RENTON — Nothing has come easy to Cristian Roldan during his soccer career.
Given his generally affable demeanor and relentlessly positive personality, it may come as a surprise that he’s had to fight for just about every opportunity he’s received. This can be traced to his days as a lightly recruited high school product and has continued through his professional career, where he’s had to repeatedly prove himself to doubters.
Finally being allowed to focus on playing the one position that seemingly best suits him, Roldan is enjoying arguably his best professional season. It has earned him plenty of plaudits, but also the attention of United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino and possibly put him in position to make next summer’s World Cup roster.
“The blueprint or cornerstone of our family is grit,” Roldan’s brother and Sounders teammate Alex Roldan said. “He’s had adversity thrown at him. He doesn’t always get the shine. But he has always worked hard. He does the things that need to be done.
“Everything that that has come his way has been done by hard work.”
In high school, he played for a relatively small club and was lightly recruited to college despite winning the Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year. At the University of Washington, he was a standout player but then fell to the Seattle Sounders at the No. 16 spot after a poor combine performance. By his second MLS season, Roldan had established himself as a starter and helped lead the Sounders to their first-ever MLS Cup, but was largely seen as a more complimentary player as he proved more valuable for his versatility than his position-specific excellence.
It was that kind of adaptability that helped Roldan make the 2022 United States World Cup squad, but it wasn’t enough to actually get him onto the field in any of their four matches.
When Roldan was part of a disappointing 2023 Gold Cup squad that finished fourth and then went two years without another call-up, it seemed like his USMNT career might be over.
But while on vacation following the Sounders’ Leagues Cup title this summer, he got a call from GM Craig Waibel asking if he could get on a plane. Maurcio Pochettino needed an emergency call-in and Roldan had apparently impressed him in win over Inter Miami. Roldan didn’t hesitate in saying yes, packing his bags and getting on the earliest flight possible. A few days later, he was making his USMNT return and he followed that up with a solid start against Japan.
“I’ve expressed my gratitude to getting a call-up,” Roldan said last week. “They don’t come very often in your career. I said I wouldn’t take opportunity for granted. He said to be myself, show my energy, be aggressive, and I felt I had a positive experience and now I have another opportunity to add another layer.”
Satisfying as his first call was, the real payoff came this week when Roldan was again named to the USMNT for a pair of friendlies on a roster that most observers believe is a close approximation of who will be called in next summer for the World Cup.
Roldan now seems to be in the thick of a battle for three or four spots that will go to more defensive-minded midfielders.
While Roldan may not be the most talented player in that group, it’s these other characteristics that seem to have endeared him to Pochettino.
“I didn’t know Cristian,” the Argentinian manager admitted during a recent media availability. “We were assessing him and knew about this CV but when there was an opportunity to bring him, we saw the possibility to play. We saw how he behaved with the group and his teammates.
“I don’t know who I will call in November, but he’s a good example of someone who wants to be involved and defend and fight for your place in this amazing country in this amazing sport that is soccer.”
Since his hiring, Pochettino has talked extensively about trying to instill a certain type of pride in the USMNT. He doesn’t just want players who want to play for the USMNT, he wants players who are so desperate to be there that they will humble themselves enough to do anything required.
“You need to arrive and show your character and then be available always,” Pochettino said. “If you’re playing, you behave the same if you’re not playing. That is another thing I’ve seen is the difference in how people behave when they know they’re playing versus not. That needs to be inside yourself. Outside you have to prove the best support.
“Cristian is a good example of a player who behaves the same. All these things are important. He has to perform. But if you behave like this and perform, there will always be an opening for a player of this profile.”
Of course, Roldan’s off-field attributes wouldn’t be worth much if he wasn’t also having an excellent season.
After years of staying on the field in part because of his ability to fill lots of roles at a high level, he’s finally been given a chance to play consistently at a position many thought suited him best all along. As a defensive midfielder, Roldan is able to combine his relentless engine, hard-tackling and slick passing into a possible Best XI-quality package.
Roldan leads all of MLS with 49 successful tackles, is sixth in blocks and has the eighth most interceptions among midfielders while also being one of the top passing midfielders in the league. Matched up against some of the sport’s best players in this summer’s Club World Cup, Roldan more than held his own and was a key reason the Sounders remained competitive in each match.
He’s also been remarkably durable. Roldan has played in 43 of the Sounders’ 44 matches this year and has logged more than 3,600 minutes. A year ago, he played more than 3,800 minutes.
All of that playing time has caused a fair amount of consternation, at least among fans. But Roldan has insisted that he feels good and that he has no desire to ask for a break.
It’s that type of stuff that prompts Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer to call him “a coach’s dream” and leads him to believe that Roldan has a real shot at representing the United States a second time.
“He doesn’t quit, has the right mentality, experience in big games plus he’s a nice kid who’s not afraid to drive training because it’s not good enough,” Schmetzer said. “He doesn’t make excuses. He makes people around him better. He’s earned his minutes on the grass.”
