Rodrigo López Alvarez (born May 10, 1987) is a 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 who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

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 ...

club Sacramento Republic. Born in Mexico, he represented the United States national under-20 team.

Career

Youth

López grew up in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, and began his career in 2003 when he joined the

Chivas de Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. It c ...

youth system, where he played for a year and a half.

Professional

López turned professional when he was signed to a developmental contract by

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

on July 7, 2005, and remained with the team until he was waived in 2007 having made eight MLS appearances. López dropped down a level to play a season with

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

in 2008, and then played for both Cuervos Negros de Zapotlanejo and

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

in Mexico, before returning to Ventura County in the summer of 2009 to help the Fusion win the 2009 PDL Championship, receiving MVP honors. Following the conclusion of the PDL season López signed with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

, helping them to the 2009

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

regular season title. On March 17, 2011, Lopez was added to the Portland Timbers MLS roster, along with Chris Taylor and Spencer Thompson. Following the 2011 season, the Timbers announced that they would not be bringing López back for the 2012 season. Lopez entered the

2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 5, 2011 (Stage 1) and December 12, 2011 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs participated. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the traditional Wai ...

but was not selected and became a free agent. On December 2, 2013,

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 ...

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

announced López as their first signing. Was a USL PRO MVP finalist and a First Team All-USL PRO Selection. Was named to the USL PRO Team of the Week in weeks 9, 14, 19 and 24 and was the Player of the Week in week 14. Was also named USL PRO Playoffs MVP. On October 8, 2015, López announced that he would not be returning for

's 2016 season. On January 3, 2020

announced the return of López for the 2020 season. Following his release from Sacramento at the end of the 2020 season, López moved to Rio Grande Valley FC on April 15, 2021. On January 18, 2022, López was transferred back to Sacramento Republic. Following the 2022 U.S. Open Cup, he was named Player of the Tournament.

Personal

Although born in Mexico, López's family moved to the United States when he was two years old, and he holds dual-citizenship with Mexico and the United States. He also has a brother and sister, Carmen López and Álvaro López.

Honors

Ventura County Fusion *

Champions:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Orlando City *

USL Professional Division 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 ...

Commissioner's Cup:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Sacramento Republic *

USL Cup The USL Cup is an annual soccer competition in men's domestic American soccer. The USL Cup is currently known as the USL Jägermeister Cup after its title sponsor, Jägermeister. The competition is open to all clubs in USL Championship and US ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual *

All League First Team (2):

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 ...

All League Second Team:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Rodrigo 1987 births Living people American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Men's association football midfielders Chivas USA players Footballers from Jalisco Major League Soccer players Mexican emigrants to the United States Orange County SC players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players People from Harbor City, Los Angeles Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Querétaro F.C. footballers Sacramento Republic FC players C.D. Veracruz footballers Soccer players from California United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players USL Championship players USL First Division players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players Ventura County Fusion players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Mexican men's footballers 21st-century Mexican sportsmen