Maynor Alexis Figueroa Róchez (born 2 May 1983) is a Honduran 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-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 ...

. He is best known for his time at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, where he made 179

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

appearances and won the 2013 FA Cup. Figueroa has made over 180 international appearances since 2003, including appearances at seven

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 ...

s, two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Jutiapa, Atlántida Jutiapa is a municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''mun ...

, Figueroa started his career with

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, before moving to Olimpia in 2003. He later became

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heav ...

. In 2007, Figueroa received offers from

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 ...

clubs, one of which was revealed to be

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 ...

, but Olimpia's administrator, Osman Madrid, turned down all the offers. Figueroa had drawn previous interest from foreign clubs aside from those in MLS, including

Club Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega is ...

of Mexico making offers during 2007. However, during an interview, Madrid indicated the terms sought by other teams had been neither agreeable nor economically favourable to Olimpia or Figueroa.

Wigan Athletic (loan)

On 20 December 2007, Honduran newspaper ''El Heraldo'' reported that, as a result of interest expressed by the

club

, Figueroa would be travelling to England. In January 2008, Figueroa joined Wigan on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for the rest of the 2007–08 season. In July 2008, after a complicated process involving work permit and visa issues, Figueroa rejoined Wigan on loan for a further six months, after which Wigan had the option to make the deal permanent following a successful loan spell.

Wigan Athletic

On 23 December 2008, Wigan announced Figueroa had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to join permanently. He scored his first goal for Wigan on 11 January 2009. He scored a close range header to secure a late winner against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. On 12 December 2009, Figueroa scored a goal against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

from his own half to put Wigan in the lead. Figueroa noticed Stoke goalkeeper

Thomas Sørensen Thomas Løvendahl Sørensen (born 12 June 1976) is a retired Danish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Sørensen started his career with his local side Odense BK. After impressing on loan at Vejle Boldklub and Svendborg he was signed by E ...

off his line at a free kick and struck the ball quickly to send the ball soaring over Sørensen and into the net. Although the match ended 2–2, Figueroa made the headlines the following day, with

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotla ...

calling it a candidate for Goal of the Season. Indeed, Figueroa's goal was chosen as

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

Goal of the Season In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's '' Match of the Day'', in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten Go ...

for 2009–10. By the end of the 2009–10 campaign, he had made 81 appearances and scored twice in all competitions for Wigan. The 2010–11 campaign proved difficult for Wigan and Figueroa. On 26 February 2011, he made his 100th Premier League appearance, playing the full 90 minutes at left-back in a 4–0 defeat against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

at the

DW Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

. He scored a goal against fellow relegation struggling side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 19 March 2011 that led to a 2–1 win for Wigan. On the last day of the season, Wigan needed to win and have results go their way in order to secure Premier League safety. Figueroa provided the breakthrough for the away side in the 78th minute, setting up

Hugo Rodallega Hugo Rodallega Martínez (born 25 July 1985) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bahia. Rodallega started his professional career with Deportes Quindío in 2004. An impressive first season with the club earned him ...

to win the game 1–0 at

and confirm Wigan's safety in the Premier League. During Wigan's first

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game of the 2012–13 season, Figueroa scored from 35 yards out, as Wigan defeated Nottingham Forest 4–1 at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

. Wigan achieved success in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

winning the competition after beating Manchester City 1–0 in the final. Figueroa had played in every round of the FA Cup but was injured for the FA Cup final; however he did receive an FA Cup Winner's medal However, they did not have as much success in the Premier League and were relegated at the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

Hull City

Newly promoted Premier League side Hull City announced the signing of Figueroa on a free transfer on 17 June 2013. He made his debut on the first day of the 2013–14 season in a 2–0 loss away at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Figueroa reached an FA Cup Final for the second successive season after playing in every game prior to the final. Whereas he missed the 2013 FA Cup Final through injury, he was an unused substitute for the 2014 FA Cup Final after manager Steve Bruce changed the system to 5-3-2 with the manager's son Alex Bruce starting ahead of Figueroa. Hull lost the final 3–2 to Arsenal after extra-time. On 21 October 2014 Figueroa returned to Wigan Athletic on a month-loan and went on to play in the 0–0 draw against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

the same day. After five consecutive games for the club since joining on loan, Wigan extended his loan deal until 30 December 2014. He was recalled to Hull on 22 December 2014, along with

Tom Ince Thomas Christopher Ince (born 30 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as either an attacking midfielder, winger or forward for EFL Championship club Reading. The son of former England midfielder Paul Ince, Tom Ince ...

from Nottingham Forest. On 28 May 2015, Figueroa was one of six players released by Hull manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising scho ...

Colorado Rapids

Following his release by Hull City, Figueroa 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 ...

team

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 7 August 2015. He made his Rapids and MLS debut on 14 August in a 1–0 defeat to 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 ...

. Figueroa scored his first goal for Colorado on 29 August in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

. Figueroa would play in 10 games for Colorado. He was unable to save the Rapids season as they failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished the year in last place in the Western Conference.

FC Dallas

On 26 January 2016, Figueroa was traded to

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 ...

in exchange for General Allocation Money. He made his debut for FC Dallas on 6 March in a 2–0 win over 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 ...

. Figueroa scored his first goal for Dallas on 4 August against

Real Estelí Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010 ...

in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

, rocketing a shot into the top right corner in the 84th minute to give Dallas a 2–1 victory. He would start in the quarter-finals, semi-final and final to help Dallas win the 2016 U.S. Open Cup. Figueroa also made 28 MLS appearances to help lead Dallas to win the

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

. In the playoffs, he would start both legs of Dallas's conference semi-final tie with the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, but they would fall 4–2 on aggregate. On 22 April, Figueroa scored his first MLS goal for Dallas in a 1–0 win over Sporting Kansas City. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week following a strong performance in a 1–1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on 17 June. He scored his second league goal with Dallas on 23 August, blasting a ball into the top of the net in a 3–3 draw with 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. Establish ...

in a

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 ...

match. On 27 August, Figueroa would score against his former team to lead Dallas to a 2–0 win over Colorado. Dallas would finish in 7th place in the Western Conference and miss out on the playoffs in 2017 after a late season collapse saw them win 2 of their final 14 games, just one year after doing a US Open Cup and Supporters Shield double. 2018 saw a reduced role for Figueroa, with the additions of the younger Anton Nedyalkov and Marquinhos Pedroso competing for the left back spot. He would only make 20 appearances as he split time as a left back and center back. Figueroa's loan goal of the season came on 18 August in a 2–0 win over

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 Soc ...

. He would help Dallas return to the playoffs in 2018. On 26 November, Figueroa had his contract option declined.

Houston Dynamo

On 30 January 2019, Figueroa signed with FC Dallas's biggest rivals, the

. Figueroa made his Dynamo debut on 19 February 2019 in a 1–0 win over CD Guastatoya in the

. He made 4 appearances in the CCL as the Dynamo reached the quarterfinals. He made his first league appearance for the Dynamo on 2 March in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

. Figueroa ended his first season in Houston with 25 appearances and 3 assists in league play as Houston finished 10th in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs. On 20 December, Figueroa signed a new contract to stay in Houston. Figueroa and the Dynamo opened the 2020 season on 29 February with a 1–1 draw against the LA Galaxy, with Figueroa playing the full match. He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on 19 September to help Houston to a 2–2 draw with

. On 26 September Figueroa scored in the 89th minute to give the Dynamo a 1–1 draw with Nashville SC. 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 identi ...

, Figueroa appeared in 20 of Houston's 23 matches and scored 2 goals. The Dynamo had a poor season as a team, finishing last in the Western Conference and missing the playoffs again. Figueroa's contract with Houston expired following the 2020 season. He re-signed with Houston on 10 February 2021. He served as a backup centerback during the 2021 season, making 13 appearances and recording 2 assists. It was another disappointing season for the Dynamo, as Houston finished last in the West for the second consecutive season and missed out on the playoffs again. Following the 2021 season, Figueroa's contract option was declined by Houston.

International career

Figueroa made his debut for

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in 2003 and was a part of the Honduras squad at the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

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 April ...

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 ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

CONCACAF Gold Cups, earning a combined total of 25 caps. He was also named in the 23-man squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa. At the time, Figueroa played out of position as a centre–back at the World Cup, due to emergence of Emilio Izaguirre at the left–back position. He was again named to Honduras' squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. Figueroa also represented Honduras at U-20 and U-23 level from 1999 to 2003 and 2001 to 2003 respectively, scoring once in three games for the U-20s. He joined the U-23 squad as an overage player for the

. He has won over 180 caps, the most for Honduras, scoring six goals since his debut, and served as captain from 2014 until 2022. In June 2021, Figueroa led Honduras into the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the inaugural

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

tournament. He would play in Honduras' 1–0 loss to the

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and in the third place play-off, where Honduras prevailed over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

5–4 on penalties, after a 2–2 draw.

Personal life

Figueroa is married to Sandra Norales, a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

player who represents Honduras in that sport. Together they have two sons and one daughter. One of their sons, Keyrol, plays as a forward for Liverpool Academy. Figueroa is of

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian Cr ...

heritage. He is close friends with Honduran and former Dynamo teammate Boniek García. In 2020 Figueroa received his U.S. green card which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

:''Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Figueroa goal''.

Honours

Olimpia * Liga Nacional: 2003–04 Clausura, 2004–05 Clausura, 2005–06 Apertura, 2005–06 Clausura Wigan Athletic *

: 2012–13 Hull City *

runner-up: 2013–14 FC Dallas * U.S. Open Cup:

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

Maynor Figueroa official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Maynor 1983 births Living people Garifuna people People from Atlántida Department Honduran footballers Association football defenders C.D. Olimpia players C.D. Victoria players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Colorado Rapids players FC Dallas players Houston Dynamo FC players Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players Premier League players English Football League players Major League Soccer players Olympic footballers of Honduras Honduras international footballers 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players FIFA Century Club Honduran expatriate footballers Honduran expatriate sportspeople in England Honduran expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States