Red Bulls’ cast-off Patterson-Sewell makes jump to Portuguese Primeira Liga

Those of you who know the back end of every Major League Soccer roster will probably remember Caleb Patterson-Sewell, even if he never played a game in Major League Soccer. The Tennessee-born (Australia-raised) goalkeeper had two tours of duty with the New York Red Bulls, and while he couldn’t establish himself in the U.S., the 25-year-old is set to get his shot in one of Europe’s better leagues.

That’s because Patterson-Sewell has just been bought by Portuguese Primera Liga side Vitória Setúbal, making the move from second-tier side Atlético Clube de Portugal after one season at the Lisbon-based club. He arrived there are four seasons in the second tier of U.S. soccer, playing for the Cleveland City Stars, Carolina Railhawks, and Miami FC (in addition to New York).

Yesterday, when discussing Brad Guzan, we talked about the precarious nature of goalkeeping work. Even with that in mind, Patterson-Sewell’s rise is remarkable. In two years, Patterson has gone from second division soccer in the States to the top-tier of Portuguese futebol.

Speaking to Tom Kundert at PortuGOAL.net, Patterson-Sewell seems to have high hopes for the upcoming season (one month away), though he’s keeping his long-term goals in perspective:

I’m just looking to work hard in pre-season and hopefully I’m the goalkeeper who gets the call. It’s a fight, it’s not easy, so I’m definitely not looking further down the line than that. It’s easy to get carried away, but you have to take it one thing at a time.”

You can read Kundert’s full exclusive here, with Patterson-Sewell clearly having passed his media training with flying colors.

It’s remarkable: A kid cast off from New York as recently as 2009 now has his sights set on playing top-tier soccer in Portugal:

When I first came to Portugal that was what I had in mind - to come here and prove myself and put myself in the shop window so to speak, so I could come and play at this level. That was my plan at least, so yeah, the last 12 months have worked out just about how I wanted. It’s a great thing to be here at Setúbal.”