Carlos "Charlie" Asensio (born January 18, 2000) is an American

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 currently plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

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 ...

club

Orange County SC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier ...

Career

Youth

Asensio attended Alan C. Pope High School, playing as part of the

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

until 2014, before joining Georgia United who later went on to form the academy club for

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

in 2016. In 2018, Asensio appeared on the bench for

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in MLS Next Pro, the official reserve league of MLS. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional seaso ...

during a

fixture against

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

, but did not make an appearance. Before attending college, Asensio played with the United States under-17 and under-19 squads.

College

In 2018, Asensio went to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

. In four seasons with the Tigers, Asensio made 82 appearances and tallied nine assists. He was named ACC All-Freshman Team in 2018, and Second Team All-ACC in 2019, and helped the Tigers win the NCAA Men's Soccer National Championship in 2021.

Professional

Austin FC

On January 11, 2022, Asensio was drafted 35th overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft by

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

. He officially signed with Austin on February 23, 2022. On November 17, 2023, Austin FC announced they would not exercise the 2024 option for Asensio.

Charleston Battery loan

On July 8, 2022, Asensio was loaned to

side

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 ...

for the remainder of the season. He made his professional debut the following day, appearing as a 66th–minute substitute during a 3–0 loss to Birmingham Legion.

Austin FC II loan

At the beginning of the 2023 season it was announced that Asensio was being loaned to Austin FC II for their inaugural season. Asensio was the starting left back for Austin FC II when they won the 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup, beating the Columbus Crew 2 by a score of 3–1.

Orange County SC

On January 16, 2024, Asensio signed with

of the

Personal

Asensio's mother is from

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Club * Austin FC II **MLS Next Pro Cup: Champions –

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* 2000 births Living people Men's association football defenders American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players American people of Panamanian descent Atlanta United 2 players Austin FC draft picks Austin FC players Charleston Battery players Clemson Tigers men's soccer players Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) USL Championship players Austin FC II players MLS Next Pro players Sportspeople from Roswell, Georgia Orange County SC players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-defender-2000s-stub