Francisco Javier Calvo Quesada (born 8 July 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Konyaspor and the Costa Rica national team.

Early life

After starting with Deportivo Saprissa as a youth player from 2005 to 2010, Calvo moved to the United States to study at San Jacinto College after getting a scholarship and played football at university level during that period.

Club career

On his return to Costa Rica in 2011, Calvo played for Herediano before a stint at Pérez Zeledón where he scored 5 goals in 21 matches. In January 2013 he moved abroad to play for then Danish champions Nordsjælland but he returned to Herediano in summer 2013. In January 2015, Calvo joined Santos de Guápiles as a loan. In late May, Francisco joined Saprissa. In his first season with Saprissa, he appeared in 39 matches and scored five goals. The following season, he continued to be a set-piece threat as he scored 9 goals in 24 matches playing as a defender. On 27 December 2016, Calvo joined

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 Canada ...

side

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

. In 2018, Calvo was selected as an MLS All-Star, becoming the first Minnesota United player in club history to receive the honor. On 3 May 2019, Calvo was traded to Chicago Fire. Following the 2021 season, Calvo's contract option was declined by Chicago. On 26 January 2022, Calvo signed as a free agent with

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. On 5 March 2022, Calvo scored two late set piece goals for a ten-man San Jose team to salvage a 3–3 draw at home against the Columbus Crew. This performance led to him being named in the MLS Team of the Week. He now plays at Konyaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig.

International career

On 29 May 2011, Calvo made his debut with the Costa Rica senior team in

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

in a friendly game against Nigeria. He was also part of the Costa Rica squad at the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

. Calvo was also a reserve call-up for Costa Rica at 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 June ...

, and later impressed senior head coach Ricardo La Volpe to win him a call-up for the Costa Rica squad at the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

. He made his debut in the competition in a game against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, which ended in a 1–0 loss, and played in a 2–0 win against

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. also Francisco played Argentina in a 3–0 loss. In May 2018, Calvo was named in Costa Rica’s 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. He later reprised the same role at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

Honours

CS Herediano * Liga FPD: Clausura 2012 Deportivo Saprissa * Liga FPD:

Apertura 2015 The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

, Apertura 2016 Individual * MLS All-Star:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* CONCACAF Nations League Finals Best XI:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Francisco 1992 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Men's association football defenders Costa Rican footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Costa Rica men's under-20 international footballers C.S. Herediano footballers A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón footballers FC Nordsjælland players Deportivo Saprissa players Santos de Guápiles F.C. footballers Minnesota United FC players Chicago Fire FC players San Jose Earthquakes players Konyaspor footballers Liga FPD players Danish Superliga players Major League Soccer players Süper Lig players Costa Rican expatriate footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Turkey Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Junior college men's soccer players in the United States