Jonathan Suárez Cortés (born February 22, 1997) 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 Argentine club

Defensores Unidos Club Atlético Defensores Unidos (simply known as Defensores Unidos) is an Argentine football club from the Villa Fox district of Zárate, Buenos Aires Zárate is a port city in the northeast of the . It lies on the western shore of the Par ...

Early years

Suárez prepped at

Fontana High School Fontana High School (FOHI) is a secondary public school in Fontana, California in the Fontana Unified School District. Fontana High serves grades 9 through 12. History A product of the Southern California post war boom, Fontana High (referred to ...

. He played as a forward for the school's soccer team, scoring 44 goals and 26 assists in 21 games as a senior to help win the

Sunkist League The Sunkist League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Southern Section. Members are located in western San Bernardino County. The Sunkist League is now a part of the Arrowhead Athletic Conference. The conference has 3 leagues ...

title and was voted HS GameTime Boys Soccer Player of the Year in 2015. His 44 goal season broke the school scoring record previously set by future MLS great and United States international,

Ante Razov Ante Razov (born March 2, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Los Angeles FC. One of the leading goal scorers in the history of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the all-time leading goal scorer for t ...

Club career

Following the final CIF game of the season, Suárez left school in April 2015 to sign with

Dock Sud Dock Sud is a town of Avellaneda Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It forms part of the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. The area is characterized by its predominantly working-class background, with many of its inhabita ...

, a professional side in Argentina's third division. In July 2015, he moved to Portugal for a brief stint at second-tier

Freamunde Freamunde is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Paços de Ferreira. The population in 2011 was 7,789,Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

in January 2016. Suárez began playing with the club's under-20 team, scoring 4 goals in 27 appearances. In January 2018, Suárez joined

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier). ...

team

Cimarrones de Sonora The Cimarrones de Sonora Fútbol Club is a Mexican football club that plays in the Liga de Expansión MX. The club is based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. History The "Cimarrones de Sonora" were born in 2013, when the "Rays" of Poblado Miguel Al ...

on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. He made his senior debut on January 9, 2018 as a 65th-minute substitute in a 3–0

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

defeat to

Atlético Morelia Club Atlético Morelia is a Mexican Association football, football club based in Morelia, Michoacán. Founded on 4 June 1950, the club currently plays in the Liga de Expansión MX. The club play their home games at Estadio Morelos. From 1981 to ...

. He made his league debut for the team 11 days later, starting and playing 77 minutes in a 1–0 defeat to

Atlético Zacatepec Club Atlético Zacatepec was a Mexican football team based in Zacatepec, Morelos. They are nicknamed ''Cañeros'' (sugarcane growers). Their colors are white and green (from sugar and sugarcane, respectively). Their uniform color is a white s ...

. Playing mostly as a winger, he made 15 appearances in all competitions for Sonora and scored one goal, the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...

on January 26, 2018. Upon his return to Querétaro, Suárez was left out of the first six Liga MX matchday squads but made his debut for the club as a 55th-minute substitute on August 1, 2018, in a 2–1 Copa MX defeat to

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

. He made his top-flight debut on August 26, 2018 in the 83rd-minute of a 2–0 win over

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

. During the season he played a total of 342 minutes in 10 appearances for the first-team. He made a further 10 appearances for a combined 550 minutes in all competitions in the 2019–20 season. With game time limited, Suárez joined U.N.A.M. on loan and was assigned to

Pumas Tabasco Pumas Tabasco is a Mexican professional football club based in Villahermosa. Founded in 2020, Pumas Tabasco is the official reserve team of Club Universidad Nacional and is part of the Liga de Expansión MX, the second professional football div ...

, the club's

Liga de Expansión MX The Liga de Expansión MX, also known as Liga de Desarrollo (Liga BBVA Expansión MX for sponsorship reasons), is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the prima ...

affiliate for the 2020–21 season. He made 19 appearances including 18 starts, predominantly at left-back or defensive midfield, and was an unused substitute for U.N.A.M. first-team on four occasions. On February 3, 2021, Suárez cut his Pumas loan short after he had the opportunity to join

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Orlando City on a season-long loan ahead of the

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 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

campaign. On February 23, Suárez was arrested by the Osceola County Sheriff's Office on suspicion of the

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

of a woman in his

Kissimmee Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

apartment two days earlier. His brother, Rafael Suárez Jr., was also arrested. He was suspended by MLS the following day pending investigation and had his loan contract terminated by Orlando City later that week having never trained with the team. He was subsequently removed from the Querétaro roster. On April 22, Suárez was granted an adjustment to the conditions of his bond allowing him to return to Mexico. On May 27, the state attorney ruled the case against Suárez was not "suitable for prosecution" and dropped the charges. In July 2021, Suárez joined

Dorados de Sinaloa Dorados de Sinaloa, or Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club based on Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. History Dorados de Sinaloa was founded on August 9, 2003. The Dorados was the youngest team to play on First Division de México, hav ...

. In 2022 he had a spell at

Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as '' Xolos'', is a Mexican professional football club based in Tijuana. The club's badge is the founder's (Jorge Hank) hairless xoloitzcuintle, Hermoso. Founded ...

, before joining Argentine club

in June 2023.

International career

In October 2016, Suárez was called up to the United States under-20 for the Four Nations invitational tournament held in England. He made one appearance as a substitute in a 5–3 defeat to the Netherlands.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Jonathan 1997 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders American sportspeople of Mexican descent Soccer players from Anaheim, California Fontana High School alumni Sportivo Dock Sud players S.C. Freamunde players Querétaro F.C. footballers Cimarrones de Sonora players Orlando City SC players Dorados de Sinaloa footballers Club Tijuana footballers Defensores Unidos footballers Ascenso MX players Liga MX players Liga de Expansión MX players American expatriate sportspeople in Argentina American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal