Minnesota United’s historic first win at Allianz Field on Sunday had barely begun to be savored when Loons defender Ike Opara turned the page.

“Next week is for Ozzie.”

That is new United captain Ozzie Alonso, who for the first time will play against the Seattle Sounders, a club he helped lead to an MLS Cup championship in 2016 and never missed the playoffs in 10 seasons.

Before this year, Alonso has worn no other MLS color than Seattle’s rave green. For a bulldog defensive midfielder who wears his heart on his sleeve, he doesn’t hide from the emotions he believes he will feel during Saturday night’s game at Allianz Field.

“I’ve very excited to play against them, but at the same time I have to be relaxed because I don’t want my emotions to do something against me,” he said Tuesday, kicking off a week of constant questions about this scenario.

Brent Kallman, who only has played for Minnesota since turning pro in 2013, tried to put himself in Alonso’s shoes. “I think I’d want to win really badly,” Kallman said. “I think he’s a pretty crazy, ultimate competitor as it is, and I’m sure he’s got even more fuel for his fire for this one.”

Alonso put it all on the line for the Sounders. One of his crowning achievements came in the 2016 playoff run. In the Western Conference finals, he injured his knee and was forced to leave in the 74th minute of a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Nov. 27

He didn’t train from that game until MLS Cup against Toronto FC on Dec. 10, when with numbing injections in his knee, he gutted out a 120-minute shift through overtime and penalty kicks to help Seattle win the title.

“I didn’t want to miss the final,” Alonso said. “I tell the doctor, ‘You have to do something for my knee because I want to play, You have to try something.’ ”

As Alonso has grown older, Seattle showed an increasing willingness to part with the club leader in career games and minutes played and the last remaining player from the club’s inaugural season in 2009. The Sounders left him exposed in the 2018 expansion draft, but Los Angeles FC didn’t select him.

Alonso switched subjects Tuesday when the Pioneer Press asked him how felt about Seattle backing out of their partnership. He instead harkened back to his life’s pivotal moment when he defected from Cuba while at a Houston Wal-Mart in 2007.

“I came from Cuba with nothing, so being in Seattle 10 years — but I can win again,” Alonso said. “I’m not afraid to settle in a new place because when I came from Cuba I was no speak English, no nothing. So, (leaving Seattle is) nothing for me.”

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After Alonzo played a 10-year-low 1,833 minutes in 25 games with Seattle last year, United began talking to the Sounders about acquiring him in November. That groundwork allowed them to further complete the deal during MLS meetings in Orlando, Fla., in early January.

This season, Alonso has played all 810 minutes in nine games for the Loons and is fifth in the league with a 91.1 passing percentage, per whoscored.com. He started wearing the captain’s arm band when Francisco Calvo was suspended two weeks ago.

“I don’t think that consistency has dipped with us,” United sporting director Manny Lagos said. “He’s really come in and set a tone about how he wants to get the guys better and improve that edge and sharpness that we need to be successful.”

Alonso was integral in defending international stars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney in Minnesota’s first consecutive shutouts as an MLS club last week. The Loons played to a scoreless draw with the L.A. Galaxy on Wednesday, then survived a 1-0 win over D.C. United on Sunday.

“He’s a better footballer than I thought he was,” United coach Adrian Heath said. “We always knew he was good. A great character. I thought he was outstanding at the weekend, and his personality. He’s low maintenance and professional, comes in, does his work.”

United is trying to get Alonso to ease off in training, building in lighter workouts to help preserve the 33-year-old for the entire season. It’s something they’ve failed to enact at times.

“He’s out here in training and his team is losing something or not performing, I mean, he’s getting fired up,” Kallman said. “He’s fierce.”

Alonso — like United overall — has clearly stated the goal is to make the playoffs in the franchise’s third MLS season. Alonso knows nothing else, and the team’s fate could come down to Decision Day, the last regular-season game, in Seattle at CenturyLink Field on Oct. 6. He can’t imagine what Saturday will be like, so he’s not ready to image a homecoming in October.

“I got a lot of memories. 10 years. I win trophy there. Everything, my family grow up there. My two daughters were born in Seattle,” said Alonso, whose family primarily lives in Miami. “I’ve got a lot of good memories, so it will be special for me Saturday night.”