Mauricio "Mau" Vargas (born 10 August 1992) is a Costa Rican 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 ...

who plays for

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

Early life

Vargas was born in Somerville, New Jersey but moved to

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...

, Costa Rica with his family when he was very young. He moved back to the New Jersey in his teens. He has four siblings including brothers

Juan Pablo Juan Pablo is a common combination of Spanish given names. It is the equivalent of " John Paul" in English or " Jean-Paul" in French. Notable people with the name include: * Juan Pablo Ángel (born 1975), Colombian football player * Juan Pablo Are ...

who also plays professional soccer and

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

who currently plays for

CF Universidad de Costa Rica A.D.F.C.F. UCR is a soccer club in Costa Rica. On 2 June 2017 the university rector Henning Jensen announced the cease of the agreement with the club, which starting on 1 July will no longer represent the university in any form. The club was re ...

Club career

After moving to Costa Rica, Vargas played outfield positions for the academy of

Liga Deportiva Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

beginning at age 9 before becoming a goalkeeper at age 13. In 2010, he left Alajuelense and joined the academy of

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

of the Spanish Segunda División before announcing his departure in April 2012. At this time Vargas returned to the United States and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

for the

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

Barton Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 5 ...

. He played for the team for three years before transferring to

Friends University Friends University is a private nondenominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. It was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friend ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

and playing for its team. He graduated with a degree in physical education in 2016. During his lone season on the team, he made 16 appearances and maintained a GAA of 1.049. While at Friends University, he also played for

FC Wichita FC Wichita is a soccer club based in Wichita, Kansas that plays in USL League Two's Heartland Conference. The club was a member of the Heartland Conference in the National Premier Soccer League, a national semi-professional league at the fourth ...

of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially affiliated to the Uni ...

for the 2015 season. During the season, he made 14 appearances for the club, as he recorded 6 shutouts and maintained a .79 goals against average. That season, he also helped FC Wichita claim the NPSL South Central Conference title in the club's inaugural season. Following the season, various teams inquired about signing the player including Major League Soccer clubs

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

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 ...

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

, and Sporting Kansas City. In December 2015 it was announced that Vargas had signed his first professional contract, joining the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

of the

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 ...

. He made his professional debut for the club on 14 May 2016 in a 0–1 defeat to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

in front of a crowd of 23,375, a league record at that time. His performance in the match, which included saving eight of nine shots faced, earned Vargas USL Team of the Week honors.

International career

Vargas first had national team involvement with the Costa Rican youth teams at age 14. He went on to represent Costa Rica at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He played every minute of every match of both tournaments. He was called into the Under-23 team in summer 2015 even though he was not of age to compete with the team. He also appeared in five matches for Costa Rica during the

2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2011 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was expanded to 12 teams beginning in 2011. The tournament determined the four CONCACAF teams that participated at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Colombia. In addition, the top three finishers ...

Career statistics

Honours

Alajuelense *

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

: Apertura 2020 *

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

References

External links

Riverhounds profile
*
FC Wichita profile
* *
Friends University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Mauricio 1992 births Living people Costa Rican footballers Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players USL Championship players National Premier Soccer League players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Costa Rican expatriate footballers Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Somerville, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey Barton Community College alumni L.D. Alajuelense footballers