Marco Vélez
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Marco Vélez | ||
Date of birth | June 26, 1980 | ||
Place of birth | Carolina, Puerto Rico | ||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Youth career | |||
1997–1999 | IMG Soccer Academy | ||
1999–2001 | Barry Buccaneers | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2002 | Bradenton Academics | 14 | (1) |
2003–2004 | Seattle Sounders | 52 | (7) |
2005–2007 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 73 | (3) |
2008–2009 | Toronto FC | 38 | (2) |
2009–2012 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 48 | (1) |
International career‡ | |||
2004–2012 | Puerto Rico | 14 | (1) |
Managerial career | |||
2012 | Puerto Rico Islanders (assistant) | ||
2015 | Bayamón FC | ||
2016–2017 | Puerto Rico FC (assistant) | ||
2017–2018 | Puerto Rico FC | ||
2018 | Bayamón FC | ||
2018– | Puerto Rico (assistant) | ||
2019 | Puerto Rico U17 | ||
2019- | Bayamón FC (assistant) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 17, 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 17, 2019 |
Marco Vélez (born June 26, 1980 in Carolina) is a Puerto Rican former footballer who played as a defender and currently works as assistant coach for Bayamón FC.[1]
Career
Youth and college
Vélez began playing soccer at an early age in Puerto Rico with Colegio San Jose, but moved to Nick Bollettieri's IMG Soccer Academy when in high school. He then attended Barry University from 1999 to 2001, playing on the men's soccer team. During his freshman and sophomore years he was named first team All Conference.[2]
Professional
Vélez was drafted by the MetroStars in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, but decided to sign with the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division instead of playing in Major League Soccer. While a defender in college, Vélez played as a forward during the 2003 season, before returning to the back line in 2004. He helped the Sounders reach the league finals in 2004.
Vélez signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders in 2005, where he scored 2 goals in 22 games playing as a defender. During the 2006 season, Vélez was instrumental in the Islanders' run to the playoffs and their qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the first time in team history they had qualified for either tournament. Vélez was selected to be the Islanders' captain during the CONCACAF Champions Cup qualifiers.
During the 2007 season, Vélez scored one goal and added one assist in twenty-seven games. His everyday play as defender was crucial to the Islanders advancing for the first time in team history to the USL Semi-Finals. Velez led the Islanders in matches and minutes played.
In July 2007, the California Cougars of Major Indoor Soccer League drafted Vélez in the sixth round (49th overall) of the league's supplemental draft.,[3] but he never played for the team.
Vélez transferred from the Puerto Rico Islanders to Toronto FC in 2008, and in doing so became the first native Puerto Rican to participate in MLS. He made his MLS debut on 29 March 2008 in a 2-0 defeat to Columbus Crew.[4] In his first season in Major League Soccer, Vélez started all the games in which he participated.[5]
Toronto FC released Marco on August 13, 2009[6] and returned to his former club Puerto Rico Islanders.[7] Vélez left Toronto with 38 appearances, 31 of those as a starter. The defender compiled 2,753 minutes and finished his time with the Club with two goals, four cautions, and two ejections.[8] In 2010, he re-signed with the Islanders.[9]
International
Vélez made his debut for the Puerto Rico national football team in 2004, and was named captain of the team by coach Colin Clarke in 2008. He scored his first and only goal at the 2012 Caribbean Cup against Dominican Republic.
Coaching career
While playing his last season in the Puerto Rico Islanders, he also served as assistant coach. In 2013 he assisted Jeaustin Campos with the Puerto Rico U-15 national football team. In 2015 he coached Bayamón FC. In 2016 he was appointed assistant coach for Puerto Rico FC. He served as assistant coach till early 2017 when he took charge as interim head coach.[10] After finishing the season with Puerto Rico FC, the team announced that it wasn't coming back for the 2018 season.[11] In January 2018, he returned as head coach for Bayamón FC.[12]
In June 2018, he took the role of assistant coach of the Puerto Rico national football team after former Toronto FC teammate Amado Guevara was appointed as head coach.[13]
On December 2018, Amado Guevara confirmed that Marco Vélez will coach the Puerto Rico national under-17 football team during 2019 World Cup Qualification.[14]
Honours
Player
Toronto FC
- Canadian Championship Winner (1): 2009
Puerto Rico Islanders
- USSF Division 2 Pro League Champions (1): 2010
- CFU Club Championship::Winner (1): 2010
Coach
Bayamón FC
- Puerto Rican Football Federation Preparatory Tournament Champions (1): 2018
References
- ^ "A Buen Ritmo la Pretemporada del Bayamón Fútbol Club". Ciudad de Bayamón. September 18, 2019.
- ^ "Barry University Athletics - Official Athletics Website". Barry University Athletics.
- ^ http://www.misl.net/features/draft.php[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Esteban Pagán Rivera (2008-08-11). "Marco se luce en Toronto". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
- ^ Toronto FC releases Velez Archived 2009-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Marco Vélez de vuelta en casa
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Velez re-signs with Puerto Rico Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine. Now, in the 2012 season Vélez will take part of the technical team as a coach-player for the Puerto Rico Islanders FC.
- ^ http://futbolboricua.co/marco-velez-nombrado-entrenador-principal-en-propiedad-por-el-resto-del-2017/
- ^ http://futbolboricua.co/puerto-rico-fc-reducira-sus-operaciones-y-se-retira-de-futuras-competencias/
- ^ http://futbolboricua.co/marco-velez-regresa-al-bayamon-fc/
- ^ Torres, Publicado por Javier. "Amado Guevara al mando de la Selección Nacional".
- ^ "Amado Guevara en Mesa Redonda EN VIVO Fútbol Hondureño" – via www.youtube.com.
External links
- Marco Vélez at National-Football-Teams.com
- Puerto Rico Islanders bio
- Marco Vélez at Major League Soccer
- 2003 Sounder stats
- 2004 Sounder stats
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Association football defenders
- Barry University alumni
- IMG Academy Bradenton players
- Expatriate soccer players in Canada
- Expatriate soccer players in the United States
- Major League Soccer players
- North American Soccer League players
- People from Carolina, Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rican expatriate footballers
- Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in Canada
- Puerto Rican footballers
- Puerto Rico international footballers
- Puerto Rico Islanders players
- Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players
- Toronto FC players
- USL A-League players
- USL First Division players
- USL League Two players
- USSF Division 2 Professional League players
- New York Red Bulls draft picks