Alan Pulido’s Great Escape

Now that we have exhausted all of the praise and accolades and highlight videos of Sporting Kansas City’s new DP #9, let’s talk about another story involving Alan Pulido. This story has no goal celebrations and no slick soccer moves, but it does have plenty of drama and heroics.

In May 2016, Pulido — 25 at the time — was a striker for Olympiacos (Greece). He was in his hometown of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, attending a weekend party with his girlfriend. After leaving the party, Pulido was abducted. His girlfriend was unharmed and notified authorities. His family received a phone call from the abductors asking for money. Pulido was held for about 24 hours before his escape. The details of the rescue are like something from an action film.

After being abducted at gunpoint leaving the party and taken to a house in Ciudad Victoria, Pulido went full action star. According to many news reports from the time, Pulido fought off his kidnapper, took his gun and phone and called police. Reports even say he threatened and beat the abductor while on the call demanding to know the location for the police. He punched through the glass of the door and escaped his captors.

After the ordeal, Pulido tweeted:

Muchas gracias a todos por sus oración, nos ayudaron mucho en esta terrible experiencia de nuestras vidas que no se lo deseamos a nadie. Agradezco mucho el apoyo brindado a las autoridades federales y estatales por permitirnos regresar sanos y salvos con nuestros familiares y amigos. Gracias a mi DIOS divino que siempre está con nosotros y nos dio una nueva oportunidad de vida INFINITAMENTE gracias a todos.

It reads:

Thank you all very much for your prayers, they helped us a lot in the terrible experience of our lives that we do not wish on anyone. I am very grateful for the support provided by federal and state authorities for allowing me to return safe and sound to my family and friends. Thanks to my divine God who is always with us and gave us a new opportunity for eternal life. Thanks to all.

Arrests were made following the ordeal. Those arrests included the husband of Pulido’s cousin who allegedly gave information to the kidnappers of when Pulido left the party and a description of his vehicle.

So there you have it Sporting Kansas City fans. Alan Pulido, our new DP striker, our hopeful goal-scoring savior, is a bonafide real-life Jason Bourne!