Alex Roldán

Alexander Roldán León (born 28 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders. Born in the United States, he captains the El Salvador national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Roldán and the second or maternal family name is León.
Alex Roldán
Personal information
Full name Alexander Roldán León[1]
Date of birth (1996-07-28) 28 July 1996
Place of birth Artesia, California, United States
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Seattle Sounders
Number 16
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Seattle Redhawks 82 (18)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 Washington Crossfire 13 (0)
2017 OSA FC
2018– Seattle Sounders 118 (2)
2019 → Tacoma Defiance 15 (2)
International career‡
2021– El Salvador 18 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:13, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2023

Club career

College and amateur

Roldan attended El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, California. He played soccer for The Dons helping them to the playoffs all four years and winning a state championship. With his time with The Dons, he earned first-team all-league three times, and was named league MVP in after his senior season.[3]

Roldan spent his college career at the Seattle University. In his four seasons with the Redhawks, Roldan made a total of 82 appearances and tallied 18 goals and 17 assists.[3][4]

Roldan also played in the National Premier Soccer League for OSA FC.[5]

Professional

On January 19, 2018, Roldan was selected 22nd overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by Seattle Sounders FC.[6] He signed with the club in February 2018.[7] Alex assisted his brother Cristian Roldan in his first-ever MLS career start against Sporting Kansas City. They became the fifth set of brothers to earn a goal/assist together. They also became the seventh pair of brothers in MLS history, including the first for the Sounders, to start together in an MLS match.[8]

Roldan was out of contract with Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.[9] He was re-signed by the Sounders on February 17, 2020.[10]

Roldan enjoyed a breakout type run of form at the beginning of the 2021 MLS season. Throughout the first six matches of the 2021 MLS Season, Roldan recorded 2 assists from his position as a defender and played every minute.[11] During a MLS match against San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei left the match due to injury and with the club having already utilized their three opportunities to make substitutions, a field player was required to step into the goalkeeper position. Roldan, a defender, appeared in goal for the remaining five minutes of stoppage time, an occasion that has only occurred twelve times in MLS history.[12]

International career

Eligible for the United States, Guatemala and El Salvador, it was reported in May 2021 that Roldan had turned down an approach from Guatemala.[13] In June 2021 El Salvador head coach Hugo Pérez confirmed that Roldan had agreed to represent El Salvador.[14] On June 18, he was named to El Salvador's provisional squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[15] On July 1, he was named to the final squad.[16] On July 11 he made his international debut as a substitute in El Salvador's first group stage match against Guatemala, where he also got his first goal, scoring the first in a 2–0 victory.[17]

Personal life

Roldan was born to an immigrant father from Guatemala and mother from El Salvador, Cesar and Ana respectively, and has two older brothers, Cesar Jr., who works as a trainer for the LA Galaxy, and Cristian, a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders FC.[3][18][19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 13 May 2023[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Seattle Sounders FC 2 2018 USL 81———81
Tacoma Defiance 2019 USL 61———61
2020 USL 10———10
Total 152000000152
Seattle Sounders FC 2018 MLS 190101[lower-alpha 1]0—210
2019 MLS 9010——100
2020 MLS 180—1[lower-alpha 1]04[lower-alpha 2]0230
2021 MLS 291—3[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 2]0331
2022 MLS 321008[lower-alpha 1]0—401
2023 MLS 11000—1[lower-alpha 4]0120
Total 118220130601392
Career total 133420130601544
  1. Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
  2. Appearance(s) in MLS Cup Playoffs
  3. Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup
  4. Appearance in FIFA Club World Cup

International
As of match played 27 March 2023[21]
El Salvador
YearAppsGoals
2021122
202240
202320
Total182
As of match played 12 November 2021. El Salvador score listed first, score column indicates score after each Roldán goal.[21]
List of international goals scored by Alex Roldán
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 July 2021 Toyota Stadium, Frisco, United States 1  Guatemala 1–0 2–0 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2 12 November 2021 Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador 11  Jamaica 1–1 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Seattle Sounders

Individual

References
  1. "Group A, 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup: El Salvador" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  2. "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022™: List of Players: Seattle Sounders FC" (PDF). FIFA. 7 February 2023. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. "Alex Roldan". GoSeattleU.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. "Alex Roldan". mlsSoccer.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. "On the same team: OSA FC roster connects players from local universities". goalwashington.wordpress.com. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. Krasnoo, Ryan (19 January 2018). "MLS SuperDraft 2018: Seattle Sounders select Alex Roldan with the 22nd pick". SoundersFC.com. Sounders FC Public Relations. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. "Sounders FC signs Alex Roldan and Jordan McCrary". Seattle Sounders FC. 13 February 2018.
  8. "Alex Roldan records assist to Cristian Roldan in first career MLS start". Seattle Sounders FC. 15 April 2018.
  9. "Sounders FC announces roster decisions to conclude 2019 season". Seattle Sounders FC. 20 November 2019.
  10. "Sounders FC re-signs defender Alex Roldan". Seattle Sounders FC. 18 February 2020.
  11. "Alex Roldan". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  12. Oshan, Jeremiah (13 May 2021). "Postgame Pontifications: Alex Roldan just turned into a genuine folk hero". Sounder At Heart. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  13. Olsen, Jeremiah (21 May 2021). "Alex Roldan turned down a call-up to Guatemala, report says".
  14. Olsen, Jeremiah (17 June 2021). "Alex Roldan will represent El Salvador internationally, report says".
  15. Creditor, Avi (18 June 2021). "Early Takeaways From Concacaf's Preliminary Gold Cup Squads".
  16. Salvadoran Football Federation [@LaSelecta_SLV] (1 July 2021). "Convocatoria Oficial de nuestra #SelectaMayor para la @goldcup" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. "El Salvador blanks Guatemala in Gold Cup". National Post. Reuters. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  18. Baker, Geoff (19 January 2018). "Sounders select Alex Roldan, younger brother of Cristian Roldan, in first round of MLS SuperDraft". Seattle Times. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  19. Baker, Geoff (1 August 2017). "Sounders' Cristian Roldan remembers the sacrifices his parents made in Pico Rivera". Seattle Times. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  20. Alex Roldán at Soccerway
  21. "Alex Roldán". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
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