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Ryan Xavier López Viera (born 12 April 1998) 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 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 Puerto Rican club Bayamón and the Puerto Rico national team.


Early life

López was born in
Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a Humacao barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Yabucoa; south of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Naguabo; east of Las Pi ...
, the son of Edwin López and Sandra Viera. He graduated from the Escuela Leoncio Meléndez y Florencia García in Las Piedras. López began playing football at the age of five with the club Artesanos de Las Piedras, then joined Tornados de Humacao when he was seven years old. After five years with Tornados, López moved to the Escuela de Formación de Futbolistas Española (EFFE) in Puerto Rico. While at EFFE, López was part of two trips to Spain. While on those trips, he trained with the youth academies of Levante,
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, and
Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...
.


Club career


2014–2017: Early years in Puerto Rico

In 2014, at the age of 16, López made his senior debut with Academia Quintana. He helped Quintana to finish as runners-up in the Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL). At the end of the PRSL season, López went to Spain and went on a three-month trial with
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
. His former coach at EFFE, Alberto Ruiz, was working as the youth director for the
Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...
club. After returning from his trial in Spain, López joined Criollos de Caguas. He scored a goal during Copa de la Excelencia II play against Leal Arecibo in May 2015. López attended the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus during the 2016 season. He split the campaign between Tigres de la Interamericana, playing in the Liga Atlética Interuniversitaria de Puerto Rico, and Bayamón, in the PRSL. López wore the captain's armband for the Bayamón B team and scored four goals during the Clausura as Bayamón finished on top of the short season table. In January 2017, López returned to Spain for a trial with
Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...
club SS Reyes. His former coach Ruiz, speaking to ''FBNET'', said that "Ryan will play in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
." After his trial ended on 12 April, López returned to Bayamón for a second season in the PRSL. He scored a goal against Mayagüez in May as part of a 10–0 victory.


2017–2019: Move to Spain and return to the island

After helping Bayamón to the final of the Copa de la Excelencia III, López again returned to San Sebastián in August 2017. He played for Sanse in preseason, but the transfer was held up because of issues with his international transfer certificate (ITC). Due in part to Hurricanes Irma and
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
closing the offices of the
Puerto Rican Football Federation The Puerto Rican Football Federation () is the governing body of association football in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1940 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1960, one of the last to do so in the Western Hemisphere. It governs over all football o ...
, the ITC for López did not arrive for five months. He was finally made eligible in December and picked up with Alalpardo in the Segunda de Aficionados, the eighth tier of Spanish football. López scored two goals in nine appearances with Alalpardo. Upon his return to Puerto Rico, López joined Guaynabo Gol for the remainder of the 2018–19 Liga Puerto Rico season. He scored two goals against
Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco ( IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill eff ...
in the first leg of the playoff quarterfinals. López returned to Bayamón in 2019 for a second stint at the club, although now in the Liga Puerto Rico. Bayamón were leading the league when the 2019–20 season was prematurely canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico was an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pa ...
. López next popped up in Mexico, where he was briefly part of Toros Bravos de Jalisco in the nascent MXUSSL, a league affiliated to the . However, the league had not yet played a game before López's departure.


2019–present: Cleveland and third stint at Bayamón

In May 2021, López joined
National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...
club Cleveland SC for the
2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
. He scored his lone goal while in Ohio on 4 June, tallying the first of a 6–0 victory against Pittsburgh Hotspurs. López played four times as Cleveland won the Rust Belt Conference in the regular season and the Midwest Region in the playoffs. A third stint at Bayamón awaited López as he returned to Puerto Rico in 2022. He played 10 times in the league and scored a goal against his former club, Academia Quintana, in June. López starred during his continental debut, tallying three goals from four games as Bayamón finished as champions of the 2022 Caribbean Club Shield. He scored in both Group A games, with two goals in the opener against Junior Stars of Saint Martin and another two nights later against South East FC of Dominica. López started and played 102 minutes of the final as Bayamón defeated
Inter Moengotapoe Inter Moengotapoe (sometimes rendered Inter Moengo Tapoe or just IMT) is a Surinamese football club, based in Moengo, Marowijne between Paramaribo and the border town of Albina. They play their home matches at the Ronnie Brunswijkstadion. Sin ...
of Suriname in
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
.


International career

López made his international debut for Puerto Rico at the under-15 level. He played in five matches at the 2013 CONCACAF Under-15 Championship, scoring two goals in a 6–0 victory against
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...
in Group D play. In November 2013, he scored for the under-17 national team in a game against a club team from the United States. However, López never played an official match at the U17 level. López was called up for the first time at the under-23 level for
2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification The 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 ...
. However, he did not play in either game as Puerto Rico finished on the bottom of Group 4. For the under-20 national team, López was in the squad for
2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying The qualifying competitions for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship were handled by two regional of CONCACAF's bodies; the Caribbean Football Union (Caribbean zone) and the Central American Football Union (Central American zone). Representative tea ...
. He came off the bench against
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
and started in the Group 1 finale against
Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...
as Puerto Rico finished in third place in the group and were eliminated. Later that year, López was named to a preliminary squad as the senior team prepared for the third round of 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification, but he was not selected to the final roster. In March 2019, López made it onto the bench for the senior team, but remained as an unused substitute during a defeat against
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
in
2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying The qualifying phase of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League was a one-off tournament that took place from 6 September 2018 to 24 March 2019. The qualifying determined the seeding for the group phase of the inaugural tournament, as well as deter ...
. Later that year, he represented the under-23s in 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification. López played in the opening game of Group D play against
Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...
.


Senior career, 2019–present

When he debuted in the Puerto Rico national team in autumn 2019, López was cited by ''
El Vocero ''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and '' El Nuevo Día'' and ...
'' as being part of a "generational change" to the national team. After being named to the bench for a friendly against
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
that September, he earned his first senior cap on 15 October against
Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...
. López played the entirety of a 3–2 victory as part of
2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League C The 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League C was the third and lowest division of the 2019–20 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member ...
play. He appeared twice more in Group C, a start against
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
and a substitute appearance in the return against Anguilla. However, López fell out of that youth movement and was not called up again under Elgy Morales.


Career statistics


Club


International


References


External links


Ryan López
at Royal Madrid Football Federation
Ryan López
at
Puerto Rican Football Federation The Puerto Rican Football Federation () is the governing body of association football in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1940 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1960, one of the last to do so in the Western Hemisphere. It governs over all football o ...
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:López, Ryan 1998 births Living people Puerto Rican men's footballers Sportspeople from Humacao, Puerto Rico Men's association football midfielders Academia Quintana players Bayamón Fútbol Club players Cleveland SC players National Premier Soccer League players Puerto Rico men's international footballers Puerto Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century American sportsmen