Victor Mansaray

Victor Mansaray (born February 2, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Hong Linh Ha Tinh F.C.

Victor Mansaray
Mansaray with Charleston Battery in 2018
Personal information
Full name Victor Mansaray
Date of birth (1997-02-22) February 22, 1997
Place of birth Freetown, Sierra Leone
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Hong Linh Ha Tinh
Number 28
Youth career
2012–2014 Seattle Sounders FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Seattle Sounders FC 3 (0)
2015–2016 → Seattle Sounders FC 2 (loan) 35 (5)
2017 → FC Cincinnati (loan) 8 (0)
2017 → Seattle Sounders FC 2 (loan) 2 (0)
2017 Umeå FC 7 (1)
2018 Charleston Battery 18 (2)
2019 Becamex Bình Dương 9 (2)
2019 Hồ Chí Minh City 9 (5)
2020– Hong Linh Ha Tinh 1 (1)
National team‡
2014–2015 United States U18 8 (0)
2015–2017 United States U20 7 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 6, 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of June 27, 2017

Early life

Victor Mansaray was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on February 2, 1997. During his youth, he spent time with his family in both Sierra Leone and Jamaica. He later moved to the Seattle area in Washington, United States. He first lived in the city of Puyallup before moving again to nearby Fife, where he attended Fife High School.[1]

Career

Youth

Mansaray entered the Seattle Sounders FC Academy midway through the 2012–2013 season and appeared in 20 games, scoring 11 goals. The following season, still with the U-16's, he scored a team-high 18 goals in 24 games.

Club

In November 2014, Mansaray signed with Seattle Sounders FC, making him the club's youngest ever signing at the age of 17, as well as their fourth Homegrown Player.[2] He first appeared for Sounders FC during a pre-season match in the Desert Diamond Cup on February 21. He was substituted in at the 66th minute and scored a goal at the 74th, but the Sounders ultimately lost to Sporting Kansas City, 2–3.[3] On March 21, 2015, he made his regular season professional debut with USL affiliate club Seattle Sounders FC 2 in a 4–2 victory over Sacramento Republic FC.[4] He made his MLS debut a week later in a 0–0 draw away to FC Dallas.[5]

Mansaray playing for FC Cincinnati in 2017

On February 6, 2017, USL club FC Cincinnati announced that they had acquired Mansaray via a loan from Seattle Sounders.[6] Cincinnati coach Alan Koch played Mansaray primarily as a substitute; Mansaray started for just three of his eight league appearances, and never played a full 90 minutes.[7] On June 27, 2017, it was announced that Mansaray's loan had ended and he had returned to Seattle Sounders.[8] He was waived by the club on August 10.[9]

After spending a season with Swedish side Umeå FC, Mansaray signed with USL side Charleston Battery for the 2018 season on February 14, 2018.[10] Mansary's option was declined by Charleston on November 30, 2018.[11]

On February 16, 2019, Mansaray joined V.League 1 side Becamex Binh Duong on a short-term contract.[12]

On July 2, 2019, he moved to another V.League 1 club Ho Chi Minh City FC with number 80 jersey. [13]

In 2020, he joined Hong Linh Ha Tinh, also of V.League 1.

International

Mansaray was selected to the U.S. under-18 national team in August 2014. He played two games in the friendly tournament hosted by the Czech Republic, against Hungary and Ukraine.[14] Before choosing to play for the United States, Mansaray opted to forgo opportunities with Sierra Leone, as well as Jamaica.[15] In December 2014, Mansaray received his third and fourth caps in two games against the Germany under-18 national team.

After turning 18 in February 2015, Mansaray moved up to the U.S. under-20 national team. He made one appearance for the U.S. U-20 team in 2015, followed by six appearances (with two goals scored) in 2016.[16][17] In early 2017, Mansaray was called up for a U.S. U-20 training camp from January 31 to February 10.[18] However, at the conclusion of the camp, Mansaray was not included on the team's 20-man roster for U-20 World Cup qualifying matches.[19]

Shortly after being dropped from the U.S. team for the 2017 U20 World Cup, Mansaray told press he would be open to being called up by the Sierra Leone national team.[20] On June 5, 2017, Mansaray announced via Instagram that he had been called up by Sierra Leone.[21]

References
  1. Ruiz, Don (February 22, 2015). "Fife teen Victor Mansaray scored first Sounders FC goal, returns to school". The News Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  2. "Sounders FC Signs Victor Mansaray to Homegrown Player Contract". SoundersFC.com. November 21, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  3. Kaplan, Jonathan (February 21, 2015). "Preseason Recap: Sporting KC defeats Seattle Sounders 3-2 in Desert Diamond Cup". Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  4. "Match Recap: Sounders FC 2 earns 4–2 win over Sacramento in inaugural match". SoundersFC.com. Sounders FC Public Relations. March 21, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  5. "2015 MLS: Sounders FC at FC Dallas". February 23, 2015.
  6. Brennan, Patrick (February 6, 2017). "FC Cincinnati adds highly-touted forward Victor Mansaray via loan". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  7. "FC Cincinnati Player Stats". United Soccer League. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  8. Weigel, Brian (June 27, 2017). "Victor Mansaray Leaves FC Cincinnati". Cincinnati Soccer Talk. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  9. "Sounders FC waives forward Victor Mansaray". SoundersFC.com. Sounders FC Communications. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  10. Sarah Cardamone (February 14, 2018). "Charleston Battery signs Victor Mansaray". charlestonbattery.com. Charleston Battery. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  11. "Anunga, Guerra Among Dozen Returnees for Battery". November 30, 2018.
  12. "CHUYỂN NHƯỢNG: Bình Dương có ngoại binh "xịn" ngay trước thềm Siêu cúp". goal.com (in Vietnamese). February 16, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  13. "V.League 2019: TP.HCM chiêu mộ cựu tuyển thủ U20 Mỹ từ Becamex Bình Dương". July 2, 2019.
  14. Gaschk, Matt (August 15, 2014). "Sounders Academy standout Victor Mansaray to play for U-18 National Team". SoundersFC.com. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  15. Gaschk, Matt (August 27, 2014). "Victor Mansaray of Sounders Academy helps U-18 National Team win International Tournament". SoundersFC.com. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  16. "2015 U-20 MNT Stats". United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  17. "2016 U-20 MNT Stats". United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  18. "U.S. Soccer U-20 national team calls Seattle Sounders forward Victor Mansaray into Orlando camp". Seattle Sounders FC. January 31, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  19. Brisendine, Steve (February 9, 2017). "Tab Ramos calls 11 MLSers into US Under-20 squad for World Cup qualifying". Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  20. "Seattle Sounders striker open to Sierra Leone call-up". Football Sierra Leone. February 26, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  21. Blakely, Chris (June 5, 2017). "Victor Mansaray making Sierra Leone switch". Sounder At Heart. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
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