Much was made about Nicolas Lodeiro’s Major League Soccer debut against the LA Galaxy in late July, and rightly so. He played brilliantly and ushered in hope to a sinking Seattle Sounders season.
What’s often lost in that narrative is that it was also the first game back for Alvaro Fernandez, Lodeiro’s countryman and confidant in his move from Boca Juniors to Seattle, who re-signed with the Sounders on July 28.
Fernandez spent three seasons with the Sounders from 2010-12, recording 13 goals and three assists in 55 appearances. He spent the latter half of the 2012 season with the Chicago Fire before going on loan to Al-Rayyan in Qatar, Nacional in Uruguay and Gimnasia in Argentina.
Fernandez returned to Seattle with tamed expectations, but with Clint Dempsey’s indefinite sidelining and Andreas Ivanschitz’s knee sprain, Fernandez was thrust into a starting role on the wing in head coach Brian Schmetzer’s 4-2-3-1 formation. So there was Fernandez on Decision Day, starting on the left against Real Salt Lake in a match the Sounders needed to win to qualify for the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
And he delivered—early.
Fernandez scored just three minutes into the match, tapping in a beautiful behind-the-legs flick-on from Jordan Morris off a cross from Tyrone Mears. Fernandez darted to the back post and finished the easy conversion to give the Sounders, up until that point, their most important goal of the season.
The tally was Fernandez’s first in MLS since 2012 and helped the Sounders to a 2-1 win and their eighth consecutive postseason berth.
