Emilio Estevez Tsai ( ''Tsai Li-ching''; born 10 August 1998) is a 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 lea ...

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

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

club

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Queenstown, Singapore, Queenstown, Singapore. The club currently competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football leag ...

. Born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Estevez represents

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

internationally.

Early life

Estevez began playing youth soccer with the Etobicoke Energy before switching to Clarkson SC in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

as well as playing

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

. In 2016, when he was 18, he spent a year training with the lower teams of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club Levante. He then spent a week on trial with

Queen's Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English fo ...

before returning to Canada. In 2017, he attended

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

, making seven appearances and scoring one goal for the Bruins.

Club career

Canada

In 2018, Estevez played for

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

side

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ho ...

, making eight appearances in league play. He also played in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

with

SC Waterloo Region SC Waterloo Region was a Canadian soccer team based in Waterloo, Ontario. The club competed in various divisions in the Canadian Soccer League. The club was formed in 2011 under KW United FC and initially competed in the league's second division. ...

. In October 2018, Estevez participated in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

Open Trials in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where he was highly rated by scouts. On 8 February 2019, Estevez signed with CPL side York9. On 4 May 2019, he made his professional debut as a starter in a match against

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

and assisted York's lone goal in a 2–1 loss. Estevez scored his first goal for York on 27 July against

HFX Wanderers Halifax Wanderers FC, also written as HFX Wanderers FC, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) at the top of the Canadian soccer league system, and play their home ...

, netting the final goal in a 6–2 victory. On 10 December 2019, it was announced that Estevez had re-signed for the upcoming season.

Europe

On 12 May 2020, he moved to Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

in a transfer for an initial fee in the range of $100,000 CAD, plus add-ons and a sell on clause. He agreed to a one-year contract with the club, with an option to extend for a further year. Estevez became the first player to move from the Canadian Premier League to a top-flight club in Europe, and was to be the first ever Taiwanese player to ply his trade in the Dutch Eredivisie, and the third overall to play in a top European League. He made his first appearance in a pre-season friendly against

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Netherlands. Founded in 2001, the club currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, following relegation from the Eredivisie in 2024–25 Eredivisie, 20 ...

on 8 August, playing the second half. Initially joining the first team, he was moved to begin the season with the U21 side. On 29 January 2021, he and the club agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent, after he appeared in only two substitute appearances for the U21 side. In 2021, he joined

Ourense CF Ourense CF is a Galician football club from the city of Ourense. It was founded in 1977 as Ponte Ourense Club de Fútbol, and changed its name in 2014, after the dissolution of CD Ourense, and currently plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio ...

, playing in the Spanish fourth tier

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. After departing Spain, he returned to Canada and trained (but did not sign) with his former club

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

(who had since changed their name from York9 FC).

Asia

In the summer of 2022, he trained with

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side Guangxi Pingguo. In October 2022, Estevez signed a contract with

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

club

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. He made his debut on 16 October 2022 against Resources Capital. He scored his first goal on 23 October 2022 in a 3–1

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the List of oldest football competitions, fo ...

match, also against Resources Capital. He scored his first league goal in a match against

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po () is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...

on 29 October 2022. In the summer of 2023, the club announced his departure. On 24 August 2023, Estevez joined league rivals

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 ...

. Immediately after on 25 August 2023, it was announced that he was loaned to

Tai Po Tai Po is an List of areas of Hong Kong, area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Mark ...

for a season. Following his departure from the Hong Kong circuit, he joined Hang Yuan in the

Taiwan Football Premier League The Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL; ) is the top-ranked Taiwanese Association football, football league run by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA). History The Taiwan Football Premier League was founded in 2017 after the folding ...

in July 2024. In July 2025, he signed with

club

, becoming the first Taiwanese player to play in the league.

International career

Born in

to a Spanish father and a Taiwanese

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

mother, Estevez was eligible to represent

, or

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

internationally. In 2018, Estevez was invited to train with the Chinese Taipei national team. In February 2019, shortly after signing for York9, Estevez received another call-up from Chinese Taipei for a friendly against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, but did not appear in the match due to injury. He made his debut as a starter in their loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

during

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

on 15 October 2019. He returned to the national team program in the summer of 2023, to face

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in a friendly match.

Personal life

Despite the similarity in name to actor

Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. The son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen, he made his film debut with an uncredited role in '' Badlands'' (1973). He later received his first ...

, he was actually named after former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

player

Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the '' La Quinta ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* *
Emilio Estevez
at La Preferente {{DEFAULTSORT:Estevez, Emilio 1998 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Toronto Naturalized citizens of Taiwan Taiwanese men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Taiwanese people of Spanish descent Canadian people of Spanish descent Canadian people of Taiwanese descent Taiwanese expatriate men's footballers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Taiwanese expatriates in the Netherlands Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Sheridan College alumni North Mississauga SC players SC Waterloo Region players York United FC players ADO Den Haag players CD Ourense footballers Eastern Sports Club footballers Hong Kong Rangers FC players Tai Po FC players Hang Yuan FC players Tanjong Pagar United FC players League1 Ontario players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian Premier League players Eredivisie players Tercera División players Hong Kong Premier League players Taiwan Football Premier League players Chinese Taipei men's international footballers 21st-century Canadian sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada