Edison Alexander Azcona Vélez (born 21 November 2003) is a Dominican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

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

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

Las Vegas Lights Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

and the Dominican Republic national team.

Career

Fort Lauderdale CF

Azcona made his league debut for the club on 18 July 2020 in a 2–0 defeat to the

Greenville Triumph Greenville Triumph SC is a professional soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and league officials beg ...

. In November, 2020, Azcona was named to the USL League One All-League Second Team and was nominated for the USL League One Young Player of the Year award. He scored three goals during his first season with the club, the second of which (a fifth-minute opener against

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Os ...

) finished runner-up in the

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...

Fans' Choice Goal of the Year vote.

Inter Miami

On 26 January 2021,

Inter Miami Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2020 ...

announced Azcona's signing as a homegrown player. On 2 May 2021, Azcona made his

MLS 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 ...

debut against

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

and became the first Inter Miami homegrown player to appear in an MLS match. In 2023, Inter Miami won the

2023 Leagues Cup The 2023 Leagues Cup will be the third edition of the Leagues Cup, an inter-league soccer tournament between Major League Soccer and Liga MX. It will be held from July 21 to August 19, 2023, with all 77 matches held in either the United Stat ...

, with Azcona being part of the squad as a substitute.

El Paso Locomotive (loan)

In July 2022, Azcona was loaned to

club

El Paso Locomotive FC El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. Club crest and colors The Locomotive brand was unveiled on October 4, 2018, beating ...

for the remainder of the 2022 season.

Las Vegas Lights (loan)

On 19 February 2024, Azcona joined USL Championship side

for their 2024 season, with Las Vegas holding the option to make the deal permanent on 1 July 2024. The deal was made permanent on 9 July 2024.

Las Vegas Lights

On 9 July 2024, Las Vegas exercised their purchase option on Azcona's loan agreement. The permanent transfer was the largest transaction fee in the club's history.

International career

On 28 October 2020, Azcona was called up by the senior

Dominican Republic national football team The Dominican Republic national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de República Dominicana) represents the Dominican Republic in men's international football, and is governed by the Dominican Football Federation. The team is a member o ...

. He made his international debut on 19 January 2021, as a starter in a 0–1 home friendly loss to Puerto Rico. On 25 January 2021, Azcona also started in the 0–0 home friendly against Serbia. In March 2021, Azcona was named to the Dominican Republic squad for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men' ...

. He scored the only goal of the tournament for his country as they bowed out in the group stage. In November 2021, he was named to the U-20 side for the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Hondura ...

qualifying tournament Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. In the opening match of the tournament, Azcona scored the final goal in a 6–0 victory over

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territ ...

. In the final match against Saint Lucia, Azcona scored the goal that gave the Dominican Republic a 2–2 draw with Saint Lucia and a spot in next year's 2022 Concacaf Men's Under-20 Championship. Azcona's decisive goal in the 90+4 minute, allowed the Dominican Republic to accumulate 10 points and finish as Group B's leader, giving the host country the ticket to the next round. In 2023, Azcona got called up for the

2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League is the third season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group stage is being hel ...

, against

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

and Montserrat.

Personal

Born in the Dominican Republic, Azcona moved to the United States with his family the day before his fourth birthday, originally going to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

before the family settled in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

when Edison was eight. He has a black belt in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. ...

References

External links

Edison Azcona en Fútbol Dominicano. NetEdison Azcona
at US Soccer Development Academy * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azcona, Edison 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from La Romana, Dominican Republic Dominican Republic men's footballers Dominican Republic men's international footballers Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Men's association football midfielders Inter Miami CF II players Inter Miami CF players USL League One players Homegrown Players (MLS) Dominican Republic expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Dominican Republic expatriate sportspeople in the United States American men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Dominican Republic men's under-20 international footballers MLS Next Pro players El Paso Locomotive FC players USL Championship players Footballers at the 2023 Pan American Games Las Vegas Lights FC players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Dominican Republic 21st-century American sportsmen