José Manuel Rivera Galván is a Mexican former professional

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 has played in 6 different countries in highest level in Europe, (

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

)

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 ...

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 ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

being with Sonsonate FC his last team in 2018.

Club career

He signed with

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional Association football, football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup ...

in August 2006 as a free agent. Not much is known about Manuel Rivera. He spent time in the youth league teams of

Club Atlas Atlas Fútbol Club () is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that currently plays in Liga MX. It plays home matches at the Estadio Jalisco. Founded in 1916, Atlas has won three league titles and four domestic cups ...

and

C.F. Pachuca Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was on ...

. Having little opportunity to show what he is capable of on these two teams, he was forced to travel to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in search of a contract. He had try-outs during the course of a month with teams from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He tried their second, third, and fourth divisions, until finally, his agent received a call for Rivera to go and try-out for the Slovakian club

. He arrived at the club on 4 August 2006 to practice with the B team. On the very next Tuesday, he got to play in a friendly match with the A team against a club team from Kuwait. They told him that this was his only opportunity to show what he is made of and that if you play well you stay, if not you go. He entered in the second half of the game and ended up scoring two goals. His signing with the team was very quick after that and he made his league debut against

Inter Bratislava FK Inter Bratislava () is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, temporarily playing its home matches in Stupava. History Inter Bratislava was founded in 1940 by the Apollo refinery (later renamed Slovnaft). Following the end of World Wa ...

where he played 27 minutes and had an assist. In the match against FC Artmedia Petrzalka 27 August 2006 scored one goal from penalty kick. For the 2007 season he will played for

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

of the

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(First Division) on loan. The following season, he played on another loan with

Club Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega i ...

in the First Division. In the summer of 2009 he signed with Deportivo Guamúchil in Mexico.

RoPS

On 4 April 2011 Rivera signed a contract with

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

club

Rovaniemen Palloseura Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football (soccer), football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. In 2019 RoPS participated in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') marking their 32nd season in the top flight (previo ...

after have pass a time with Deportivo Guamúchil. Rivera debuted with

RoPS Rops may refer to: People * Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), French writer and historian * Félicien Rops (1833–1898), Belgian artist Places * Rops (peak), a mountain in Kosovo Sports * Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), a Finnish football club Tech ...

on May 6 in a victory 1–0 against

FF Jaro FF Jaro is a Finnish football club, based in the bilingual town of Jakobstad. It currently plays in ''Ykkönen''. Home matches are played at the Jakobstads Centralplan. Current squad ''Updated 7 March, 2022.'' Managem ...

and on May 9 he scored his first 2 goals in a draw 3–3 against

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

. Rivera have tried to get contract from Scandinavia and might be back in Rovaniemi 2012.

CD Guadalajara

Jose Manuel Rivera is joining C.D. Guadalajara for the 2013 Clausura. He joined after he tried out a few weeks ago and has played in the winter 2012 preseason for Guadalajara. He also tried out in September 2012, but did not end up playing.

Chivas USA

He spent with the 2013 season with

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

Major League Soccer 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 ...

FF Jaro

After a short spell with

CD Irapuato Club Deportivo Irapuato is a professional football club, based in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. They are currently playing in the Serie A in the Liga Premier. Irapuato has mostly played in the Promotion League of Mexico (formerly Primera Divis ...

in the

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). ...

, Rivera returned to the Finnish top flight, signing a contract with

in April 2015. He made his debut on April 23 in a defeat against

Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (or SJK Seinäjoki or SJK) is a Finnish professional football club from the city of Seinäjoki. The club plays in the Veikkausliiga, the highest tier of the Finnish league system. Their home ground is OmaSP Stadion, wh ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Jose Manuel Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican footballers Atlas F.C. footballers C.F. Pachuca players FC Spartak Trnava players Slovak Super Liga players Expatriate footballers in Slovakia Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Budapest Honvéd FC players Expatriate footballers in Hungary Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Rovaniemen Palloseura players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Expatriate footballers in Finland Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Chiapas F.C. footballers Chivas USA players FC Arizona players Major League Soccer players National Premier Soccer League players Living people 1986 births Association football midfielders