Jose Villarreal (born September 10, 1993) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who currently plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Central Valley Fuego. He has previously played for

LA 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 pl ...

and Orlando City in

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 ...

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

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 ...

and Las Vegas Lights 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, pl ...

Club career

Youth career

Villarreal won the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

U-17/18 championship with Pateadores during the 2010–2011 Development Academy season. Pateadores won the championship after defeating FC Dallas 2–1 with Villarreal scoring both goals.

LA Galaxy

On December 22, 2011, Villarreal signed with

as a Homegrown Player. Aged 17, he made his debut for LA Galaxy on July 15, 2012 against

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

, coming on in the 90th minute, replacing

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

. Villarreal scored for LA Galaxy on July 18, with a late long-range goal, to tie the game at 2–2 in only his second MLS match. On March 30, 2013, Villarreal scored a stoppage-time goal against

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 BMO ...

to earn a 2–2 draw for LA Galaxy. Villarreal’s goal was named the No. 1 play of the day on ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

''. On December 20, 2013 Villarreal moved to Mexican club

on loan from the LA Galaxy for a year with an option to buy after the loan for the Mexican side. However, Villarreal never made a first team roster for Cruz Azul and he terminated his loan early following the collapse of

Cruz Azul Hidalgo Club Deportivo Cruz Azul Hidalgo, also known as Cruz Azul Hidalgo, was a professional football club in Mexico who last played in the Liga Premier league of Mexico. Their stadium was the Estadio 10 de Diciembre located in Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz ...

, the club's reserve team that competed in

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). ...

with whom he played once. On March 6, 2015 he scored the first goal of the MLS season in a 2–0 home win over the Chicago Fire. On July 1, 2015 Villarreal scored the winner in the opening 10 minutes in the Fifth Round of the U.S. Open Cup against

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Orlando City

On December 27, 2017, Villarreal was traded by LA Galaxy to

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

in exchange for a third-round selection 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 ...

. Villarreal made his Orlando City debut on June 2, 2018 against

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

. On November 27, 2018, Villarreal had his contract option declined by the club having only made 3 substitute appearances for the Lions in MLS.

Las Vegas Lights

On May 29, 2019, Villarreal signed for the

Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho ...

for the remainder of the 2019 USL Championship season. He made his Lights FC debut in the 69th minute of a U.S. Open Cup match against

Orange County FC Orange County FC is an American soccer club based in Lake Forest, California that currently plays in the United Premier Soccer League. They previously played in the National Premier Soccer League and SoCal Premier League. The club's colors are ...

Global F.C.

In January 2020, Villarreal signed for

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Filipino professional football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines' highest level of men's club football, supplanting the United Footb ...

club

Global F.C. Global Football Club was a professional association football, football club that last played in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the top flight of Philippines' club football. The club has won four league titles, two UFL Cups, one UFL FA Cu ...

Los Angeles Force

In 2022, Villarreal played for NISA club

Los Angeles Force Los Angeles Force is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California, that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). History On August 2, 2019, the National Independent Soccer Association announced the a ...

, making three appearances.

Central Valley Fuego

On June 30, 2022, Villarreal signed with

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 ...

side Central Valley Fuego.

International career

Villarreal has been capped for 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 ...

at under-18, under-20 and under-23 level. He competed at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship where he scored 3 goals and was named to the All-Tournament Team. The team lost the final 3-1 after extra time to hosts and defending champions

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 ...

. He then represented the United States at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

Personal life

Villarreal was born in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

to immigrant Mexican parents. His younger brother

Jaime Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...

(born 1995) is also a professional soccer player.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

LA Galaxy *

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 Conference ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villarreal, Jose 1993 births Living people American soccer players American people of Mexican descent American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines Association football forwards Central Valley Fuego FC players Cruz Azul footballers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Global Makati F.C. players Homegrown Players (MLS) LA Galaxy II players LA Galaxy players Las Vegas Lights FC players Los Angeles Force players Major League Soccer players National Independent Soccer Association players Orlando City SC players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Inglewood, California USL Championship players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players USL League One players