Abdul-Fatai Alashe (born October 21, 1993) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Career

College and amateur

Alashe spent all four years of his college career at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

where he made a total of 86 appearances for the Spartans and tallied eight goals and eight assists. He also played in the

Premier Development League 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 ...

for Reading United and

Portland Timbers U23s Capital FC is an American soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Although founded in 2008 as part of the development system for the Portland Timbers USSF D2 organization, beginning in 2011 they were part of the development system f ...

Professional

On January 15, 2015, Alashe was drafted 4th overall in the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Janua ...

by the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. He made his debut on March 7 in a 1–0 defeat to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

, and scored the first league goal in

Avaya Stadium PayPal Park (formerly Earthquakes Stadium and Avaya Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California, San Jose, California, United States, and is the home of Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes. The stadium is located on the ...

history two weeks later in a 2–1 win over the visiting Chicago Fire. On July 30, 2018, Alashe signed a deal to join FC Cincinnati on loan from San Jose for the remainder of the 2018 season, then joining the team permanently for the 2019 season for $135,000 in allocation money. On August 17, 2020, Alashe was traded to Ohio rivals

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conf ...

, and potentially a conditional $50,000 of General Allocation Money depending on performance. Columbus declined their contract option on Alashe following their 2020 season. On March 24, 2021, Alashe joined

USL Championship 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, p ...

club

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, th ...

. Alashe was released by Sacramento following the 2021 season.

International

In January 2016 Alashe received his first call up to the senior

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

squad for friendlies against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

but had to withdraw through injury.

Personal life

Alashe is of Nigerian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Columbus Crew *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

References

External links

* *
Michigan State University bio
* 1993 births Living people American soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Association football midfielders Columbus Crew players FC Cincinnati (2016–18) players FC Cincinnati players Major League Soccer players Michigan State Spartans men's soccer players People from Northville, Michigan Portland Timbers U23s players Reading United A.C. players Reno 1868 FC players Sacramento Republic FC players San Jose Earthquakes draft picks San Jose Earthquakes players Soccer players from Michigan Sportspeople from Southfield, Michigan USL Championship players United States men's under-23 international soccer players USL League Two players {{US-footy-midfielder-stub