CHAPTER 1 TAKING FLIGHT Ozzie Alonso was heated The Minnesota United FC captain charged into the locker room grabbed a plastic bottle and threw grabbed a plastic bottle and threw it The September 25 2019 game against it The September 25 2019 game against Sporting Kansas City was not going as planned The Loons as Minnesota United is called had come out flat Early in the first half Kansas City’s Botond Barath put his team up 1 0 Even worse the ball appeared to bounce off Barath's arm but the referee missed it Now the Loons were trailing at halftime of a game they needed to win A victory after all would secure the team’s first Major League Soccer MLS playoff berth Minnesota United defender Ike Opara left battles Sporting Kansas City’s Erik Hurtado for a header 4
HOME AT LAST Men’s pro soccer is hardly new in Minnesota The Twin Cities had a popular first-division team in the 1970s One team or another has represented the area continuously since 1990 Those teams had mostly played in minor leagues though What was new was MLS Minnesota United had moved up to the country’s top league in 2017 But the first two years were often a struggle Playing home games at an oversized college football stadium the Loons gave up a league-record 70 goals that first season Then they gave up 71 in 2018 6
Minnesota United fans were excited to follow the club to their gleaming new stadium in St Paul Still the 2019 season brought reason for hope Several talented players including Alonso had joined the team that offseason The team was opening a brand new soccer-specific stadium called Allianz Field in St Paul And on April 13 2019 Loons fans got their first in-person look at the team and stadium when New York City Football Club FC came to town for the home opener In the match’s 13th minute the ball came Alonso’s way With a hard-hit volley he sent the ball crashing into the net for the first goal in Allianz Field Although the Loons ended up tying the game 3 3 their future had never looked brighter 7
