Julian Valentin (born February 23, 1987) is an American retired professional

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.

Career

Amateur

A four-year starter at Wake Forest University, Valentin appeared in 84 games from 2003-2007. Named NSCAA First Team All-South and Second Team All-America, Soccer America First-Team All-American and All-ACC First Team in 2006, Valentin was also named to ESPN's Academic All-District III team and was one of three NCAA starters on U-20 Men's National Team. Valentin captained the Demon Deacons to their first NCAA National Championship title in 2007 and famously took a cleat to the face in the final minutes of the game.

Professional

Valentin was selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy with the 29th overall pick in the

2008 MLS SuperDraft The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from the expansion San ...

. With the

MLS Reserve Division The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

having been scrapped at the end of 2008, the LA Galaxy loaned Valentin to

Cleveland City Stars The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club fo ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

on May 15, 2009. Valentin signed with

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

club

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

on 5 February 2010 and was named club captain on 6 April 2010. On 3 February 2011, Valentin officially retired from professional play and accepted a job with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. Valentin is of Puerto Rican descent. Valentin is the older brother of

Zarek Valentin Zarek Chase Valentin (born August 6, 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right back for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United. A former youth international for the United States, Valentin represents the Puerto Rico national t ...

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 ...

and brother in-law of

Taylor Kemp Taylor Eric Kemp (born July 23, 1990) is a former American soccer player. Career College and Amateur Kemp played college soccer at the University of Maryland between 2009 and 2012. Professional Kemp was drafted 17th overall by D.C. United in t ...

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 ...

References

External links

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Wake Forest bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentin, Julian 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania American soccer players American people of Puerto Rican descent Soccer players from Pennsylvania Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players LA Galaxy players Cleveland City Stars players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Major League Soccer players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players LA Galaxy draft picks Association football defenders