Alexander Roldán León (born July 28, 1996) is a professional

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. Born in the United States, he played for the El Salvador national team.

Club career

College and amateur

Roldan attended

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 Hig ...

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 ...

. 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. Roldan spent his college career at the

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

, the cross-town rivals of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where his brother Cristian played. In his four seasons with the Redhawks, Roldan made a total of 82 appearances and tallied 18 goals and 17 assists. Roldan also played in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

for OSA FC.

Professional

On January 19, 2018, Roldan was selected 22nd overall in the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania b ...

. He signed with the club in February 2018. Alex assisted his brother Cristian in his first-ever MLS career start against

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

; they became the fifth set of brothers in MLS history 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 a league match. Roldan was primarily a reserve midfielder for two seasons; Seattle did not renew his contract at the end of the 2019 season. He was re-signed by the Sounders on February 17, 2020, following a switch to right-back. Roldan played three matches during the shortened regular season and replaced

Kelvin Leerdam Kelvin Leerdam (; born 24 June 1990) is a Surinamese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Heracles Almelo and Suriname national team. Club career Early career Leerdam was born in Paramaribo, the capital and largest city of Su ...

during the MLS Cup Playoffs as the Sounders made it to a second consecutive

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

. Roldan had a breakout run at the beginning of the 2021 MLS season, where he became starting right-back for the Sounders. Throughout the first six matches of the regular season, Roldan recorded two assists and played every minute. During a MLS match against

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

, goalkeeper

Stefan Frei Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986) is a Swiss professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in Switzerland, Frei moved with his fam ...

left the match due to injury after the Sounders had used their available substitution windows; a field player was required to step into the

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

position. Roldan appeared in goal for the remaining five minutes of stoppage time, an occasion that has only occurred twelve times in MLS history, and recorded a shutout.

International career

Eligible for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, it was reported in May 2021 that Roldan had turned down an approach from Guatemala. In June 2021 El Salvador head coach Hugo Pérez confirmed that Roldan had agreed to represent El Salvador. On June 18, he was named to El Salvador's provisional squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

. On July 1, he was named to the final squad. 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.

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 The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

, and Cristian, a midfielder for the

. He married Stacy Marquez in December 2023.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played June 20, 2023. El Salvador score listed first, score column indicates score after each Roldán goal.''

Honours

Seattle Sounders *

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

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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 another league. MLS initially ado ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

*
Sounders FC player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roldan, Alex 1996 births Living people People from Pico Rivera, California Salvadoran men's footballers 21st-century Salvadoran sportsmen El Salvador men's international footballers American men's soccer players Salvadoran people of Guatemalan descent American sportspeople of Salvadoran descent American people of Guatemalan descent Sportspeople of Guatemalan descent Soccer players from Los Angeles County, California Men's association football midfielders Major League Soccer players National Premier Soccer League players USL Championship players USL League Two players Crossfire Redmond players Seattle Redhawks men's soccer players Seattle Sounders FC draft picks Seattle Sounders FC players Tacoma Defiance players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century American sportsmen