Christian Ramirez (born April 4, 1991) 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 forward 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 Cana ...

club Columbus Crew.

Early life and education

Born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

, Ramirez attended La Quinta High School in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

near his hometown of Garden Grove where he played center midfield and forward. As a freshman, he scored 17 goals and tallied 10 assists. During his sophomore year, he scored 18 goals and served eight assists. He opted not to play for the high school team during his junior and senior seasons. Ramirez played for the Olympic Development Program (ODP) and earned the Golden Boot award at the nationals in 2008 after the squad won the tournament. He was named team captain for three seasons. Ramirez played two years at

Concordia University Irvine Concordia University Irvine is a private Lutheran university in Irvine, California, United States. It was established in 1976 to provide a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod college to serve the Pacific Southwest and provide training for pastors, ...

(CUI) in California after starting his college career at UC Santa Barbara, where he appeared 24 times in two years, making two starts and scoring one goal. The 6'2" forward finished his CUI career with 44 goals and 18 assists. While at Concordia, Ramirez was named NAIA First Team All-American in 2012 while recording 23 goals and 6 assists and was also the GSAC 2012 Player of the Year. In 2011, Ramirez was named All-GSAC First Team and broke the school record for points in a game with five goals and three assists for 13 points against William Jessup. Ramirez tied the school single season mark for points with 48 in 2011 and would go on to set the school record for points in a season with 52 in 2012.

Club career

Charlotte Eagles

In 2013, Ramirez signed with the Charlotte Eagles of the

USL PRO 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 ...

. He made his debut for the squad in a match against

Antigua Barracuda FC Antigua Barracuda were an Antiguan professional football team based in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Founded in 2010, the team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system from 2011 to 2013. The team played i ...

, in which he tallied his first professional goal and was named to the USL Pro Team of the Week. Ramirez finished the regular season with 8 goals and 5 assists. He continued his form into the postseason, scoring 4 goals in 3 playoff appearances and helping lead the Eagles to the USL Pro Championship, where they lost to

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the US ...

Minnesota United FC

On January 8, 2014,

Minnesota United FC 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 Soc ...

announced that they had signed Ramirez for the 2014 NASL season. After first-choice striker

Pablo Campos Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer *Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist * Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer *Pablo Brenes ...

suffered a torn ACL in preseason, Ramirez enjoyed a breakout season while starting every game. Ramirez was named NASL Player of the Week three times, and the NASL Player of the Month three times, for May/June, August, and October/November. On the final game of the 2014 NASL Season, Ramirez scored his 20th goal, equaling the league record held by Campos and Etienne Barbara. Ramirez won the 2014 NASL Golden Boot by an 8-goal margin and the NASL Young Player of the Year award. Due to his performances, Ramirez was named in NASL's Best XI for 2014 and went on to earn the same honor in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Ramirez again won the NASL Golden Boot in 2016 after tallying 18 goals in 31 appearances. Ramirez holds the club record for both appearances and goals (95 and 53 respectively) for the now defunct NASL version of Minnesota United after they folded due to being selected for MLS expansion. With Minnesota United's move to

, Ramirez was signed to an MLS contract, which was announced in January 2017. On March 3 Minnesota played their first game in MLS history, a 5–1 loss at the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

, with Ramirez scoring the goal, MNUFC's first in MLS. He helped Minnesota earn their first point in league history on March 18, scoring once in a 2–2 draw at the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

. On April 1, Ramirez scored twice to help give the Loons a 4–2 win over

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 ...

. Ramirez scored once in a 4–0 win over D.C. United on July 29, but had to leave the game early due to a hamstring injury. After missing 4 games, he returned to action on September 16, coming off the bench in a 3–0 loss to

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. Ramirez scored his first goal since returning from injury on September 16 to help the Loons to a 3–1 win over the Montreal Impact. On September 23, he scored once and added two assists to help Minnesota defeat

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 ...

4–1. On October 3, Ramirez scored in the 90th minute to level the score with Atlanta United at 2. Kevin Molino would score in the 96th minute to give the Loons a 3–2 win. Ramirez ended the season with 14 goals and 3 assists from 30 appearances. Despite the strong play from Ramirez, Minnesota finished 9th in the Western Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Minnesota opened 2018 on March 3 with a 3–2 loss at the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, with Ramirez picking up an assist in the game. After being scoreless in the first 6 games, he found the back of the net on April 22 in a 3–1 defeat to the Seattle Sounders. Between May 12 and June 23, Ramirez scored 3 times in a 5-game stretch in MLS play. On July 18, he scored once to help Minnesota to a 2–1 win over the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. On July 22, Ramirez scored 2 goals and had one assist as the Loons beat

LAFC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference (MLS), Wes ...

5–1.

Los Angeles FC

On August 6, 2018, Ramirez was traded to

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

in exchange for $250,000 in General Allocation Money in 2018 and 2019, $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money in 2018, $200,000 in Targeted Allocation Money in 2019, and up to $200,000 in future Allocation Money based on the player's performance. Should Ramirez satisfy all performance metrics, the total transfer fee will be $1,000,000. Ramirez made his LAFC debut on August 11, coming on as a sub in a 2–0 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

. On August 15, 2018, Ramirez scored his first two LAFC goals in a 2–0 win against

. He would go scoreless for his next 5 appearances, but in the 1st game of the

2018 MLS Cup Playoffs The 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) began on October 31 and ended on December 8 with MLS Cup 2018, the 23rd league championship match for MLS. This was the 23rd version of the MLS Cup P ...

, Ramirez would score to give LAFC a lead in the 54th minute. However, Real Salt Lake would come back to win 3–2 to eliminate LAFC and Ramirez. He finished his debut season for LAFC with 8 appearances and 3 goals across all competitions. In 2019, LAFC got off to a strong start to the season. Ramirez picked up his first goal of the season in matchweek 2 in a 4–1 win over the

. Ramirez started the season as the team's starting striker, in part due to Adama Diomande not being fully fit. On July 3, Ramirez had one goal and one assist in a 5–1 win over Sporting Kansas City. He ended his 2nd season for LAFC having scored 4 goals from 20 appearances in all competitions.

Houston Dynamo

On August 7, 2019, Ramirez was traded to

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. Establish ...

in exchange for $250,000 in allocation money. Ramirez made his Dynamo debut and scored his first goal for his new club on August 11 in a 2–1 loss to the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

. On September 11, the Dynamo hosted Ramirez's old team, Minnesota. He scored once as the Dynamo defeated the Loons 2–0. In the final game of the season, Ramirez scored twice, including the winner in the 83rd minute, to help Houston defeat the LA Galaxy 4–2. He enjoyed good form to end the year, scoring 5 and assisting 1 in his 10 games with the Dynamo. His good performances weren't enough to save the Dynamo's season however, with Houston failing to qualify for the playoffs. After the first two games of the 2020 season, with Ramirez appearing off the bench in both, the season was paused for four months 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 identi ...

. Houston returned to play in July with the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tour ...

, however Ramirez did not take part, leaving the "bubble" to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. He rejoined the team after the tournament and made his first start of the year on August 21 in a 0–0 draw with

. On August 25 Ramirez scored once and added an assist as Houston won 5–2 at

. He found the back of the net again on September 9 to give Houston a 1–1 draw at the

. In a shortened season due to COVID-19, Ramirez ended the season with 2 goals and 2 assists from 15 games, 8 of them being starts. It was another disappointing season for the Dynamo as a team, finishing bottom of the Western Conference and missing the playoffs again. During the 2021 season, Ramirez only made 6 appearances before being transferred. He scored in his only start, a 3–1 loss at the

on May 15.

Aberdeen

On June 28, 2021, Ramirez signed with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Ramirez made his Aberdeen debut on 22 July in the new

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

where he scored in the 5–1 victory over

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...

of Sweden.

Columbus Crew

On January 19, 2023, Ramirez joined

club Columbus Crew on a two year deal with an option for a third year.

International career

On January 8, 2018, Ramirez received a call-up for the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

for a friendly against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He made his first appearance as a substitute against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

on January 27, 2019, along with scoring his first goal for the senior team.

Career statistics

Club

International

''As of November 14, 2020'' :''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first.'' ''Source: US Soccer''

Personal life

Ramirez's father, Juan, is a Colombian former footballer, who immigrated to the United States prior to Christian's birth. Juan stopped pursuing his soccer career in order to move his family to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Ramirez says one of his motivations for playing soccer is to "live out uan'sdream that he wasn't able to." He was raised in a Catholic home and is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Christian and his wife Valerie have two daughters together. Ramirez developed a strong friendship with fellow Californian and former Orange County Blue Star and Minnesota United teammate Miguel Ibarra. Ramirez and Ibarra were nicknamed "

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

" and "

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

" by the Minnesota fans.

Honors

Minnesota United * NASL Spring Season:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* North American Supporter's Trophy:

Individual * NASL Best XI:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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 ...

* NASL Golden Boot:

* North American Soccer League Young Player of the Year:

* NASL Player of the Month – May/June 2014, August 2014, October/November 2014, July 2015, July 2016 * NASL Player of the Week – Week 4 2016, Week 12 2016

References

External links

Minnesota United player profile
* *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Christian 1991 births Living people Aberdeen F.C. players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland American soccer players American sportspeople of Colombian descent Association football forwards Columbus Crew players Charlotte Eagles players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Houston Dynamo FC players Los Angeles FC players Major League Soccer players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Minnesota United FC players North American Soccer League players Orange County Blue Star players People from Garden Grove, California Scottish Professional Football League players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Santa Ana, California UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players USL Championship players USL League Two players