Miguel Almirón

Miguel Almirón
Personal information
Full name Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala
Date of birth (1994-02-10) 10 February 1994
Place of birth Asunción, Paraguay
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Atlanta United
Number 10
Youth career
2008–2012 Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Cerro Porteño 39 (6)
2015–2016 Lanús 35 (3)
2016– Atlanta United 62 (21)
National team‡
2010 Paraguay U17 10 (1)
2012–2013 Paraguay U20 16 (2)
2015– Paraguay 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2018

Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala (born 10 February 1994) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a midfielder for Atlanta United in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Almirón took his first steps in club football with Club 3 November and, at age 14, trialed with Club Nacional. He signed a contract with Cerro Porteño. Five years later (on 10 March 2013) he debuted with Cerro Porteño's first team, in a match against Deportivo Capiatá. A month later (on 19 April 2013) in a match against Club Rubio Ñu, he scored his first goal for the first division team. At the end of 2013, Miguel achieved his first title in first division with Cerro Porteño. Cerro Porteño were undefeated, but Miguel didn't have much involvement with the team at that time.

Lanús

In August 2015, Almirón signed for Club Atlético Lanús in the Argentine Primera División.[1] Introduced slowly in his first season by Lanús manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Almirón came to the forefront the next season in the shortened 2016 Argentine Primera División under Jorge Almirón. Playing as an advanced central midfielder, Almirón was pivotal in Lanús' 2016 Argentine Primera División title win, scoring key goals against local rivals Banfield in the Clásico del Sur,[2] and later in the final against San Lorenzo.[3] A few months later, in August 2016, Almirón set-up the only goal in Lanús' Copa Bicentenario victory over Racing.[4]

Atlanta United

On 5 December 2016, Almirón signed with the new Major League Soccer expansion team Atlanta United.[5] He joined as a "Young Designated Player"[6] and Atlanta paid a transfer fee of around $8 million to Lanús.[7] Almirón was an important figure in Atlanta United's first season, described as the "heartbeat" of the team by veteran teammate Jeff Larentowicz.[8] On 12 March, Almirón scored his first goals for the club, notching a brace in the club's second game, a 6–1 victory over fellow MLS newcomers Minnesota United.[9] He scored the second hat-trick in club history on 20 May against the Houston Dynamo, and scored two goals a week later against New York City FC.[10] Almirón joined teammates Greg Garza and Michael Parkhurst in the MLS All-Star Game on 2 August,[11] and topped the league's list of 24 players under the age of 24, released on 28 September.[12] During the regular season, Almirón was named to seven Teams of the Week by Major League Soccer, and was named Player of the Week twice.[13][14][15] At the end of the season, he was named to the league's Best XI[16] and was named Newcomer of the Year.[17]

International career

Almirón played for the Paraguay under-20 national team in the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship, and was highly involved as his team finished second to Colombia.[18] Almiron was subsequently called up to represent Paraguay in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[19]

He made his senior international debut for Paraguay in September 2015, and has gone on to play for the full national side in both the Copa América Centenario and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Almirón currently has 12 international caps.

Career statistics

As of August 23 2018 [20][21]
Club Season League Domestic Cup [lower-alpha 1] League Cup [lower-alpha 2] International [lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cerro Porteño 2013 Primera División 6100000061
2014 140000010150
2015 195000010205
Total 396000020416
Lanús 2015 Primera División 100100031131
2016 133200020173
2016–17 120200000140
Total 353500051444
Atlanta United 2017 MLS 309101000329
2018 259000000239
Total 55181010005518
Career total 1292760107114328
  1. ↑ Includes: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
  2. ↑ Includes: MLS Cup Playoffs
  3. ↑ Includes: Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño

Lanús

Individual

Atlanta United

References

  1. ↑ "Lanús acordó la incorporación del volante Miguel Almirón" (in Spanish). ESPN. 31 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Con personalidad". Olé (in Spanish). 29 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Campeón de punta a punta: Lanús goleó a San Lorenzo 4-0 y desató la fiesta en el Monumental". La Nación (in Spanish). 29 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Racing Club vs. Lanús 0 - 1". Soccerway. 14 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Almiron signs with Atlanta United". Atlanta United FC (Twitter).
  6. ↑ Volcano, Carlos. "Atlanta United sign Paraguay international Miguel Almiron - Tribal Football". Tribal Football.
  7. ↑ "Atlanta United completes signing of Paraguay star Miguel Almiron". ESPN FC.
  8. ↑ Schwin, Payson (24 September 2017). "Atlanta United brace for bad injury news about "heartbeat" Miguel Almiron". MLS Soccer.
  9. ↑ Roberson, Doug (13 March 2017). "Atlanta United 6, Minnesota United 1: 5 observations". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  10. ↑ Schwin, Payson (21 May 2017). "Miguel Almiron obliges coach's request to shoot more, nets a hat trick". MLS Soccer.
  11. ↑ Schwin, Payson (30 July 2017). "Atlanta United celebrates first year with three All-Star picks". MLS Soccer.
  12. ↑ "Miguel Almirón ranked #1 in MLS 24 Under 24 List". Atlanta United. 28 September 2017.
  13. ↑ Boehm, Charles (May 22, 2017). "2017 Team of the Week (Wk 12): Superstars, and Men in Red, shine". Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  14. ↑ Stejskal, Sam (May 23, 2017). "Miguel Almiron wins Alcatel MLS Player of the Week for Week 12". Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  15. ↑ Stejskal, Sam (May 30, 2017). "Miguel Almiron wins second straight Alcatel MLS Player of the Week". Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  16. 1 2 "2017 MLS Best XI revealed: Who was the best in 2017?". Major League Soccer. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  17. 1 2 Boehm, Charles (November 20, 2017). "Atlanta United's Miguel Almiron named 2017 MLS Newcomer of the Year". Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Convocados para el Suda" (in Spanish). D10. 2 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Paraguay es subcampeón" (in Spanish). D10. 4 February 2013.
  20. ↑ https://www.mlssoccer.com/players/miguel-almiron
  21. ↑ https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/miguel-almiron-player-stats
  22. ↑ "Bradley, Giovinco to represent TFC at MLS All-Star game - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  23. ↑ "2018 MLS All-Star Roster". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "Atlanta United's Miguel Almiron wins April MLS Player of the Month". Major League Soccer. May 3, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  • "Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala" (in Spanish). Fichajes.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.