While playoff success is new for Minnesota United, it's been a rite of passage for the entirety of Ozzie Alonso’s career.
The 35-year-old defensive midfielder has played in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in all 12 of his seasons in Major League Soccer.
“The mentality does shift a little bit. We know that playoff games are life or death,” Alonso said. “If you lose, you go home and we can’t lose here, there’s always extratime to think about. In the regular season, you have games where you can play poorly and lose, but there are always more games where you can find results to keep advancing. ... So the mentality is different, we know this team is getting better every day. I’m pleased with what we gave in the last match, to get to the Conference Final”
Of course 10 of those postseason appearances were against the team he will be taking on Monday for a place in MLS Cup, the Seattle Sounders, where the four-time MLS All-Star won four U.S. Open Cups and one MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield apiece.
Alonso was a linchpin for a club considered the gold standard over the course of the last decade, a club trying to reach MLS Cup for the fourth time in the last five years.
It’s another big game at Lumen Field, like so many Alonso has played in the past. But this time, he'll not be wearing Rave Green when the Western Conference Final kicks off Monday (9:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info).
“We got Seattle, but it could have been another team,” Alonso said. “Pleased to be in Conference Final. It will be a tough match, but we focus on our game, our job and go there with joy and guts to give our best to win the game.”
Alonso wasn’t offering up any added motivation to media on the call, but Loons coach Adrian Heath said it’s impossible to spend as much time on one team as Alonso did — and be so integral to their success — and not have “special feelings.”
“Obviously it’s a huge game for Ozzie. You don’t give what he gave that club for 10 years or more and not have special feelings,” Heath said. “I know he’s really tight with Nico Lodeiro, but I’m sure he’ll put that on one side and he’ll be looking forward to the game.”
Heath said Alonso emerged from his 72-minute shift in a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City relatively unscathed, minus some “general fatigue and tiredness,” that's to be expected for a 35-year-old starting his first game since October.
While Alonso has carved out his spot in Seattle Sounders lore, and in Major League Soccer in general, his future is somewhat cloudy. Heath said there are about five to six players “in a similar boat” as Alonso in terms of their contract situation and admitted “there’s an awful lot of big decisions we have to make, but we’ll do that when the season is over.”
But in the past, and certainly in the present, Alonso plays a pivotal role in postseason success. Except this time, the original Sounder is looking to make history with Minnesota United and help lead them to a first MLS Cup berth.
“They’ve been showing it for years, they’re a great team,” Alonso said. “But like I said, we got Seattle but we have to think about us and we’re a great team too and we can go there with all, and find the result to get to MLS Cup.”
