Leo Gonzalez, Sounders soldier into L.A.

CARSON, Calif. – Wobbly, gritty and with more anxious moments than he’d have preferred, left back Leo Gonzalez personified Seattle’s conference semifinal series against Dallas.

Turned to and fro by the dribbling skills of Fabian Castillo, a player more than a decade his junior, the veteran defender just dug in his heels and held on.

He bent but he didn’t break.

Seattle will lean on Gonzalez’s resiliency again today when it opens the Western Conference finals against the L.A. Galaxy.

“Especially in the Dallas game, he was a real soldier for us,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “He tweaked his back … he also turned his ankle. He just kept soldiering through.”

Gonzalez has fully recovered, Schmid said. However, midfielder Osvaldo Alonso remains a question mark with a tweaked hamstring.

If Alonso is ruled out, Seattle may elect to play conservatively, defensively, grinding out a result that will give them a chance at CenturyLink Field next Sunday. To do that, Gonzalez and the rest of the Sounders’ back line will have to contain a decorated attacking core.

L.A. forward Landon Donovan has been in peak form since announcing his retirement in late August, and Robbie Keane is on the three-man short list for the MLS MVP award (along with Sounders forward Obafemi Martins).