Sounders FC's Alonso, Chivas' Galindo have Cuban connection

The last time Osvaldo Alonso and Maykel Galindo saw each other was in April, after Galindo's Chivas USA side defeated Alonso's Sounders FC, 2-0, at the Home Depot Center in Southern California.

Alonso had just finished playing in the match. Galindo, as has been the case too often in his pro career, was out due to injury. Still, the friends embraced and wished each other well, never knowing that it would be five months before they would share a soccer field.

The two used to play together all the time in their native Cuba, as members of the national team. They also share another thing in common: Both walked away from the Cuban national team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup — Galindo in Seattle in 2005 and Alonso in Houston in 2007 — and defected to the U.S.

Come Saturday, Galindo, a forward, will play in the city where his American soccer dreams began, and Alonso, a midfielder, will be on the field trying to stop him. Just like the old days on the island when Galindo was on the senior team and Alonso playing for the U-20 team.

"We have a good friendship and he's a good guy," Alonso said. "We've had the opportunity to talk about how we came to be here. He told me his story and I told him mine and how emotional it was to escape. We've become better friends because of that bond."

Galindo walked right out of the team hotel in Seattle and boarded a city bus, making a call to an acquaintance to pick him up. Alonso slipped away from a team shopping trip at a Wal-Mart and sought asylum.

The two were reunited in California a couple of summers ago when Chivas USA invited Alonso to try out and Galindo was already on the team, having spent one full season and a couple of months with the former USL Sounders before signing with Chivas in 2007. Now Galindo talks about songs on his iPod and cuts smiling, quirky promos on the video board at the Home Depot Center while Alonso has become a cult hero among fans in Seattle, and only this week signed autographs at a local McDonald's.

"I've been here four years now and I feel really comfortable," Galindo said of living in the U.S. "It took three years to feel that way."

Galindo's ability to play soccer helped him find his way in the States. His speed caught former Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer's eye, and it wasn't long after Galindo was invited to practice with the team that Hanauer found a way to add him to the roster. Major League Soccer came calling shortly thereafter.

Still, Galindo has never forgotten Seattle and calls the city "a second home."

Galindo has shown flashes of brilliance with his MLS club, but hasn't really been on the field consistently. A sports hernia last year required three surgeries, and Galindo has only been playing regularly since June.

"He's effective, he's dangerous and there's no real surprise what you're going to get with him," said Sounders FC defender Taylor Graham, a former teammate of Galindo's in USL. "He's got pace and he can finish."

When Alonso and Galindo talk, most often via e-mail, they make sure to tell each other to keep working hard and moving forward. And Galindo is still the same chatty, fun-loving guy he was from practically his first day with the old Sounders.

"Maykel has tremendous charisma and he's always happy," Alonso said. "I know how hard it was for him to come here because I made that decision, too. We just let each other know we support each other."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com