Samuel Junqua (born November 9, 1996) is an American 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 who plays as a defender 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

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

Career

Youth & College

Junqua attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he 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 Kingd ...

for four years between 2015 and 2018, making 68 appearances and tallying 3 assists. He was named to the 2018 All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

third team. While in college, Junqua played in the PDL with

FC Golden State Force FC Golden State Force is an American soccer team based in Whittier, California, United States that currently plays in USL League Two. The club currently plays at Rio Hondo College Rio Hondo College is a public community college in Whittie ...

and

San Francisco Glens San Francisco Glens Soccer Club, commonly known as SF Glens, is an American soccer club based in San Francisco that was founded in 1961. Their men's first team currently competes in USL League Two and women's first team in the USL W League, both ...

Professional career

Houston Dynamo

On January 11, 2019, Junqua was drafted 8th overall in the

2019 MLS SuperDraft The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fi ...

by the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

and was signed by the club on January 22, 2019. Junqua made his Dynamo debut on June 18, getting the start in a 3–2 loss to

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

in a

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

match. He made his first appearance in a continental competition and his second overall appearance with the Dynamo on July 24, coming on as a sub in a

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminati ...

match with

Club America Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. Junqua spent most of the 2019 season on loan with the Dynamo's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

affiliate

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, is an American semi-professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a ...

. He made his first appearance for the Toros on March 16, playing the full 90 in a 2–0 loss to

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

. He would go on to make 17 appearances with RGVFC in his first pro season. On July 13, 2020, Junqua made his first appearance of the season and first MLS appearance of his career, coming on as a substitute in a 3–3 draw with LAFC. He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on October 3 in a 2–1 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

. He made his first career MLS start on October 7 in a 2–0 win over

Texas Derby The Texas derby is a soccer rivalry (derby) between the Houston Dynamo FC and FC Dallas, recognizing the best club in the state for the season until 2021 when Austin FC joined MLS. The two squads play a series of games with the series winner tak ...

rivals

. Junqua finished the year with 9 appearances and 1 goal in a shortened season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was a poor season for Houston as a team, finishing last in the Western Conference and missing out on the playoffs again. Junqua missed the first 8 games of the 2021 season after suffering a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in the final preseason match. He made his first appearance of the season on June 19, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against LAFC. On July 3, Junqua picked up his first career MLS assist in a 1–1 draw with

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

. He ended the season with 22 appearances, 18 of them starts, and 1 assist, splitting time playing as both a left-back and as a center-back. The season was another disappointing one for Houston, with the Dynamo finishing last in the West for the 2nd straight season and failing to qualify for the playoffs once again. Junqua made 15 MLS appearances, 4 of them starts, and had an assist during the 2022 season as the Dynamo finished 13th in the conference, missing out on the playoffs. In the Open Cup, Junqua started all 3 games for Houston. On April 19, in their first cup game of the season, Junqua scored 3 minutes into stoppage time to give the Dynamo a 2–1 win over RGVFC. In the next round, he set up

Sebastián Ferreira Carlos Sebastián Ferreira Vidal (born 13 February 1998) is a Paraguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for American club Houston Dynamo FC, Houston Dynamo. Club career Clu ...

in the 82nd minute for a 1–0 win over

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio F ...

. Junqua's contract expired following the 2022 season.

FC Dallas

On February 23, 2023, Junqua signed with

after the club acquired his rights from Houston in exchange for $75,000 of GAM.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junqua, Sam 1996 births Living people American soccer players Association football defenders California Golden Bears men's soccer players FC Dallas players De Anza Force players FC Golden State Force players Houston Dynamo FC draft picks Houston Dynamo FC players People from Saratoga, California Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players San Francisco Glens players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Santa Clara County, California USL Championship players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players