The future is bright for Seattle Sounders Homegrown Player Obed Vargas.
Vargas, 16, has turned plenty of heads in recent weeks with a pair of exciting performances in central midfield as the Sounders advanced past FC Motagua in the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League. The Sounders Academy alum made his First Team debut last year in the club’s historic 1-0 victory over Austin FC, and enjoyed a strong breakout season with the Tacoma Defiance in the USL Championship.
Following in the footsteps of fellow Academy alums Danny Leyva and Josh Atencio, Vargas has stepped up when called upon on the biggest stage.
“The Seattle Sounders are another club to make a long-range play in the academy space that’s now bearing legitimate fruit,” wrote MLSsoccer.com’s Charles Boehm. “As with several other organizations featured in this list, it’s difficult to reckon which of their current crop of youngsters will turn out to have the highest ceiling – much like it’s extremely tough for any of them to carve out minutes on one of the most talent-laden squads in the league.”
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Hailing from Anchorage, Alaska, Vargas has quickly risen through the ranks at the club. A gritty, box-to-box midfielder, he hasn’t missed a beat playing alongside both Cristian Roldan and João Paulo at the heart of the Sounders’ 4-2-3-1 formation.
“Accuse us of recency bias if you wish, but we’re giving Vargas the nod after his head-turning display at the heart of the Rave Green midfield in their opening match of 2022, a 0-0 first-leg Concacaf Champions League draw with Honduras’ Motagua last week,” added Boehm. “The Alaska native mixed it up in the engine room, showing precise distribution and clever reading of the game as well as a useful streak of physicality.”
Vargas played the full 90 minutes across both legs of Seattle’s SCCL Round of 16 series against Honduran powerhouse Motagua. He helped facilitate possession, carved out a few chances and shielded the Sounders backline as the Rave Green advanced 5-0 on aggregate.
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