Micheal Azira (born 22 August 1987) is a Ugandan 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 ...

Professional career

Azira signed with

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

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 ...

in 2012. He scored the winning goal for Charleston against

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histor ...

in the 2012 USL Pro Championship match. Azira scored six more goals for the Battery in 2013. Azira was transferred to

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 ...

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 ...

on 6 March 2014. He made his MLS debut as a substitute against Montréal on 23 March. Seattle did not renew Azira's contract following the 2015 season. Azira entered the MLS Waiver Draft in December 2015 and was selected by

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. Azira was traded by the Rapids on 8 August 2018 to Montreal Impact for a fourth-round draft pick in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft we ...

. Azira was traded again in August 2019, this time to the Chicago Fire. His contract with the club expired at the end of the 2020 season. On 1 February 2021, Azira signed with

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 ...

side

New Mexico United New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U. ...

International career

Azira plays for his birth nation of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Coach Milutin Sredojević selected Azira for the final 23-man roster for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Coaching career

Azira served as head coach for the Daniel Island Soccer Academy U-16 and U-18 Boyz teams in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. He also served as assistant coach at UMS-Wright in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

for two seasons, helping lead them to a state title in 2011.

Personal life

Azira previously held a U.S. green card, which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. On 9 October 2021, Azira was naturalized as an American citizen in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Charleston Battery * USL Pro Championship: 2012 ;Seattle Sounders * U.S Open Cup: 2014 * Supporters Shield: 2014

References

External links

*
USL Pro profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azira, Micheal 1987 births Living people Footballers from Kampala Men's association football midfielders Ugandan men's footballers 21st-century Ugandan sportsmen Ugandan expatriate men's footballers Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders men's soccer players Mississippi Brilla FC players Charleston Battery players Seattle Sounders FC players Tacoma Defiance players Colorado Rapids players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players CF Montréal players Chicago Fire FC players New Mexico United players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada USL League Two players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Uganda men's international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Canada