Juan Agudelo

Juan Agudelo

Agudelo playing for New York Red Bulls
Personal information
Full name	Juan Sebastián Agudelo
Date of birth	(1992-11-23) 23 November 1992
Place of birth	Manizales, Colombia
Height	1.84 m (6 ft  1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	FC Utrecht (on loan from Stoke City)
Number	18
Youth career
	NJSA 04
2007	PASCO Jr. Stallions
2007–2010	New York Red Bulls
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2010–2012	New York Red Bulls	33	(6)
2012–2013	Chivas USA	26	(5)
2013	New England Revolution	14	(7)
2014–	Stoke City	0	(0)
2014–	→ FC Utrecht (loan)	3	(1)
National team‡
2008–2009	United States U17	16	(12)
2010	United States U20	8	(2)
2012–	United States U23	2	(2)
2010–	United States	17	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 October 2013

Juan Sebastián Agudelo (born 23 November 1992) is a Colombian-born American soccer player who plays as a striker for FC Utrecht on loan from Stoke City.

After moving from Colombia to New Jersey at an early age Agudelo began his career with the New York Red Bulls and made his Major League Soccer debut in October 2010. After scoring six goals in 2011 he was traded to Chivas USA in May 2012. Agudelo spent a year in California before he was traded to the New England Revolution in May 2013. He joined English side Stoke City in January 2014 but a failure to gain a UK work permit saw him loaned out to Dutch side FC Utrecht.

Internationally, Agudelo has represented the United States youth program at the Under-17, Under-20, and Under-23 levels. He made his debut for the senior national team against South Africa on November 17, 2010, scoring the only goal of the match.

Early life

Agudelo moved with his family from Colombia to the New York area at the age of seven.^[1] He grew up and played soccer in Barnegat Township, New Jersey.

Club career

New York Red Bulls

Agudelo began his career with the New York Red Bull Academy and quickly established himself as one of the more skilled prospects at the club. In 2009 he was offered a chance to join the junior team but decided to accept a trial with Colombian side Millonarios in 2010. Although it was reported that he had signed with Millonarios, he returned to the United States to join Red Bulls during their pre-season. While with Millonarios, Agudelo played with the youth side, including a match against Independiente Santa Fe on January 17, which served as a tribute match to Brazilian great Pelé.^[3]

On March 26, 2010, Agudelo officially joined the New York Red Bulls.^[4] He made his professional debut on April 27, 2010, in a U.S. Open Cup game against Philadelphia Union.^[5] Agudelo made his MLS debut against Real Salt Lake October 9, 2010, entering in the 85th minute in a match that ended in a scoreless draw. He scored his first professional goal on March 19, 2011, in the Red Bulls' 2011 MLS season opener, a 1–0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC.^[6]

As directed by US National team manager Jürgen Klinsmann, that all off-season US MLS stars should train with European clubs, on November 16, 2011, Agudelo started a two-week training period with VfB Stuttgart.^[7] On December 1, 2011, Agudelo started a similar two-week period at Liverpool.

In the start of 2012, Agudelo suffered an ankle injury, keeping him out of friendly matches 3 to 4 weeks recovering before the start of the 2012 MLS season.

Chivas USA

Agudelo was traded to Chivas USA on May 17, 2012 in exchange for defender Heath Pearce, allocation money, and future considerations.^[8] The latter was reported to be a portion of any transfer fee that Chivas USA receives from selling Agudelo. Following the 2012 Major League Soccer season, Agudelo was invited to train with Scottish club Celtic.^[9] Following his training stint with Celtic, Agudelo joined West Ham United for a training stint also.^[10] He scored four goals for Chivas in 2012 as they had a poor campaign finishing bottom of the Western Conference. Agudelo began the 2013 well scoring against FC Dallas and Chicago Fire before he was transferred to the New England Revolution on 7 May 2013.^[11]

New England Revolution

Agudelo was traded to New England Revolution in exchange for allocation money on May 7, 2013.^[12] Agudelo made his New England debut in a 2–0 win over Houston Dynamo and he was credited with their second goal which was originally given as an own goal.^[13][14] He then scored against Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps before being ruled out for a month with a knee injury.^[15][16][17] In August 2013 Agudelo began to attract interest from English Premier League side Stoke City.^[18] Agudelo returned from injury on August 17, against Chicago Fire and scored a spectacular back-heel goal in a 2–0 victory.^[19]

Stoke City

On August 9, 2013 it was announced that Agudelo had signed a pre-contract agreement with English club Stoke City and will join the Potters on January 1, 2014 once his contract with the New England Revolution has expired.^[20][21] However the move fell through after he was denied a work permit.^[22] Despite this Stoke completed the signing of Agudelo on January 21, 2014 and loaned him out to Dutch side FC Utrecht for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.^[23][24] He scored his first goal for Utrecht on February 6, 2014 scoring against PEC Zwolle in a 2–1 defeat.^[25]

International career

Agudelo represented the United States at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[26] In 2010, he also debuted for the United States Under-20 side. On January 23, 2010, he scored the equalizing goal for the United States Under-20 national team in a 1–1 draw with Brazil.^[27] On November 11, 2010, Agudelo was called up to the United States senior national side for the first time as part of an 18-man roster for a match against South Africa on November 17 in Cape Town.^[28] He made his debut for the team coming on against South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge wearing the number 17 shirt. Agudelo scored the only goal of the game on a volley that went in off the underside of the crossbar. In doing so, he became the youngest player in national team history to score in a senior game.^[29] On January 22. 2011, Agudelo drew the penalty that led to the USA's only goal of the match in a 1–1 draw against Chile.^[30] In an international friendly on March 26, 2011, he scored the equalizer in a 1–1 draw against Argentina. After he scored this goal against the Argentina national football team, he has been looked on as the next rising star for the United States.

After a rough 2012 club season, Agudelo was called up to the senior national team for the first time in a year for a friendly against Russia in which he assisted on a goal.

Agudelo was set to be part of the squad that was to take part in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, but he suffered an injury and missed out winning the tournament with the national team.

Style of play

Most of his key traits involve a precise style of dribbling and ball control. This has often resulted in him being fouled easily and winning free-kicks.^[31]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 February 2014^[32]

International goals

Scores and results list United States goal tally first.

N.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	November 17, 2010	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	South Africa	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2.	March 26, 2011	New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	Argentina	1–1	1–1	Friendly

Honours

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up: 2011

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Juan Agudelo at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e United States squad – 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up 1 Howard 2 Spector 3 Bocanegra (c) 4 M. Bradley 5 Onyewu 6 Cherundolo 7 Edu 8 Dempsey 9 Agudelo 10 Donovan 11 Wondolowski 12 Bornstein 13 Jones 14 Lichaj 15 Ream 16 Kljestan 17 Altidore 18 Rimando 19 Rogers 20 Adu 21 Goodson 22 Bedoya 23 Hahnemann Coach: B. Bradley