NOTE: This is a lead feature in May's edition of Sounders Monthly coming out on Saturday, May 6th. Our May rivalry edition of Sounders Monthly will be available free-of-charge at The NINETY, GuestLink Services locations, Soccer Celebration and Membership Central. You can also access it on the Sounders Mobile App.
One of the most touching moments of the Seattle Sounders’ 2016 MLS Cup win is one you didn’t see.
Deep in the heart of BMO Field in Toronto, amid the sticky floors doused in champagne and the jubilant roaring from the visitor’s locker room, Jozy Altidore walked silently, alone, toward the noise.
Altidore’s towering header — the one that led to The Save from Stefan Frei, the star on his kit, the star tattooed on his left hand — had just nearly given Toronto FC its first league title. Instead, he approached a celebration, a ghost of what could have been, in search of Jordan Morris. Championship hat backward and overwhelmed with emotion, Morris met Altidore outside the locker room.
The two embraced.
“It was such a class act after how frustrated they were losing a big game like that,” Morris recalled. “It meant a ton and just shows the type of guy he is. He’s a great player on the field, but for me especially coming into camp, he’s been a mentor and a guy I look up to a lot. To have the class to come over to do that just speaks to his character.”
Altidore and Morris were two of U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena’s four forward selections, along with Morris’ teammate and the U.S.’ second all-time leading goalscorer Clint Dempsey, for March’s two crucial CONCACAF 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Altidore, 27, has over 100 caps, while Morris, 22, is just starting to cement his place on the international stage. Altidore is impressed with what he sees from Morris and expects him to continue to contribute for club and country.
“He has a lot going for him,” Altidore said of Morris. “He’s a humble kid, which I think helps a lot because he stays hungry for the right reasons. I think he can be a really big star for the U.S. national team and for MLS.”
Morris and Altidore’s relationship has grown because of how Altidore has taken Morris under his wing. Altidore turned pro at 16 and understands how difficult it is to shoulder the inevitable weight that comes from being a U.S. soccer prodigy. When Altidore first joined the national team, he and Freddy Adu were the only young players in the mix and were forced to bear the brunt of the hype, the lofty expectations and the unwavering spotlight.
“All the attention was always on us,” Altidore said of he and Adu. “Now we have three, four, five guys who are coming through and they share those responsibilities.”
Morris has become increasingly comfortable at the international level because of how welcoming and receptive Altidore has been. Toronto FC midfielder and U.S. captain Michael Bradley has also taken a devoted interest in Morris and has been vital to his continued growth and development.
Bradley knew Morris was special the first time he saw him play. The U.S. were training at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Then-U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann invited Morris to train with the national team for a couple days before Morris lined up against the U.S. in a scrimmage. The national team won handily, but Morris scored Stanford’s lone goal.
“His ability to play up front and run and work and be mobile and be such a handful and then still when he got in certain positions, score a goal or set up goals, that part was special, and you could see that he had qualities that really made him different,” recalled Bradley. “As time has gone on and the more time that I’ve spent with him, the more time I’ve played with him and as we’ve become teammates and friends, I can’t speak any more highly of him and what he’s all about.”
Said Altidore last December ahead of MLS Cup: “I remember looking over at [then-U.S. national team assistant coach] Andi Herzog, saying, ‘Is it too late to bring this guy along with us to Brazil?’ He was terrific.”
While Morris did not go to Brazil, Dempsey did, and he became the first American to score in three World Cups. After missing over six months while recovering from an irregular heartbeat, Dempsey returned to the international stage during March’s World Cup qualifiers with a vengeance. He recorded a hat trick in his first match against Honduras before adding another tally in Panama four days later. He and Altidore dominated offensively and their pairing as a second striker and No. 9, respectively, looked as good as it ever has.
“The last two games worked really well, [Altidore] does a great job of holding the ball up and can create opportunities for people and also for himself,” Dempsey said. “It’s great to play alongside a player with his quality.”
Added Altidore: “We’re both pretty good soccer players, just footballers alone, and we’re both goal-dangerous. We share the load and attention on defenses. That makes it work really well. We play different styles at the same time, so we give the defenses a different look and that’s worked well for us for a long time.”
The dynamic between club and country in world football is unlike anything in any other sport. Six weeks ago, Dempsey, Morris, Altidore and Bradley trained together, played together, put their right hands over their hearts and sang the national anthem together. On May 6, they will line up on opposite sides of the field, temporary adversaries before donning the U.S. kit again in June for the next two crucial rounds of World Cup Qualifiers and in July for the Gold Cup.
Bradley knows that everyone understands the deal. Part of what comes with being an international in a domestic league is playing against national team teammates as club opponents on a weekly basis.
“When you look all around the world, the best national teams have a strong majority of their players who are playing in their domestic league, many of whom play together for the same clubs,” said Bradley. “The reality of our league is that the players are a little more spread out than they are in other leagues across the world, but you start to see that more and more.”
Of Arena’s initial 24-man roster he called into camp ahead of those March WCQs, 19 currently play in MLS. It represents a rather large change in selection from Klinsmann to Arena, yes, but also signifies a cultural shift in the way American players view their domestic league. Even just five years ago, Bradley, Altidore, Dempsey, Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan and Alejandro Bedoya plied their trades abroad. Now home, the opportunity to build a better rapport behooves everyone.
“That’s a really positive thing for us as players,” Bradley said, “but also for the league and everybody in our country to be able to watch these types of players on a weekly basis.”
Familiarity may not breed contempt for the U.S. internationals competing against one another in MLS, but it doesn’t mean they won’t prepare the same way or approach the match any differently. They are aware, perhaps more than anyone, of how talented their opposition is.
“[Altidore] is a quality player who scores goals, and any time you play against him, you have to be aware of where he is on the field,” said Dempsey.
“It’s always fun [to play against your international teammates], but it’s never easy because you know what their qualities are like,” added Altidore. “They’re talented guys and you always like to play against good players. Those are memorable games.”
