Obed Vargas has already put together a list of accomplishments that many professional players will envy at the end of their careers. At just 20 years old, the Alaskan phenom has played a pivotal role in a Concacaf Champions League title, helped to shut down Leo Messi as the Seattle Sounders won Leagues Cup, played in an All-Star Game, a Club World Cup, two U-20 World Cups — once for the U.S. and most recently for Mexico — and earned a cap with the senior Mexican National Team. But if you watch him play, what stands out above and beyond what he’s already done on the pitch is the seemingly unlimited potential for what he could go on to do in the future.

Vargas’ journey from Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle, Wash., the Sounders and El Tri has been well-documented, but it still warrants some repeating if only to highlight and contextualize his explosive growth.

Vargas grew up playing soccer in Anchorage, where his father first moved from Michoacán in Mexico after his own football career ended with C.D. Morelia’s youth team. Vargas’ obvious talent eventually captured the attention of the Sounders, who brought him to Seattle to join the academy...