Lucas Manuel Zelarayán ( hy, Լուկաս Մանուել Զելարայան; born 20 June 1992) is a 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for

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 ...

club Columbus Crew. Born in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, he represents the Armenia national team.

Club career

Belgrano

Born in

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province a ...

, Zelarayán was a

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Belg ...

youth graduate. He made his senior debut on 25 April 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for Lucas Parodi in a 2–1 away loss against Rosario Central, for the season's Copa Argentina. Zelarayán made his

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 ...

debut on 1 March 2013, replacing

Jorge Velázquez Jorge Luis Velázquez (born 7 September 1982) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Career Velázquez had a youth spell with Huracán de Vera before he got his senior career started in 2004 with a spell in Torneo A ...

in a 2–0 away loss against Newell's Old Boys. His first professional goal came on 7 April of the following year, as he scored the winner in a 2–1 home defeat of River Plate. On 5 December 2014, after becoming a regular starter, Zelarayán extended his contract until 2018.

Tigres UANL

On 21 December 2015, Zelarayán agreed to a contract with

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

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

. He debuted for the club the following 10 January, replacing Rafael Sóbis in a 1–0 loss at

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

. Zelarayán scored his first goal abroad on 6 February 2016, netting the last in a 3–1 win at

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, ...

. On 22 January 2017, he scored a brace in a 4–2 home win against América.

Columbus Crew

On 20 December 2019, Zelarayán moved to

side Columbus Crew for $8 million. Zelarayán made his debut against New York City FC, scoring the match-winning goal in the 56th minute. He was named the league's Newcomer of the Year at the end of the 2020 regular season. In the 2020 MLS Cup final, Zelarayán scored two goals and assisted on another in Columbus' 3–0 win over

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

to help them win their second ever

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 ...

title. Zelarayán was named the

MLS Cup Most Valuable Player 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 ...

after his performance. During the 2021 MLS season, Zelarayán scored a total of five free kick goals, with two of them coming in one game vs New York City FC. Both free kick goals turned out to be crucial for the Crew, as they ended up winning 2–1, with the game winning free kick coming in the 5th minute of second half stoppage time, which earned Zelarayán recognition as MLS Player of the Week. Zelarayán was named MLS Player of the Week a second time in the 2021 season after scoring 2 goals in a 3–1 victory against

DC 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 Su ...

. Zelarayán finished the year leading the club in both goals and assists with twelve and seven respectively. On 2 December 2021, it was announced that Zelarayán had signed a contract extension with the Crew, keeping him with Columbus through the 2024 Major League Soccer season with an option for 2025. On 30 March 2022, Zelarayán was voted MLS Player of the Month. On 5 October, Zelarayán scored the longest free kick goal in MLS history since the statistic has been tracked; a 56 yard attempt during a match against Charlotte FC. That goal marked his 17th goal from outside of the penalty area since joining the league in 2020, more than double of any other player in the league.

International career

Born in Argentina, Zelarayán is of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent through his father. He received an invitation to represent the Armenia national team in June 2018. He accepted the invitation to play for Armenia national team in October 2021. He debuted with Armenia in a 1–1

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

tie with

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

on 8 October 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

UANL *

: Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017, Clausura 2019 * Campeón de Campeones:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

Columbus Crew *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

*Campeones Cup:

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 ...

Individual * MLS Newcomer of the Year:

* MLS Cup MVP:

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

MLS Player of the Month The Major League Soccer Player of Month is a monthly soccer award given to players in Major League Soccer. The honor is given to the player deemed to have had the best cumulative performance in each month by a panel of journalists from the North A ...

: February/March 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelarayan, Lucas 1992 births Living people Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Armenian footballers Armenia international footballers Argentine footballers Armenian people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Argentine people of Armenian descent Citizens of Armenia through descent Association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Tigres UANL footballers Columbus Crew players Designated Players (MLS) Armenian expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico Armenian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States