On Tuesday, the Seattle Sounders officially began their 2019 campaign and, as notable as who was practicing at the team’s StarFire complex, was who wasn’t.
Clint Dempsey’s mid-season retirement in the summer of 2018 and the offseason move that brought Ozzie Alonso to Minnesota United FC in free agency shows the realities of the new MLS season. That duo combined for 82 career-MLS goals, over 430 career starts and a total of eight MLS All-Star game appearances between them.
And they’re not here any more.
“Ozzie had a great career here,” Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey said.