Volley in Portland
Everything about this goal is pure art: the strength to hold off the defender, the balance to get his foot around the ball, and the guile to lob the goalkeeper from a tight angle inside the box.
Equalizer at the Whitecaps
Down a goal in the waning moments of a road match against Vancouver, Montero scored an absurdly difficult equalizer in the 90th minute to steal a point.
