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From day one Fredy Montero was special. That game, when no one had an idea if this Seattle Sounders MLS thing was really going to work, there were signals that he could do the amazing. The lasting image of day is the unbridled joy of the crowd, sparked by a Colombian. It was the 12thth minute, the start of something special and a moment remembered in song.

It is a move that seems like it may never happen, but today a major step occurred when the Seattle Sounders FC released an statement about Fredy Montero being loaned to Millonarios for 2013.

"We are finalizing the loan of Fredy Montero to Millonarios of Colombia for the 2013 MLS season.

Fredy Montero will spend 2013 with Millonarios, the Colombian league champions, on loan for the year from Seattle Sounders FC the team announced via press release Monday morning. A new twist to the long saga emerged as the team announced it reached a multi-year contract extension with Montero as well.

While most of the scuttle about Montero is about his pending (not really pending just still not quite final) loan to Millonarios let's took a look at how Fredy Montero played in 2012.

This was pointed out to me over twitter on Christmas, and since it was Christmas I didn't address it. It is a story on a Colombian site that points out that Millionarios wants Fredy Montero to join them in their Copa Libertadores run. It adds on an interview with Fredy Montero.

That's huge right?

The one thing missing from the Seattle Sounders' arsenal this year has been the ability to score a come-from-behind victory. Thanks to a pair of goals from Eddie Johnson, that's no longer an issue.

Johnson scored a brace, with the game-winner coming on a 89th minute header from a Fredy Montero assist, as the Sounders beat Chivas USA 2-1 on Saturday.

Just two weeks ago the scouting report on Chivas was that they were a miserly team that didn't score much but didn't allow many goals either. So naturally their following game versus the Seattle Sounders featured 8 goals, including Fredy Montero's first hat trick and some pretty unimpressive defending from Seattle that meant a 10 goal game wouldn't have been unthinkable.

It seems funny to think about it now, but not that long ago there was some serious concerns about the Seattle Sounders' offense and their supposed lack of depth. Funny how a couple moves, along with some key players returning to health, can change perceptions.

The Sounders now sit on 65 goals scored through 34 competitive matches following their second-three goal performance in CONCACAF Champions League play.

Dealing with recent travel problems, wet & heavy grass and the peculiarities of CONCACAF officiating the Seattle Sounders pushed by Caledonia AIA in a game that in many ways was a repetition of the last meeting. Three goals for the Sounders v one pk goal by the Trinidad side. Scoring was opened by Alex Caskey on assists by Zach Scott and Sammy Ochoa.

Perceptions of the Sounders have evolved significantly over the course of the season. Early in the year many people questioned whether Eddie Johnson could still score goals. Later, when it was clear that EJ found his shooting boots, there were concerns that Fredy Montero could not play alongside him.

Another day, another Fredy Montero interview. It's like he's the hottest player in MLS or something. In this case he did an interview with El Pais of Colombia. The most revealing news to Seattle Sounders fans is that despite all the rumors of clubs interested in Montero, none have made an offer to buy.

Osvaldo Alonso's lasting memory of the 2012 U.S. Open Cup may not be a great one, but he can at least take solace in being named the "Player of the Tournament" by theCup.US. Alonso was one of three Seattle Sounders players not to convert his attempt in the decisive penalty shootout, but he was undeniably a major reason they were even there to begin with.

I'll admit, I totally forgot to do anything with my Fantasy Manager lineup this week. I knew there were midweek games that would case the roster freeze to happen a day or two early but the busy day job stuff got in the way of me updating anything on my roster.

As you can see, I nearly paid for it.

Teams around MLS at the first third of the season were worried about the forward pairing of Thiery Henry and Kenny Cooper. They were as good as can be. It was a big-small style of pairing with Henry playing behind Cooper and doing it as well as couple be done. Then emerged Chris Wondolowski and his duel pairings.

Sometimes a meme becomes so funny it can only live as a joke. Anyone using the "Fredy Montero is lazy" is in fact themselves so lazy they are a joke. Sure, Montero wasn't the only reason the Seattle Sounders matched their best ever result in MLS with a 6-2 win over Chivas USA. Still a hatrick is pretty awesome in any circumstances.

With the Seattle Sounders suddenly as healthy as they've been all year, the coaches can finally make some choices that are based on something other than necessity. As I alluded to in my story about the left-midfield position, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid suggested that could lend itself to some interested tactical decisions.

Fredy Montero is all over the place these days. He's on a national television program as the second player profiled for the new program MLS36. He threw out the first pitch at the Mariners game. He's hosted a chat on twitter to help promote Gatorade's Beat The Heat campaign for awareness of proper hydration and training in the heat of summer.

Fredy Montero celebrates his first pitch how he should, by Felixing

Brad Evans play as a right mid started a little while ago. It was due to the strong play of Andy Rose and the benching of Fredy Montero and then just continued, except for those times when he was used at right back or at center mid. He's even popped up at left mid for a bit. There was a theory, one I really wanted to be true because I like fun tactical stuff and I like how Evans plays, that he was now being used as a roving midfielder.

Coming off a rather horrible week, the Seattle Sounders got just what they needed with a win over Cascadia Cup rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps. The winning goal was provided by none other than Fredy Montero, who made a bit of a surprise appearance off the bench. A surprise only because he figured to be starting.

This is probably not something to get too worked up about at this point, but reports out of Italy are claiming that Chievo Verona is interested in acquiring Fredy Montero from the Seattle Sounders. I'm relying on Google translate to explain the article, so it's not entirely clear if there's anything close to a reliable source on this, but numerous outlets have run with the story that seems to have originated in L'Arena.

The depth of the Sounder's 2012 roster allows Sigi Schmid tactical flexibility. Last night in Frisco, Texas, we got a taste of just how much flexibility. Normally the Sounders play a modified 4-4-2 formation that is affectionately known as Sigi's Arrow. Last night the team lined up in a modified 4-3-3 and by the end of the game was actually playing a formation closer to a 4-5-1 as fatigue set in.