Cristian Roldan (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He was the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Year while playing for

El Rancho High School El Rancho High School is a public high school located in the city of Pico Rivera, California, United States. It is a part of the El Rancho Unified School District. History El Rancho High School opened its doors in September 1952. Whittier High ...

Pico Rivera, California Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...

, and played collegiate soccer for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

. Roldan was picked by the Sounders in the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Januar ...

and developed into a regular starting player for the club with over 250 total appearances .

Career

College and amateur

Roldan was named the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Year in soccer while attending

. He declined invitations from the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

and

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

to join their academy teams and led the El Rancho Dons to an undefeated season with 26 wins. In his junior year, he had 21 goals and 21 assists for El Rancho and also played for youth club Union Independiente. During the 2012–13 season, he scored 54 goals and 30 assists and led El Rancho to a regional high school championship. Roldan was scouted by the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

at a tournament in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

and spent his college career with the

. In his two seasons of college soccer, Roldan made a total of 41 appearances and tallied 10 goals and seven assists as he helped lead the team to a Pac-12 title in 2013. Roldan was named the 2013 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, beating future Sounders teammate

Jordan Morris Jordan Perry Morris (born October 26, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and forward for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC and the United States national team. He grew up on Mercer Island, Washin ...

from the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

. During the college offseason, Roldan played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

for the

Washington Crossfire Crossfire Redmond, previously the Seattle Wolves and Washington Crossfire, is an American soccer organization based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of t ...

. He joined the team in 2013 as part of preparations to join the Huskies. Roldan also played for the Portland Timbers U23s in the 2014 MLS Homegrown Game.

Professional

On January 8, 2015, it was announced that Roldan had left college early to sign a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

contract with

. He was expected to be selected early in the

, but was chosen late in the first round with the 16th overall pick by

. The Sounders traded with

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

for the draft pick and had scouted Roldan during his offseason training sessions with the team. After making two substitute appearances the first two weeks of the season against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

and the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, Roldan made a substitute appearance for

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

affiliate club

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington (state), Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the Unit ...

on March 21 and scored an 89th-minute goal in a 4–2 victory over defending USL champion

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...

. Due to injuries and international call-ups, he made his first MLS start the following week in a goalless draw away to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

. Roldan developed into a deep-lying midfielder and earned a regular place in the starting lineup under head coach

Sigi Schmid Siegfried "Sigi" Schmid (; March 20, 1953 – December 25, 2018) was a German-American Association football, soccer Manager (association football), coach who had the most wins in the history of Major League Soccer (MLS). Born in Tübingen, West ...

following his performances as an "impact substitute". He was compared to captain and defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who Roldan regarded as a mentor and ultimately replaced. Roldan scored his first career Major League Soccer goal on July 13, 2016, during a 5–0 win over FC Dallas. He formed a partnership and personal friendship with fellow rookie Jordan Morris—previously a collegiate rival—that was dubbed "Jorstian Mordan". On November 10, 2019, Roldan featured for Seattle in a 3–1 home win over

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

MLS Cup 2019 MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The soccer match was contested by Seattle S ...

; he was involved in the build-up to his team's opening goal, after colliding with

Jonathan Osorio Jonathan Osorio (born June 12, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Canada national team. He holds the Toronto FC club record for most appearances. Osorio al ...

, who lost the ball, while Seattle went on to score with Kelvin Leerdam. He also played all eight matches in Seattle's run to the

2022 CONCACAF Champions League The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League) was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier football club competition org ...

title, providing one goal and five assists, and was named to the Team of the Tournament. Roldan underwent groin surgery in August 2022 to treat a

sports hernia Athletic pubalgia, also called sports hernia, core injury, hockey hernia, hockey groin, Gilmore's groin, or groin disruption is a medical condition of the pubic joint affecting athletes. It is a syndrome characterized by chronic groin pain in a ...

, his first major injury during his professional career. He returned to the team for their final three matches of the regular season as the Sounders failed to qualify for the playoffs.

International

Roldan represented the United States at

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

level. He was also eligible to represent either

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

through his parents, and mentioned in an interview that he had been offered senior callups from both nations. On July 12, 2017, he was cap-tied to the

by starting their

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF, and 24th CONCACAF regional championship ove ...

group stage match against

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

. Roldan and Sounders teammate Jordan Morris were called up to the final roster for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. Roldan had played limited minutes during the preceding World Cup qualifying campaign, but was chosen by

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...

for his leadership in training and ability to play in several roles.

Personal life

Roldan was featured in an

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

commercial as a nine-year-old, selected for his soccer ball juggling skills from 110 kids who tried out for the commercial. Roldan is of Salvadoran and Guatemalan descent, and has an older brother named Cesar Jr., who works as a trainer for the

, and a younger brother

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

who has also played for the Sounders since 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

United States * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

Best XI:

References

External links

*
Sounders FC player profileWashington Huskies biographyAdidas commercial featuring 10-year-old Roldan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roldan, Cristian 1995 births Living people People from Pico Rivera, California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California American people of Guatemalan descent American sportspeople of Latin American descent American sportspeople of North American descent Sportspeople of Guatemalan descent Soccer players from California American soccer players American sportspeople of Salvadoran descent Association football midfielders Washington Huskies men's soccer players USL League Two players Washington Crossfire players Major League Soccer players Seattle Sounders FC draft picks Seattle Sounders FC players USL Championship players Tacoma Defiance players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players