Roger Espinoza

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Espinoza and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.
Roger Espinoza

Espinoza playing for Sporting Kansas City in 2012
Personal information
Full name Roger Aníbal Espinoza Ramírez[1]
Date of birth (1986-10-25) 25 October 1986
Place of birth Puerto Cortés, Honduras
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Defensive midfielder, wing back
Club information
Current team
 Sporting Kansas City
Number 27
Youth career
2005–2006 Yavapai Roughriders
2007 Ohio State Buckeyes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Arizona Sahuaros 7 (1)
2008–2012 Sporting Kansas City 113 (2)
2013–2014 Wigan Athletic 36 (2)
2015– Sporting Kansas City 47 (2)
National team‡
2012 Honduras Olympic 4 (1)
2009– Honduras 46 (5)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2014

Roger Aníbal Espinoza Ramírez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈroʝer espiˈnosa]; born 25 October 1986) is a Honduran footballer who currently plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. Capable of playing both as a defensive midfielder and as a wing back, Espinoza has represented Honduras at two World Cups and the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Club career

Youth and College

Born in Puerto Cortés, Espinoza moved from his native Honduras to Denver, Colorado when he was 12 years old. He attended Denver South High School before transferring to Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado.

He played two years of college soccer at Yavapai College, spending one season with the Arizona Sahuaros of the National Premier Soccer League in 2006. In 2007, he transferred to Ohio State for his junior season. That season, Ohio State advanced to the national championship game of the College Cup. Espinoza scored in the 12th minute, but Ohio State lost to Wake Forest, 2–1.[2] In his one season at Ohio State, Espinoza was named first-team All-Big Ten, second-team all-region, and earned a spot the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team.[3]

Sporting Kansas City

Espinoza opted to forgo his senior year of college and signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer.[4] He was selected with the 11th overall pick of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City). In his first season at the club, he appeared in 22 games and tied for third on the team in assists with 3. Playing as both a leftback and defensive midfielder, he appeared in 113 regular season matches over five years with the club and helped Sporting to victory in the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Wigan Athletic

Following the 2012 MLS season, Espinoza signed with Wigan Athletic of the English Premier League on a free transfer.[5] He was assigned number 18.

Espinoza made his Wigan Athletic debut on 19 January when he came on as a half-time substitute during a 2–3 loss against Sunderland.[6] He scored his first goal for the club against Swansea City on 7 May.[7] On 11 May 2013, Espinoza won the FA Cup with Wigan, playing the whole game in an 1–0 upset win against Manchester City.[8] However, only three days later, Wigan were relegated from the Premier League following a 4–1 defeat against Arsenal.[9] He scored his second goal for the club against MK Dons in the FA Cup on 4 January 2014.[10] Espinoza scored his 2nd league goal and provided an assist for teammate Shaun Maloney against Fulham on 1 November 2014 at the DW Stadium in a 3-3 draw.

However, Espinoza's minutes dwindled in the 2014-15 season, and he and Wigan agreed to part ways in December 2014.

Return to Kansas City

Espinoza returned to Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2015 season. In his second start since returning to Sporting, Espinoza scored an equalizing goal against FC Dallas on 14 March 2015.

International career

Espinoza was called up to the Honduran national football team by Reinaldo Rueda for the UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 held in Honduras for the first time in his career. He made three appearances during the tournament where he wore number 13. He scored his first goal for the national team in a 1–0 win against El Salvador to give Honduras 3rd place in the competition.

Espinoza was called up by Luis Fernando Suárez to represent his country in the 2012 London Olympics; he scored a goal against Brazil in the quarter-final of the tournament, but was sent off in the 90th minute, receiving standing ovation from the Newcastle crowd for his performance.[11]

Espinoza has represented Honduras at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

International goals

Scores and results list Honduras's goal tally first.[12]
N. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 1 February 2009 Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras  El Salvador 1–0 1–0 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup
2. 11 July 2009 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States  Grenada 2–0 4–0 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
3. 23 January 2010 Stubhub Center, Carson, United States  United States 3–0 3–1 Friendly
4. 1 June 2014 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States  Israel 1-1 2-4 Friendly

Career statistics

International

As of match played 19 June 2013.[13]
National team Year Apps Goals
Honduras 2009 8 2
2010 8 1
2011 7 0
2012 3 0
2013 12 0
2014 6 1
Total 44 4

Personal life

Espinoza became a United States citizen in March 2008.[14]

Honours

Sporting Kansas City

Wigan Athletic

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.