Andres Arango (born April 23, 1983) is a Colombian-born Canadian former soccer player who played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League,

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, and the North American Soccer League. Arango is currently a coach with Florida Premier FC in the

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The league was found ...

Club career

Youth and College

Arango moved from his native Colombia to Canada with his parents as a young child. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

for

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

where he won the Provincial and National Championship and was voted MVP of the national tournament.

Early career

Arango began his career in 2002 with the

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. In 2003, he signed with the Montreal Impact of the

. After failing to break into the starting lineup he was traded in the off-season to league rivals the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

in exchange for veteran defender Mauricio Vincello. The trade to Toronto provided Arango with more playing time opportunities as he played in 22 games throughout the season. He recorded his first goal for Toronto on July 18, 2004, versus Calgary Mustangs. He re-signed with Toronto for the 2005 season. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the club's Defensive Player of the Year. In 2006, he returned to Toronto for the third and final season with the club. During the 2006 season, he was named Toronto Lynx Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year. He also played in the

2006 Open Canada Cup The 2006 Open Canada Cup was the 9th edition of the Canadian Soccer League's open league cup tournament running from late May through late September. Ottawa St. Anthony Italia defeated Toronto Lynx 2-0 in the final played at Cove Road Stadium, ...

final where Toronto finished as runners up to Ottawa St. Anthony Italia.

Montreal Impact

After the relegation of Toronto to the Premier Development League in 2007, he returned to his former club the Montreal Impact on a two-year deal. Originally

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

of the Major League Soccer expressed interest in Arango but instead chose Montreal as his final decision. In the initial stages of the season, he assisted Montreal in achieving an eight-game undefeated streak. Throughout the season he aided Montreal in successfully winning the 2007 Voyageurs Cup.

United States

In 2008, he played abroad in the United States as league rivals

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its home ...

signed him along with former Impact teammate

Frederico Moojen Frederico Augusto Pieruccini "Freddy" Moojen (born February 25, 1983) is a soccer forward. Born in Brazil, he represented Canada at the international level in futsal. He shared the 2005 and 2006 Premier Development League goals lead. He was a ...

. He re-signed with Minnesota for the 2009 season. In 2010, the Minnesota Thunder folded and was succeeded by

NSC Minnesota Stars NSC may refer to: Sport and competition * NSC United, an American soccer team * National Scholastics Championship, an American quiz bowl competition * National Scrabble Championship, now known as the Scrabble Players Championship * National Sho ...

where he was granted a contract on February 25, 2010. In his debut season with Minnesota, he served as the team captain. After a single season with Minnesota Stars, he had his contract terminated in early 2011. Arango signed a two-year contract with

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second ti ...

of the North American Soccer League in 2011. He made his debut for Tampa on April 23, 2011, against former club Montreal Impact. In 2012, he assisted Tampa Bay in winning the NASL Championship after defeating Minnesota Stars in a two-game series. He re-signed with Tampa Bay for the 2013 season. Following the 2013 NASL season, Arango announced his retirement on March 1, 2014.

International career

Arango also featured for the Canadian U20 team that made it to the quarter-finals in the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

. He played in the quarterfinal match where

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

eliminated Canada from the tournament.

Managerial career

In January 2020, Arango was announced as the head coach for the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

U23

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

side. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the season was canceled and the team was replaced by

Tampa Bay United SC Tampa Bay United Soccer Club is a soccer club from Tampa, Florida that plays in the Southeast Division in USL League Two. History The club was founded as a youth soccer club in Tampa, Florida, where they are the largest youth team in the city ...

Honours

;Tampa Bay Rowdies * NASL Championship **Winners: 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arango, Andres Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian soccer players Colombian emigrants to Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Colombian expatriate footballers Colombian footballers Association football defenders Tampa Bay Rowdies players Humber College alumni Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Minnesota Thunder players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Naturalized citizens of Canada North American Soccer League players Soccer players from Toronto Toronto Lynx players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players 1983 births Living people Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players York Region Shooters players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Footballers from Medellín USL League Two coaches United Premier Soccer League coaches