Minnesota United veteran Ozzie Alonso runs MLS Cup playoff streak to 13

Minnesota United's Ozzie Alonso now has made the playoffs every season in his 13-year MLS career, but this time he needed a little timely help from his friends.

Suspended for too many yellow-card accumulations, Alonso watched from a suite at Dignity Health Sports Park when his Loons team clung in the final, frantic minutes to a 3-3 draw with the LA Galaxy on Decision Day.

That earned the Loons the Western Conference's fifth seed and a playoff spot. It also knocked out the Galaxy when it couldn't muster a late goal and a victory after Real Salt Lake scored very late in a 1-0 victory at Sporting Kansas City.

"The last three minutes were crazy for me because I never felt that feeling before," Alonso said. "I always tried to play."

He played his team into the playoffs with Seattle for a decade and now with a Loons team that is back for a third consecutive year despite starting this season 0-4.

Alonso will play his 30th career MLS playoff game on Sunday in Portland against the fourth-seeded Timbers. He turned 36 last Thursday and is the Loons' captain.

"I'm very happy for this year because in the beginning we started losing a lot of games," Alonso said in an English-language, team-conducted interview. "But little by little, we ramped it up. Sometimes you have to get up from the mistake and I think we did. Little by little, we start playing hard and start playing our game. We're in the playoff and we want to get to MLS Cup because that's our goal for this year."

"Amazing," Alonso said. "You know, being in this league so many years, I make the playoff every year and I think it is unbelievable for me."

All this has come these past 14 years since he walked away in a Texas Walmart from the Cuba national team during the 2007 Gold Cup and defected to a new life. He played a season with the USL's Charleston Battery before he joined the MLS expansion Seattle team in 2009.

That's where he became one of the league's best defensive midfielders.

He became the backbone for a Seattle team that built a "Cascadia" rivalry with Portland, just three hours' drive down the interstate. The teams played a two-game playoff series twice during Alonso's time there, in 2013 and 2018.

"Portland is a great team; I play against them so many times," Alonso said. "It has been a battle for me. It's going to be special. It'll be different going down there with Minnesota. I think we're confident to go down there and make something happen for this club."

Versatile young midfielder Hassani Dotson started in Los Angeles Nov. 7 alongside veteran Wil Trapp, where Alonso is expected to return against the Timbers.

Trapp deems Alonso their team's spiritual and vocal leader who does so by example, no matter his age.

"All of us as players want to be playing into our 30s," said Trapp, who is 28. "The way his body just keeps going, it's a huge testament to his professionalism."

Now Alonso is here in the playoffs once again.