Anthony James "A.J." Soares (born November 28, 1988) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a center back for

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Weste ...

, New England Revolution, Viking and AGF.

Career

Early life, college and amateur

Soares was born in

Solana Beach, California Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "warm wind") is a coastal city in San Diego County, California. Its population was at 12,941 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 Census. History The area was first settled by the San Dieg ...

. He attended Torrey Pines High School where he was the captain for his junior and senior seasons, and won the 2005 Division 1 CIF Championship. He played college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. As the

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

co-captain in 2010, Soares was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America First Team All American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, Goal.com Player of the Year. Soares entered college at California as an attacking player, but head coach Kevin Grimes converted him to a central defender because of his size and strength. However, he still managed to score five goals in his final collegiate season while anchoring a stingy Bear defense; during this campaign, he was named a semifinalist for the 2010

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

. In 2010 Soares made one appearance for

in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Soares was chosen by New England Revolution as the sixth overall pick in the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consiste ...

. He was voted New England's Defensive MVP in 2011. Soares started and played the entire

2014 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2014 was the 19th edition of the MLS Cup, the match that determined the champion of Major League Soccer's 2014 season. It is also the last MLS Cup to be held before the league's rebranding in 2015. The Western Conference Champions LA G ...

. Soares was voted "Player's Player" and Defender of the Year for New England in 2014. In February 2015, Soares was presented as the newest addition to the Norwegian Tippeligaen club Viking FK. On July 26, 2016, Soares signed a two-year contract with AGF. In November 2016, he retired from professional football, due to a serious head injury.

Personal life

Soares' father is Portuguese and was born in the Azores. He also holds an Italian passport.

References

External links

*
Cal bio
* 1988 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American people of Azorean descent American soccer players Association football defenders California Golden Bears men's soccer players Eliteserien players Danish Superliga players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players Orange County Blue Star players USL League Two players Soccer players from California Viking FK players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Norway American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark {{US-footy-defender-stub American people of Portuguese descent