João Gervásio Bragança Moutinho (born 12 January 1998) is a Portuguese 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, rugby lea ...

who plays for Polish club

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

, on loan from

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

. Moutinho usually is employed as a left-back, although he has also been used as a centre-back. Moutinho played one season of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

Akron Zips men's soccer The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports team of the University of Akron. As of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, the Zips play in the Big East Conference. This move followed Akron's full-ti ...

program during the

2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season The 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 59th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The regular season began on August 25 and continued into the first weekend of November 2017. The season culminated with the 2017 NCAA D ...

. He appeared in all 24 matches for the Zips, and was named a first-team All-American by

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

. He was the first-overall selection of the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania b ...

, going to expansion club

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

. After one season, he was traded to

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

, where he won the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Career

Youth and college

Moutinho joined the

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

Youth Academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

in 2008, when he joined the U-10 squad. Moutinho remained with the squad through the U-19's. In 2017, Moutinho signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play for the

program for the 2017 season. While at Akron, Moutinho started in all 24 matches, scoring three and dishing out five assists. 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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

saw the Zips win the 2017 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament, and reach the College Cup (semi-finals) of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. At the end of the season, he earned two national distinctions, being named a first-team All-American by

, and earned the National Freshman of the Year Award by TopDrawer Soccer. Conference-wise, Moutinho earned the MAC Freshman of the Year Award, and was named to the All-MAC first team. At the end of his freshman season, Moutinho signed a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, making him eligible for the

. There, Moutinho was the first overall selection of the draft, signed by expansion franchise,

Professional career

Los Angeles FC

On 8 January 2018, Moutinho was one of six recipients of a

contract with

. Eleven days later at the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he was the first-overall selection, joining expansion team

. He made his professional debut on 5 March in LAFC's first MLS game, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win at the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. On 7 April in a 5–0 loss at

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won one MLS Cup, one U.S. Open Cup, and one Eastern ...

, he was sent off in added time for handling the ball in the penalty area. He scored his first professional goal on 9 June, the winner in a 4–3 victory at fellow Californians the

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

, in the seventh minute of added time. The new club came third in the Western Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs 3–2 at home to

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

Orlando City

On 11 December 2018 he was traded to Orlando City in exchange for Mohamed El-Monir. He made his debut for the team on 23 March, starting in a 1–0 away win at

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, 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 (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and assisting the only goal by

Sacha Kljestan Sacha Bryan Kljestan (; born September 9, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He currently is a studio host on MLS Season Pass. Youth and college Kljestan was raised in Huntington Beach, California ...

. On 31 July 2020, Moutinho scored his first goal for the club, a 90th-minute equaliser against his former club Los Angeles FC to force a penalty shootout in 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 Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League ...

quarter-finals. Orlando won the ensuing shootout. Moutinho scored his first regular-season goal for Orlando on 2 April 2022 in a 4–2 home loss to Los Angeles. On 7 September, he played in the 2022 U.S. Open Cup Final, a 3–0 win over

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that competes in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, t ...

Spezia

On 1 December 2022, Moutinho signed a 3-year contract at Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

, effective from the turn of the year. He made his debut on 4 January in a 2–2 home draw with

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

as a 67th-minute substitute for

Arkadiusz Reca Arkadiusz Reca (; born 17 June 1995) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Italian club Spezia. Club career On 25 September 2020, Reca joined Crotone on loan. On 26 August 2021, Reca moved to Spezia on four-year cont ...

. Twenty-three days later in his fourth game, he suffered a left foot

malleolus A malleolus is the bony prominence on each side of the human ankle. Each leg is supported by two bones, the tibia on the inner side (medial) of the leg and the fibula on the outer side (lateral) of the leg. The medial malleolus is the promin ...

injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Loan to Jagiellonia

On 9 July 2024, Moutinho moved on a season-long loan with an option to buy to Polish defending champions

. He received a number 44 shirt. He made his

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

debut on 19 July 2024 in a 2–0 win over

Puszcza Niepołomice MKS Puszcza Niepołomice () is a professional association football, football club located in Niepołomice, Poland. The team competes in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system. The team's colors are yellow, white and gr ...

, coming off the bench in the 62th minute, replacing Aurélien Nguiamba.

Career statistics

College

* Source
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Club

Honours

Akron Zips * 2017 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament champions Orlando City *

Jagiellonia Białystok *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * MAC Men's Soccer Freshman of the Year: 2017 *

First-Team All-America: 2017 * TopDrawer Soccer National Freshman of the Year Award: 2017

References

External links

Akron Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moutinho, Joao 1998 births Living people Footballers from Lisbon Akron Zips men's soccer players Men's association football defenders All-American college men's soccer players Los Angeles FC draft picks Los Angeles FC players Orlando City SC players Spezia Calcio players Jagiellonia Białystok players First overall MLS draft picks Major League Soccer players Serie A players Serie B players Ekstraklasa players Portuguese men's footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen