George Oluwaseun Bello (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club Arminia Bielefeld and the United States national team.

Early years

Born in Abuja, Nigeria, Bello moved with his family to

Douglasville The city of Douglasville is the county seat of Douglas County, Georgia, United States. , the city had a population of 34,650, up from 30,961 in 2010 and 20,065 in 2000. Douglasville is located approximately west of Atlanta and is part of the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, when he was a year old. During his early career, he played for Southern Soccer Academy, a youth soccer club affiliated with English club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, and the Alpharetta Ambush, where he played for five years. While playing at Alpharetta Ambush, he played with future Atlanta United academy teammate Zyen Jones. After spending five years with the Alpharetta Ambush, Bello moved to the academy side at

Atlanta United FC 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 ...

, a new expansion club for Major League Soccer. His former coach, Tony Annan, now at Atlanta United as their academy director, was the one to reach out to Bello to join his side. In 2017, a couple of months after signing a professional contract with Atlanta United FC, Bello helped Atlanta United's under-16 side win the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U16 Championship. His performance during the season saw him named 2016–17 East Conference U15/16 Player of the Year and also included in the East Conference U15/16 Best XI.

Club career

Atlanta United

On June 17, 2017, Bello, alongside teammates Lagos Kunga and

Patrick Okonkwo Patrick Okonkwo (born April 23, 1998) is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Cosmos Koblenz in the Rheinlandliga. Early life Okonkwo was born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised by his Aunt and Uncle, before moving to Jamaica and later to ...

, was signed by

to a homegrown player contract which would start in 2018. He made his professional debut on March 31, 2018 for

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional ...

, the club's reserve team, against

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memorial ...

. He started and played the whole match in a 2–2 draw. On September 2, 2018, Bello made his debut for the Atlanta United FC senior side in their Major League Soccer match against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He came on as a 76th minute substitute for

Héctor Villalba Héctor Daniel "Tito" Villalba (born 26 July 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Primera División team Club Libertad. Born in Argentina, he represents Paraguay internationally. Club career Villalba was born on 26 Ju ...

as Atlanta United FC were defeated 3–1. He scored his first professional goal a month later on October 6 against the

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 ...

. He scored his team's opening goal in the 17th minute of a 2–1 Atlanta United FC victory. During the 2018 MLS Playoffs, Bello featured for Atlanta United FC twice from the bench but did not play as Atlanta United FC won the 2018 MLS Cup. The next season, Bello made his international club debut for Atlanta United FC in the CONCACAF Champions League against

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

on February 21. He started as a left-wide back as Atlanta United FC were defeated 3–1. In May 2019, it was confirmed that he would miss two to three months of the season with an injury to his right adductor. Returning in August, Bello went on to only play 12 matches with Atlanta United 2 in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

and none with Atlanta United FC during the 2019 season.

Arminia Bielefeld

On January 31, 2022, Bello joined German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side Arminia Bielefeld on a four-and-a-half year contract for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Bello has represented the United States at both the under-15 and under-17 level. He was part of the under-15 squad that won the Torneo Delle Nazioni in 2017. The United States won every match in which he started. On October 10, 2019, he was named in the under-17 squad for the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

. In January 2021, Bello was called into the United States national team for their friendly against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He made his debut in the match on January 31, coming on as a 64th minute substitute in the 7–0 victory. On July 17, 2021, he was named by head coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...

into the 23-man squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

. He started in two matches for the United States as they made it into the final against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Bello was named as a starter for the match and played 65 minutes as the United States won 1–0 after extra-time.

Personal life

Bello is named after his grandfather, Georgie. His father was an amateur footballer in Nigeria and helped Bello develop his interest in the game. Bello also ran track and field in high school and helped his school win the 2016 Georgia team state championship. His favorite soccer players growing up were

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned ...

and

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

but he also was interested in the left back position and watched videos of

David Alaba David Olatukunbo Alaba (born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Austria national team. Alaba started out in Bayern's youth system before b ...

and Marcelo.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Atlanta United *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

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 ...

* U.S. Open Cup:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Campeones Cup:

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Individual * MLS All-Star:

References

External links

Profile
at

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bello, George 2002 births Living people People from Abuja People from Douglasville, Georgia Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area American soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany American expatriate soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Nigerian footballers Nigerian emigrants to the United States 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Arminia Bielefeld players Association football fullbacks Atlanta United FC players Atlanta United 2 players Bundesliga players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Homegrown Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players USL Championship players