Rubio Yovani Méndez Rubín (born 1 March 1996) 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 a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. Born in the United States, he represents the Guatemala national team.

Club career

Youth

Rubin attended Whitford Middle School in Beaverton, Oregon. He started his youth career at Westside Metros and played at

Beaverton High School Beaverton High School (often referred to as The Beaverton High School) is a public high school located in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. The original schoolhouse, called Beaverton Public School, opened in 1875 on land between Canyon Road and Br ...

Senior

Rubin signed a four-year deal with

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

upon turning eighteen in March 2014. Rubin started, played the full 90 minutes and recorded an assist in his professional debut for Utrecht on 17 August 2014, in a 2–1 victory over Willem II. He won the Beloften Eredivisie in 2015–16 with Jong FC Utrecht. Rubin signed with Silkeborg IF of the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

in January 2017 after being released from FC Utrecht. After his departure from Silkeborg, Rubin signed with Stabæk for the remainder of the 2017 season. Rubin joined

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

Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as '' Xolos'', is a Mexican professional football club based in Tijuana. The club's badge is the founder's (Jorge Hank) hairless xoloitzcuintle, Hermoso. Founded ...

in February 2018. After mostly playing on loan with Tijuana's affiliate

Dorados Dorados de Sinaloa, or Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club based on Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. History Dorados de Sinaloa was founded on August 9, 2003. The Dorados was the youngest team to play on First Division de México, hav ...

, Rubin joined

San Diego Loyal San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the ...

in September 2020. On 7 January 2021, Rubin joined

MLS 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 ...

side

International career

United States

A former United States under-17 player, Rubin in 2012 was named U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year. Rubin was eligible to play for

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

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 ...

, or the United States. He joined the United States team for the match against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on 3 September 2014. He earned his first cap when he started on 14 November 2014, in a 2–1 defeat against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, narrowly failing to score a header in the second half and attracting praise from manager

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

Guatemala

Following a one-time switch earlier in the year, Rubin made his debut for

in a 2–0 Nations League defeat to

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

on 2 June 2022.

Personal life

Rubio was born to a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

father and a Guatemalan mother.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Individual *

MLS Goal of the Year 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 Canad ...

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 ...

References

External links

* 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Beaverton, Oregon American people of Guatemalan descent American sportspeople of Latin American descent American sportspeople of North American descent Sportspeople of Guatemalan descent American sportspeople of Mexican descent American soccer players American expatriate soccer players FC Utrecht players Association football forwards Soccer players from Oregon Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Eredivisie 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 United States men's international soccer players Expatriate footballers in Norway American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Eliteserien players Silkeborg IF players Stabæk Fotball players Club Tijuana footballers Dorados de Sinaloa footballers Liga MX players Expatriate footballers in Mexico USL Championship players San Diego Loyal SC players Real Salt Lake players Major League Soccer players Guatemalan footballers Guatemala international footballers Dual internationalists (football) {{Guatemala-footy-bio-stub