Seattle Sounders' player spotlight: Albert Rusnák | OneFootball

Albert Rusnák was born on July 7th, 1994, in the Czech Republic but grew up in Slovakia and has played and scored for the Slovakian national team. He left Slovakia when he signed with Manchester City’s reserve side. His father, also named Albert Rusnák, was a scout for Man City after his playing days as a professional footballer.

He was then loaned out to Oldham Athletic but left the team after refusing to play in a reserve team match.

He was then loaned to Birmingham City in 2014 after playing with the reserves for 3 seasons. He was on a month-long loan and became a starter right away, and ended up extending the loan until the season was over.

The following season, he was loaned out to SC Cambuur in the Dutch league and, after some success, had his loan extended once again. Once his Manchester City contract expired, he signed on with FC Groningen. He scored both goals in the KNVB Cup final as they defeated the reigning champions, PEC Zwolle, to win their first major trophy and qualification of the UEFA Europa League.

When his contract with FC Groningen expired, he signed on with the MLS team Real Salt Lake and played 5 seasons with them before signing with the Sounders. He scored 10 or more goals in a season 3 times there and had more than 10 assists twice. This is his 5th season with the Sounders, tying for the longest stint he has had with a team.

Since joining the Sounders, Rusnák has scored 32 times and has 38 assists. He also has 3 playoff goals and an assist. As the attacking midfielder, most of the offense has been funnelled through him. He became a central midfielder when his manager at Cambuur pointed out that he was too small to be an outside winger but had the skills to be more of a distributor.

In the MLS, Rusnák has scored 73 goals with 77 assists not including his playoff stats of 4 goals and an assist.

Rusnák’s team won the KNVB Cup in the 2014/2015 season. He was on the team that won the King’s Cup in Slovakia in 2018. In Seattle, he was on their historic team in 2022 when they won the CONCACAF Championship, becoming the first MLS team to do so. He was also with Seattle in 2025 when they beat out Miami and Messi for the Leagues Cup title.

Most Sounders are familiar with his move used to score goals while being defended. He moves to the side, getting the defender to lunge, screening the keeper and shoots back toward the gap in the lunging defender's legs and into the bottom corner of the net. It is a difficult move to defend since the tendency is to attempt to block any shot. Using that against the defender while screening the keeper is a clever bit.

Rusnak is the best passer on the Sounders' current lineup, but at times goes unrecognized as his teammates have struggled to turn quality ball distributions into goals. He has been one of the most reliable Sounders since joining the team and deserves the respect and admiration of Sounders Nation and the MLS who tends to overlook Seattle when it comes to recognizing quality.