Fredy Montero is someone who got his first pro soccer tryout with Deportivo Cali at the age of 13. He impressed enough to be signed after just one session.

In the manner of accomplished athletes, the Sounders striker embellishes on natural talent with solid effort and a determined resolve to achieve.  He is a player who will unabashedly set goals and talk about them.

A forward known for his blazing speed, Montero is determined to convert scoring opportunities into goals. 

After the recent 3-0 friendly win against Boca Juniors at the Xbox pitch at Qwest Field, I caught up with him and asked if he had a scoring goal/projection for the current MLS campaign.

“My objective is to score 20 goals,” he quickly replied.  “Playing soccer in Colombia with a shorter season I would have a goal more like 12 or 14 goals.  But in Major League Soccer there is a longer season.  Because it is longer my goal is to score 20 goals.”

Saturday night the Sounders played its best half of the season.  The team scored three first half goals en route to an impressive 3-0 victory over the New England Revolution.  Montero supplied one of the goals. 

Fellow striker Steve Zakuani scored a goal as well, leaving the speedy duo tied for the team lead with four goals apiece.

Montero also garnered an assist on the evening, leaving the Colombian with four on the season.  In reaching that status, he is the team leader in assists.

When I caught up with Montero after practice on the Xbox pitch Tuesday, it was only natural to ask him about his status as team leader in the vital assist category.

Montero’s achievement in assists begged the question of whether he had set a seasonal goal in that category as he had earlier for scores.  The Colombian Comet had a quick response.

“Yes, I have a goal for assists,” he replied.  “My goal for the season is to achieve 10 assists.”

So now Montero has set his goals for scores and assists at 20 and 10 respectively.

Montero excels at moving the ball into position and scoring as well as taking advantage of set piece situations with his booming legs.

In terms of practice sessions, I asked Montero, is one area more demanding than the other, affording extra time?  How are practice sessions prioritized?

“We spend our practice sessions in game type situations,” Montero explained.  “We devote a comparable amount of time to the different areas of the game.  Time is spent on set pieces and moving play.  The idea is to prepare ourselves for game play.”

On the subject of role models for the young Fredy Montero, as he played soccer with his friends in his native Colombia and dreamt about a major league professional career, two names came immediately to mind.  Both played for one of the most famous names in international soccer.

It was no surprise that an eventual major league soccer player from Colombia would demonstrate an interest in two players from Real Madrid, a premier Spanish team for years.

“A favorite player of mine was Raul Gonzalez of Real Madrid,” Montero said.

Raul Gonzalez Blanco, known simply as Raul, was a brilliant striker—the same position as Montero plays.  He is the leading scorer in the history of that storied franchise and three times won the UEFA Champions League.

Montero picked another celebrated name as someone he paid close attention to during his early days of play in Colombia.

“I was a big fan of Ronaldo during his Real Madrid days,” Montero revealed.

In setting his own sights high, Montero unsurprisingly had role models who were great achievers.  Ronaldo became the youngest player in history to win the FIFA “Player of the Year Award” and the only one to win it two years in succession, garnering honors in 1996 and 1997.

Fredy Montero is a player of burning determination with set goals.

He was named “Newcomer of the Year” in the MLS for 2009, and has established high standards for himself in his sophomore season of 2010 as he seeks to help propel the Seattle Sounders into the playoffs.

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