Brandon Aguilera Zamora (born 28 June 2003) is a Costa Rican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Primera

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

and the Costa Rica national team.

Club career

In July 2022

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

announced they had signed Aguilera on a four-year deal from

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

, and would immediately be loaned to fellow Costa Rican side Guanacasteca for six months. In January 2023, Aguilera joined

club

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

on loan until the end of the season. He played with the team's under 23 squad. On 1 February 2024, Aguilera joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on loan until the end of the season. He made an impressive debut for the club two days after signing, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, smashing the ball into the top corner from twenty yards. In just his third match of his loan spell however, he picked up a hamstring injury, having to temporarily return to his parent club. At the Bristol Rovers end of season awards, he was awarded the club's Goal of the Season for his debut strike. On 2 July 2024, Aguilera signed with Portugeuse

side

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

International career

A youth international for

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

since 2018, Aguilera made his senior team debut against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 30 March 2022. In November 2022 he was named to the 26-man Costa Rica squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Alajuelense *

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

: Apertura 2020 *

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two leg ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *

Goal of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

Brandon Aguilera
at Athletic updates {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilera, Brandon 2003 births Living people People from Grecia (canton) Sportspeople from Alajuela Province Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders A.D. Carmelita footballers Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Liga FPD players Premier League players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal English Football League players A.D. Guanacasteca players Rio Ave F.C. players