Fabián Andrés Bastidas (born October 6, 1993) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Early life

Bastidas was born on October 6, 1993, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to Colombian parents. In his youth, he briefly moved to

Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

before his family returned to the United States to live in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

. He attended

Hollywood Hills High School Hollywood Hills High School is a high school in Hollywood, Florida. Attendance zones The school serves sections of Hollywood and Davie. - Compare this map to attendance boundary maps and/or street addresses of particular schools. - Compare wi ...

, and was a standout athlete on the school's soccer team, setting a record of 28 goals scored in his junior year. He also played for local clubs Hollywood Wildcats and South Florida Elite. At age 15, Bastidas trained with

Danubio F.C. Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan association football, football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1945, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo Ma ...

in Uruguay over several summers and once trained with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

of England. However, he was unable to sign with either club as a foreign minor not living with his parents.

Club career

Upon turning 18 and becoming eligible to play competitively abroad, Bastidas signed with C.A. Bella Vista in Uruguay. He made no appearances for them in the 18 months he was signed before the club hit a financial crisis leading to his departure. In 2013 he signed with River Plate in the

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

. He made his professional debut during the 2014–15 season. On January 23, 2019,

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

named Bastidas as one of three new signings ahead of their 2019 season. Following a match between

OKC Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. Although ...

and Tulsa Roughnecks on April 27, 2019, OKC defender

Atiba Harris Atiba Erasto Harris (born 9 January 1985) is a Saint Kitts and Nevis, Kittitian association football, football administrator and former professional footballer. He captained the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team, Saint Kitts and Nevi ...

wrote in a tweet that a Roughnecks player had twice used the N-word against him. The following day, Tulsa terminated Bastidas' contract and released him from the team for "his use of foul and abusive language during last night's match." Bastidas admitted to using the word but claimed it was only intended as slang, writing in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post, "In South America, New York, Portugal, and everywhere else I've lived, we say it with love." ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' reported that the

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

disciplinary committee will announce a 5-match ban for Bastidas if he signs with another USL club, the longest ban for foul language in league history. On July 9, 2020,

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

re-signed Bastidas.

References

1993 births Living people Uruguayan men's footballers C.A. Bella Vista players Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players FC Tulsa players Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from New York (state) USL Championship players Sportspeople from Hollywood, Florida Soccer players from Broward County, Florida American sportspeople of Colombian descent American expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub