Franuel "Frankie" Amaya (born September 26, 2000) is an American professional soccer player 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 Major League Soccer club

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. Born in Santa Ana,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Amaya played with youth club Pateadores before playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. Following his freshman season with the Bruins, Amaya was selected with the first overall pick in the

2019 MLS SuperDraft The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fi ...

by expansion club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

. After playing with FC Cincinnati for two seasons, Amaya was traded to the

Career

Youth and college

Amaya played club soccer for Pateadores SC in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. With the club, he helped the team win the region's West Conference and was named the West Conference Best XI. Ahead of the

2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season The 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 60th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The regular season began on August 24, 2018 and continued into the first weekend of November 2018. The season culminated with the four-tea ...

, Amaya was listed as a four-star recruit by TopDrawerSoccer.com, and ranked number six overall in the IMG Academy Top 150 for his graduating class. Amaya was also listed by TDS has the number one club player in Southern California, and the number four midfielder nationally. During the 2018 season, Amaya, made 14 appearances with UCLA, 10 of which were starts. Amaya made his

debut on August 24, 2018 against

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

. With UCLA, Amaya scored twice, with his first goal coming on September 22, 2018 against

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

in a 1–3 loss. Amaya tallied two assists on the season with his first coming on August 28, 2018 against

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, and his second coming on October 13, 2018 against

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. Amaya did not appear for any more matches with UCLA after October 28, as he joined the U.S. under 20s for the

2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (27th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted at Bradenton, Florida, ...

. At the conclusion of the 2018 Pac-12 Conference men's soccer season, Amaya was honored with Freshman All-American, First Team All-Pac-12, and Second Team All-Far West Region honors.

FC Cincinnati

On January 4, 2019, Amaya signed a

Generation adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U. ...

contract with Major League Soccer forgoing his final three years of college eligibility. On January 11, 2019, he was drafted first overall in the

. On July 16, 2020, Amaya scored his first professional goal for FC Cincinnati in the group stage of the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

against

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

, in which was the only goal of the game, a 1–0 win for FC Cincinnati.

New York Red Bulls

On April 9, 2021, Amaya was rumored to be traded from

to the

. The trade, which was officially confirmed on April 20, was in exchange for $950,000 in general allocation money, with an additional $125,000 of potential allocation money depending on performance incentives. On April 25, 2021, Amaya made his first appearance for New York in a 3–2 loss to

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. On May 8, 2021, he scored his first goal for New York in a 2–0 victory over

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. On June 24, 2023, Amaya recorded his first two goal game of his career, scoring twice for New York in a 4-0 victory over

, his second goal of the match was New York's 1,500th goal in club history across all competitions. As a result of his performance he was selected to the MLS team of the Match Day. On July 8, 2023, Amaya recorded a goal and an assist to help New York to a 2-1 victory over

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. His play during that match earned him another selection to the MLS Team of the Match Day.

International career

Amaya made his debut with the United States national under-20 team on March 21, 2018 against France. He was also named to the squad for the

CONCACAF Under-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

in November 2018. On November 30, 2020, Amaya was called up by the United States national team for a friendly against El Salvador. On December 1, he was removed from the squad after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and was replaced by Andres Perea.

Personal life

Born in the United States to Mexican parents, Amaya holds a U.S. and Mexican

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

Career statistics

Club

Honors

United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

References

External links

*
Frankie Amaya
at

UCLA Athletics The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaya, Frankie 2000 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders FC Cincinnati draft picks FC Cincinnati players Major League Soccer first-overall draft picks New York Red Bulls players Orange County SC players Sportspeople from Santa Ana, California Soccer players from Orange County, California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Major League Soccer players USL Championship players