Alejandro Bedoya (born April 29, 1987) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player 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 the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

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 ...

, and serves as their

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Early life

Bedoya, of Colombian descent, was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and raised in

Weston, Florida Weston is a master-planned City (Florida), city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States. The population was 68,107 at the time of the 2020 census. Located just west of Fort Lauderdale and to the northwest of Miami, th ...

, where he played youth soccer for local clubs; the

AYSO The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is one of the two main national organizations in youth soccer in the United States for children aged 4 through 19. AYSO was established as a non-profit soccer organization in Torrance (a suburb of ...

club: Weston Fury, and FUTSOC USA ENIGMA Elite. In high school he won a state championship while playing for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in 2005. His father, Adriano, played professional soccer in Colombia with Millonarios, and his grandfather, Fabio, played for Deportes Quindío.

Club career

Örebro SK

Although college seniors often enter the

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual Draft (sports), college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada in which MLS clubs take turns selecting from a pool of eligible amateur players. These drafted players usually come f ...

, Bedoya explored options abroad. In late 2008, he signed a contract with Swedish club

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

and joined the club on January 7, 2009. On April 6, he made his debut for Örebro SK coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. He scored his first goal for Örebro SK when he gave the team a 1–0 lead against

Assyriska FF Assyriska Fotbollsföreningen, also known simply as Assyriska FF, is a Swedish football club based in Södertälje, Stockholm County. The club, formed in 1974 by Assyrian immigrants, has advanced through the league system and is currently play ...

in the

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

. Over the course of the season, Bedoya worked his way into the starting line-up and became a mainstay at central midfield in Örebro SK 4–3–3 formation. In February 2011, Bedoya was given a trial at English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, but was not signed.

Rangers

On July 21, 2011, it was announced that Bedoya had agreed to personal terms with Scottish club

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, pending the approval of a work permit, with a view to joining in January 2012, once the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

season was finished. However, Örebro SK and Rangers agreed an undisclosed fee on August 17, 2011, allowing him to join Rangers immediately. Bedoya made his debut as a second-half substitute in a

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

match against

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on August 28, 2011. He scored his first Rangers goal in a 5–0 victory over

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

on May 2, 2012, to help secure second place for the Glasgow club.

Helsingborgs IF

When Rangers entered administration, Bedoya signed a short-term contract with

champions

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

on August 10, 2012. On August 18, 2012, in his debut with the club, Bedoya scored an overhead kick goal in his team's 2–1 loss to Elfsborg. He started both games for Helsingborg in the home-and-away series against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

; the Swedish champions were eliminated on a 4–0 aggregate. Helsingborg were sent into the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage 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 s ...

where they finished in third place and Bedoya scored two goals against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

and

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

. Bedoya received a number of offers after his contract expired with Helsingborg but decided to stay for at least another six months.

Nantes

On August 7, 2013, Bedoya joined newly promoted Ligue 1 side

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. He went on to make his first

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

appearance for Nantes against reigning champions PSG on August 25, 2013. Bedoya's first goal for the club came in Nantes' 1–0 victory over

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccien (), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the sec ...

on October 19, 2013, when he scored the only goal three minutes from time to extend the club's winning run to four games in a row. Following the match, his manager, Michel Der Zakarian, praised Bedoya for his intelligent play and technical excellence. Bedoya scored his second goal for the club, and first at Nantes' home ground the

Stade de la Beaujoire The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire (), is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes, known as the Domestic canary, canaries. The stadium was built in a hexagon ...

, on December 3, 2013, notching Nantes' equalizing goal in an eventual 2–1 victory over struggling

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. Bedoya continued his scoring run on December 6, 2013, netting the game's only goal in Nantes' defeat of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, a result which lifted Nantes into fourth place and caused the sacking of Marseille manager Élie Baup. On February 10, 2016, Bedoya scored the winning goal with a header in the 118th minute for

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

in a

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

match against

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (department), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

Philadelphia Union

On August 3, 2016, Bedoya joined

from

for a reported $1 million transfer fee as a designated player. He started all ten appearances for the Union during the remainder of the 2016 and scored two goals, including the lone playoff goal against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. For the 2017 season, Bedoya became the Union's captain, taking over for

Brian Carroll Brian Carroll (born July 20, 1981) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder, notably appearing for D.C. United Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer. He is the only player in ML ...

. Becoming a mainstay of the Union's midfield, Bedoya was early on deployed as a center attacking "number 10" as the team continued to search of a dedicated player for that position. Bedoya would settle into a more familiar role on the right wing and as a midfield shuttler as the Union's tactics transitioned through the next few seasons. On August 4, 2019, Bedoya scored in the third minute of a 5–1 victory for the Union over D.C. United at

Audi Field Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the home of D.C. United, DC Power FC, and Washington Spirit soccer teams, and the DC Defenders American football team. The stadium seats 20,000 p ...

and celebrated by taking an on-field

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

to say "Congress, do something now. End gun violence," in response to recent mass shootings in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. His statement, which was aired live on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

, resulted in national attention but no punishment or fine from the league. Bedoya also won the MLS Player of the Week for his performance during the match. Bedoya signed a contract extension with the Union ahead of the 2020 season through 2021, with a club option for 2022, however he would no longer be a designated player. The 2020 season proved to be the most successful to date. Despite the disruptions of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Bedoya captained the Union through to the semi-finals of the MLS is Back tournament and finished with the best league record of the season earning the team's first trophy, the 2020 Supporters' Shield. In September 2022 the Union announced they had signed Bedoya to a new one-year deal through the 2023 MLS season. On February 1, 2024, the Union announced they had once again signed Bedoya to another one-year contract through the 2024 MLS Season.

International career

Bedoya was part of the United States U-23 national team preparing for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

; however, he was not selected for the squad that traveled to China. On December 22, 2009, Bedoya received his first call up to train with the senior United States national team. Training in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

began for Bedoya and the other players called up on January 4, 2010, leading up to a friendly match in Carson against the Honduras national team on January 23. In the 61st minute of this match, when the U.S. was down 3–0 and was playing with ten men, Bedoya earned his first senior cap. Bedoya was named to the preliminary 30-man roster for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and played against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in a tune-up friendly, but was cut from the final 23-man roster. He earned his first international start in a friendly against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in August 2010. He was added to the 23-man roster for the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on Jun ...

when

Benny Feilhaber Benny Feilhaber (; born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach for the Oakland Roots and a former professional player. A midfielder, Feilhaber played for clubs in Germany, Denmark, England, and the United States. Born in Brazil but raise ...

was unable to play due to an injury sustained while playing for his club team, the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. On July 5, 2013, Bedoya scored his first international goal in a friendly match 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 ...

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He was included in the United States roster for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on July 7, 2013, at the ...

, helping the national side to its first Gold Cup championship in six years. He was part of the United States squad at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

and played in all four of the U.S. games.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bedoya goal.''

Honors

Philadelphia Union * Supporters Shield:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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

runner-up:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * NCAA First-Team All-American: 2007 * Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Offensive Player of the Year: 2007 * MLS Humanitarian of the Year:

References

External links

* * *
Alejandro Bedoya
at Örebro SK *
archive 1archive 2
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedoya, Alejandro 1987 births Living people Allsvenskan players Scottish Premier League players Ligue 1 players Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American sportspeople of Colombian descent Men's association football midfielders Boston College Eagles men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in France Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's soccer players Örebro SK players Rangers F.C. players Helsingborgs IF players FC Nantes players Philadelphia Union players Sportspeople from Englewood, New Jersey Soccer players from Bergen County, New Jersey Soccer players from Florida United States men's international soccer players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden All-American college men's soccer players Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni