Former S2 standout Pablo Rossi is again looking for a new team

After spending a week as a trialist with the Las Vegas Lights FC, Mexican manager “El Chelís” decided to pass on signing former S2 midfielder Pablo Rossi, due to a lack of international spots in the roster.

For every fútbol success story you’ve ever seen, there are hundreds of untold stories of how cruel the life of a professional player can be. Pablo Rossi is undeniably one of those tales of sweat and tears, and it hits particularly close to home because of his connection with the Sounders fan base.

If you followed in any way S2’s inaugural season, the name Pablo Rossi should sound at least familiar; the Argentine midfielder was undeniably one of the highlights of that first-year team. His free kick goals and ability to strike the ball from any range were worthy of just about anyone’s highlight reel, and certainly turned him into a fan favorite at the very least. Despite finishing the season with eight goals, though, Rossi was not offered a contract to stay in Seattle, pushing him to continue his career elsewhere.

In 2016, the 25-year-old played in Colombia’s second division with Deportivo Pereira, helping the club reach first place in the standings during regular season, playing 30 of 34 games and scoring four goals. Despite his success, Rossi was unable to come to terms with Corpereira, once again being passed over in spite of his achievements on the field. Now, after being flown in by the new USL expansion team expressing interest in adding the talented CAM, his career took another hit last night when he was denied a spot with the first-year Lights FC.

Why Las Vegas Lights FC?

“The truth is that I had some offers during the summer to play for first-division teams; from both Bolivia as well as Venezuela, with the possibility of playing Copa Libertadores but those ended up falling off at the last minute,” Pablo explained. With the frustration of those potential teams suddenly disappearing, while understanding time was of the essence if he wanted to land a team this season, Pablo was left without many options, and starting looking at other opportunities.

“I had to resort to writing a great mate I had with Sounders, who is Gonzo Pineda, basically asking for help, telling him I needed to play and if there was a way he could assist, maybe with one of his acquaintances, I imagined it would be with a second division team from Mexico or something like that and he ended up putting me in contact with the people from Las Vegas. I am truly happy and grateful with Gonzalo and I can’t emphasize that enough because beyond whether I stay here in Las Vegas or not, what he did for me are actions that reflect a true gentleman in every sense of the word.”

The former S2 player, who could not say enough about the appreciation he had for Pineda and noted he is one of his inspirations to work hard, was working to make sure not to let “The architect” down as he was the one “that stuck his neck out for him.”

Would he go back to S2?

Pablo expressed the affection he had for the Seattle Sounders as an organization, but was aware there was no interest on their part to bring him back. “I would love to go back to Seattle and play for Sounders or S2, but no one has contacted me and it’s not easy to go knock on their door and say here I am. Although I had a very good year when I was with them and I’ll say it again, I would love to be part of the Sounders again, is not easy to put myself out there.” Nevertheless, he had no resentment toward the club about it. On the contrary, Rossi mentioned he constantly follows the Sounders - in games, social media, and news - and will forever have a place in his heart for the club and the Rave Green fans.

As of this weekend, the Rosario native is scheduled to fly back to Argentina, visit his family and start again from square one. He has no plans to quit his dream, because if there is someone aware of how cruel it is to love soccer and everything that comes with it, is Pablo Rossi. “My intentions were to stay here, score, win and celebrate in the USL but this is soccer, this is what comes with it… I plan on playing it for a long time, whether it is here or in any other league but I will continue to play.”