Manny Neves is a retired

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

-American soccer

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 ...

who played professionally in the North American Soccer League,

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, and Major Indoor Soccer League. Born in the Azores Island of Pico, Neves’ family moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

at the age of 10. He graduated from

Point Loma High School Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and ...

. He attended

San Diego Mesa College San Diego Mesa College (Mesa College or Mesa) is a public community college in Clairemont Mesa in San Diego, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges and the San Diego Community College District. It is the largest communit ...

in 1979, playing on the school’s soccer team. The

California Surf The California Surf were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

of the North American Soccer League drafted Neves. In December 1979, Neves signed with the

of the North American Soccer League. The Surf folded at the end of the season and Neves moved to the San Diego Sockers where he played on the club’s reserve team, but broke his leg during a game in Mexico. In 1984, Neves played for the

Houston Dynamos Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were foun ...

in the

. The USL collapsed in 1985, and the Dynamos played an independent schedule that season. In 1986, he played for the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West Hi ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer All ...

.1986 Los Angeles Heat
/ref> In 1987, he signed with the San Diego Sockers of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

References

External links

Career stats
Living people 1960 births American people of Azorean descent American men's soccer players California Surf players Houston Dynamos players Los Angeles Heat players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Portuguese emigrants to the United States San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) indoor players San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) players United Soccer League (1984–85) players Western Soccer Alliance players Men's association football midfielders {{US-footy-midfielder-stub American people of Portuguese descent