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But will the emotions surrounding his return to
Seattle in another team's uniform for the first time be
overshadowed by a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump?
That is a looming question as the Vancouver Whitecaps striker
gets set to play his first game Wednesday in the Emerald City,
where he scored his and the Sounders' inaugural Major League
Soccer goal before embarking on a global odyssey.
The Western Conference-leading Whitecaps (14-9-6) are unbeaten
in seven games and the Sounders, winless in their past five
outings (0-1-4), could move into a tie for first place.
But while Montero looks forward to his return to the adopted
city he calls home, it remains to be seen whether players from
both sides stage a symbolic protest before or during the U.S.
national anthem, as NFL and Major League Baseball players have
done recently.
"It's going to be strange to be back in the place where I began
my MLS career," wrote Montero in an article on The Players
Tribune. "But as soon as the whistle blows, I'm a Whitecap. I'm
not just going to Seattle to see my family, I'm going to bring
three points back to Canada."
But despite a Canadian team's presence, the pregame events could
focus on American domestic issues. Sounders goalkeeper Stefan
Frei, a Swiss-born naturalized U.S. citizen, told The Seattle
Times that the team has not discussed any anthem protest, but
he's certain that one will happen at some point.
"It has to be done, not as a fashionable, 'Here's a hype train,
let's hop on it,'" Frei said. "It has to be done with the right
intentions. Whichever team does that, or whichever athlete or
prominent person does that."
Both teams have several American players on their rosters.
Meanwhile, Montero, 30, who spent four seasons with Seattle from
2009 to 2012 before going on to play for squads in his native
Colombia, Portugal and China and returning to MLS, can help the
Whitecaps improve their hopes of finishing atop the West for the
first time.
He leads the Whitecaps with an MLS career-high 13 goals and has
scored three goals in two games against the Sounders in
Vancouver, where the Whitecaps posted a win and the clubs tied.
But Montero is not sure what kind of reaction he will receive in
Seattle, which he and his family still call home in the
offseason.
"Honestly, I don't know," he told reporters. "I'm excited to see
that. I respect all the people in Seattle, and I have a good
past with them."
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