BRIDGEVIEW, Ill.—It’s a story that’s been shared in snippets or fragments over the past year or so, but it’s worth highlighting here because of what it might become. If (or when) Gabriel Slonina is the next iconic American goalkeeper—if he achieves his ambition and becomes the very best in the world—then what happened on I-290 in August 2021 is going to evolve from incident to allegory, to something resembling a comic book hero’s origin story. It’s just too perfect.
So before it starts to feel mythical, like a parable crafted to summarize Slonina’s unique temperament and rise to stardom, let’s get the facts down.
An injury to veteran Bobby Shuttleworth meant that Slonina, the 17-year-old backup known to all as “Gaga,” was going to play for the Chicago Fire against New York City FC. A member of the Fire’s academy since the age of 10, Slonina turned pro at 14, and just three years later he was set to become the youngest starting goalkeeper in MLS history. Just about everything Slonina did or dreamed during his childhood in suburban Addison, Ill., was geared toward reaching that milestone. He was so prepared, in fact, that he was able to navigate complications and adversity no one could’ve seen coming.
