Seattle Sounders MLS Cup 2016: Where are they now?
By Matt Coles
CM – Osvaldo Alonso – Minnesota United (MLS)
Cuban-born midfielder Osvaldo Alonso spent ten seasons with the Seattle Sounders, from their inception in the league right through to the end of the 2018 season. He played 39 times through the 2016 campaign, including starting all six games in the postseason, despite needing pain-killing injections to get through the matches.
His professional career started with Pinar del Río in his native Cuba. In his three seasons with the club, he played over 50 times and helped the side win the Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Cuba in 2006.
He then signed for Charleston Battery for the 2008 season, and by the end of it, was named the USL-1 Rookie of the Year by the league. Alonso then signed for Seattle Sounders ahead of their inaugural season in the league in 2009, and he immediately became a fan favourite in the defensive midfield role.
The team won the U.S. Open Cup in their first three seasons, 2009, 2010 and 2011, before going on to take a fourth cup title in 2014, with Alonso playing his part in all of them. He was also named in the MLS All-Star side for four consecutive years, from 2011-2014, and named in the MLS Best XI in 2012.
The midfielder was an integral part of the side that lifted the MLS Cup in 2016, although he needed several pain-killing injections to get through the 120 minutes of the final itself. Ahead of the 2019 campaign, Alonso was traded to Minnesota United, where has become one of the main men in their midfield.