Joel Johnson Alajarín (born 20 September 1992) is a Liberian

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

right-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

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

club

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Torrent, Valencia Torrent ( es, Torrente) is a city located within the metropolitan area of the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the largest municipality of the Horta Oest ''comarca'', with 83,962 inhabitants (2020). It is situated some 7 km from Valencia city ...

, to a

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n father and a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

mother, Johnson was a product of

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

's youth system. He made his senior debut at only 17, appearing with the reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

and suffering relegation in 2010. On 8 March 2010, as both right-backs in the first team,

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

and Miguel, were unavailable, Johnson made his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

appearance, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

. Released on 30 June 2012, he went on to compete solely in the lower leagues, first with

Real Madrid C Real Madrid Club de Fútbol C, commonly known as Real Madrid C, was a Spanish association football team that played in the Tercera División – Group 7. It was Real Madrid's second reserve team. They played their home games at La Ciudad del ...

and then with

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF, holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Victoria'', with a capacit ...

, both in the third tier. After a season with

CD Buñol Club Deportivo Buñol, commonly referred to as Buñol, is a Spanish football team based in Buñol in the autonomous Valencian Community. Founded in 1921, it plays in ''Regional Preferente – Group 2'', holding home games at ''Campo de Fút ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

, Johnson signed with

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, pl ...

side

on 6 April 2016. Six years later, he joined

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut. History On June 8, 2021, Ha ...

of the same country and league.

International career

Johnson received his first call for the Liberia national team on 31 August 2016, being an unused substitute in the 4–1 away loss to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying phase the following week. He only won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 9 September 2018, starting and playing 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joel 1992 births Living people People from Torrent, Valencia Spanish people of Liberian descent Liberian people of Spanish descent People with acquired Liberian citizenship Sportspeople of Liberian descent Sportspeople from the Province of Valencia Spanish footballers Liberian footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Real Madrid C footballers Real Jaén footballers USL Championship players USL League One players Charlotte Independence players Hartford Athletic players Liberia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Liberian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Liberian expatriate sportspeople in the United States