SEATTLE — Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan is younger than most college seniors. Still just 21, he couldn’t even legally drink alcohol in the United States until last June.
Yet there was Roldan on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field, leading the Sounders onto the pitch in a friendly against Mexico’s Club Necaxa, captain’s armband fastened securely around his left bicep. Behind him were full-grown men, some in their thirties, following their third-year defensive midfielder against Liga MX competition.
How Roldan earned the captaincy is two-fold. The Sounders were without four internationals and an injured Jordan Morris, who was sent home from U.