Alejandro Bedoya is the link-up man for the Philadelphia Union. He’s the No. 8. The hidden playmaker. He’s the club’s captain, leader and chief schemer. He’s a conduit on the field from back to attack, doing “what I do best: moving the ball from the defense to the front.” He’s a link between personalities and teammates in the locker room, “managing egos and pridefulness.” And he’s a link to a bigger world – one he met head-on, with no promises of success, when he set off for Europe at the tender age of 20.
“I was just out of college where I had a kind of free role, and at that level what matters is if you’re better than the guys around you.