Nicolás Javier Cardona Ruiz (born February 11, 1999) is a Puerto Rican

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 currently plays as a defender for

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

International career

Cardona made his international debut for Puerto Rico in a 1–0 win over the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. He had previously played in friendlies with the team including a match against his future club,

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

in 2019. On June 1, 2021, Cardona was named as captain for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in the team's 7–0 win over the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

during 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Club career

Cardona signed with

team

on February 22, 2021. He had previously spent time with the U23 team of Spanish club

UB Conquense Unión Balompédica Conquense is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Cuenca, Spain, Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1946, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio La Fuensanta ...

. Cardona scored his first professional goal on June 19, 2021 when he scored the go ahead goal in Hartford's 2–1 win over

Loudoun United Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. After ownership changes, it ceased being t ...

in the 94th minute. On February 22, 2022, Cardona signed with

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

club

Chattanooga Red Wolves Chattanooga Red Wolves SC is an American professional soccer club based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are a founding member of USL League One in the third division of American men's soccer. The club was announced as a member of USL League One ...

. Cardona joined

on the

on December 18, 2023.

References

External links

Nicolás Cardona
at the Assumption University {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardona, Nicolás 1999 births Living people Puerto Rican men's footballers Puerto Rican expatriate men's footballers Puerto Rico men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Footballers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Assumption Greyhounds men's soccer players Hartford Athletic players Chattanooga Red Wolves SC players USL League One players USL Championship players 21st-century American sportsmen