Days after halting Lionel Messi and keeping Inter Miami scoreless in a stunning 3-0 victory in the Leagues Cup final in early September, Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan received a surprising phone call while on vacation.

"I answered in front of my wife, someone that has encouraged me and has given me a whole lot of confidence," Roldan told ESPN. "I had to get on a flight about five hours later."

Roldan was returning to the U.S. men's national team for the first time in two years.

Nine months out from the World Cup at the time, he had yet to play for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, and it wasn't as if he was an up-and-coming prospect or playing for a major European powerhouse. "I always had a slight belief that I could make a [national team] return, but the belief w

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