Caleb Stanko (born July 26, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

Early life

Stanko started playing soccer with the local

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club Vardar SC. Won U.S. Soccer Development Academy National Championship in 2010.

Club career

SC Freiburg

In 2011, Stanko moved to the German side

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bunde ...

, and began playing for its second team. From 2013, he started training with the first team and was benched for several matches before debuting in August 2015 in a

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesl ...

match against Barmbek-Uhlenhorst. In November 2015, he made his league debut for Freiburg in a

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

match against Paderborn 07. Stanko had five 2. Bundesliga appearances for the season, helping Freiburg to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

promotion.

Loan to FC Vaduz

Stanko was loaned by Freiburg to

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

-based

FC Vaduz FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

for the 2016–2017 season, making 26 appearances.

FC Cincinnati

On January 23, 2019, Stanko moved back to the United States to sign with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

. Following the 2021 season, Cincinnati declined their contract option on Stanko.

PAS Giannina

On January 5, 2022, Stanko signed a contract with

club

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

International career

Stanko played at the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

for the United States, who finished as runners-up. Later that year, he also played at the

2013 Toulon Tournament The 2013 Toulon Tournament was the 41st edition of the Toulon Tournament. México Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the ...

for the U.S., and then captained the U.S. during their opening match against

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") , ...

at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. Stanko received his first call-up to the United States men's national team for a May 22, 2016 friendly against

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. On September 6, 2016, he made his full USMNT debut in a World Cup qualifying match against

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Honors

FC Vaduz *

Liechtenstein Football Cup The Liechtenstein Football Cup is Liechtenstein's premier association football, football competition, and has been organised annually by the Liechtenstein Football Association, Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) since 1946. The winner qual ...

: 2016–17

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanko, Caleb 1993 births Living people People from Holly, Michigan Association football midfielders American soccer players Soccer players from Michigan SC Freiburg II players SC Freiburg players FC Vaduz players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Super League Greece players FC Cincinnati players PAS Giannina F.C. players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Liechtenstein Expatriate footballers in Greece United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players