Jorge Antonio Flores Villafaña (born September 16, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Youth

Villafaña spent part of his childhood in

Pénjamo Pénjamo ( tsz, Penlamu or Penxamo 'place of ahuehuetes or sabinos'; Cradle of Hidalgo) is the seat of Pénjamo municipality, one of 46 municipalities of Guanajuato, Mexico. It was cofounded in 1549 by Guamares, Purépechas, and Otomis prior t ...

, Guanajuato,

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 ...

before returning to the United States for high school. He attended

Anaheim High School Anaheim High School is a public, four-year high school in the city of Anaheim, California, United States and serves students living in the Colony District of Anaheim. Anaheim High School was first established in 1898, which makes it the oldest ...

and became captain of the soccer team. In March 2007, Villafaña won '' Sueño MLS'', a reality show that led to a try-out with Major League Soccer. His reality show win earned him the nickname "Sueño". Villafaña beat out around 2,000 other competitors to earn a spot on Chivas USA's U-19 squad.

Professional

Villafaña was signed by Chivas USA to a professional contract in July 2007. He made his only appearance of the season as a substitute in a 3–0 win over

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. He scored in 2008 season debut against

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 ...

as a substitute. Villafaña made his first career start the following week against 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 ...

and scored on a glancing header to seal the game for Chivas USA. Villafaña scored again the following week against the

Columbus Crew 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 ...

. While with Chivas USA, Villafaña appeared in 86 league matches and scored 7 goals. After the 2013 season, Villafaña was traded to the Portland Timbers. He would make 50 starts over two seasons with the Timbers. The Timbers won

2015 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2015 was the 20th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS). The association football, soccer match was to determine the champion of MLS' 2015 Major League Soccer season, 2015 season. The championship wa ...

; Villafaña's performance in that victory was highlighted as strong by several analysts and commentators. Following the triumph, Villafaña was sold to Liga MX club

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

for a reported fee of just under $1 million. On August 8, 2018, Villafaña was re-acquired by the Portland Timbers. On January 12, 2021, Villafaña was traded to LA Galaxy.

International

In 2007, Villafaña was called up for the United States U-20 for its trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 23 to December 3. The team was part of an 11-day training camp with the U-20 squads of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. Villafaña played in all three of the U.S. games during the trip. A game tying assist against River Plate's reserves and a game-tying goal against the Argentina national under-20 team helped earn him the honor of team captain. Villafaña appeared in all three of the U.S. games at the 2008 Campos Verde International in

Beja, Portugal Beja () is a city and a municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 35,854, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 21,658 in 2001. The municipality is the capital of the Beja District. The present Mayor ...

. Villafaña scored his second international goal against the Bolton Wanderers Reserves in a 2–0 win in

Bolton, England Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th centu ...

on May 7, 2008. He assisted a goal in the U.S. 2–1 win over the Manchester United Reserves the following day. On January 29, 2017, Villafaña made his full

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

debut in a friendly against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. He went on to establish himself as the USMNT's first-choice left back for the unsuccessful 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. On March 25, he was cap-tied to the United States in a World Cup qualifying match against Honduras. In July 2017 he helped the USMNT win the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

with his play in several games, including starts in the semifinal 2-0 win over Costa Rica and the final 2-1 win over Jamaica.

Personal life

In November 2011, Villafaña changed his name from "Jorge Flores" to "Jorge Villafaña" opting to take his mother's maiden name as his last name. On May 17, 2018, Jorge and his wife were robbed of over $20,000 USD in a shopping mall after exchanging currency after the first leg of the 2018 Liga MX final.

Honors

Portland Timbers *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

: 2015 * Western Conference (playoffs): 2015 *

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 tourna ...

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 ...

Santos Laguna * Liga MX: Clausura 2018 United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

: 2009 United States *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villafana, Jorge 1989 births Living people American 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 American sportspeople of Mexican descent American expatriate soccer players Chivas USA players Portland Timbers players Santos Laguna footballers Soccer players from Anaheim, California Major League Soccer players Liga MX players Expatriate footballers in Mexico 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Association football fullbacks 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) LA Galaxy players