Jorge Antonio Flores Villafaña (born September 16, 1989) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a left-back.

Career

Youth

Villafaña spent part of his childhood in Pénjamo,

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

, Mexico before returning to the United States for high school. He attended Anaheim High School and became captain of the soccer team. In March 2007, Villafaña won ''

Sueño MLS The Sueño MLS program is a Major League Soccer scouting program that looks for undiscovered talent. This program gives players the opportunity to be selected to join the elite Youth Academy System of a host Major League Soccer club. Synopsis S ...

'', a

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

that led to a try-out 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 Canada ...

. His reality show win earned him the nickname "Sueño". Villafaña beat out around 2,000 other competitors to earn a spot on Chivas USA's U-19 squad.

Professional

Villafaña was signed by Chivas USA to a professional contract in July 2007. He made his only appearance of the season as a substitute in a 3–0 win over New York Red Bulls. He scored in 2008 season debut against D.C. United as a substitute. Villafaña made his first career start the following week against the Colorado Rapids and scored on a glancing header to seal the game for Chivas USA. Villafaña scored again the following week against the Columbus Crew. While with Chivas USA, Villafaña appeared in 86 league matches and scored 7 goals. After the 2013 season, Villafaña was traded to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. He would make 50 starts over two seasons with the Timbers. The Timbers won

2015 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2015 was the 20th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match was to determine the champion of MLS' 2015 season. The championship was contested on December 6, 2015 between the Columbus C ...

; Villafaña's performance in that victory was highlighted as strong by several analysts and commentators. Following the triumph, Villafaña was sold to

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club Santos Laguna for a reported fee of just under $1 million. On August 8, 2018, Villafaña was re-acquired by the

. On January 12, 2021, Villafaña was traded to

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

International

In 2007, Villafaña was called up for the United States U-20 for its trip to

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

from November 23 to December 3. The team was part of an 11-day training camp with the U-20 squads of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. Villafaña played in all three of the U.S. games during the trip. A game tying assist against River Plate's reserves and a game-tying goal against the Argentina national under-20 team helped earn him the honor of team captain. Villafaña appeared in all three of the U.S. games at the 2008 Campos Verde International in Beja, Portugal. Villafaña scored his second international goal against the

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Reserves in a 2–0 win in Bolton, England on May 7, 2008. He assisted a goal in the U.S. 2–1 win over the

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Reserves the following day. On January 29, 2017, Villafaña made his full United States debut in a friendly against Serbia. He went on to establish himself as the USMNT's first-choice left back for the unsuccessful 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. On March 25, he was cap-tied to the United States in a World Cup qualifying match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. In July 2017 he helped the USMNT win the CONCACAF Gold Cup with his play in several games, including starts in the semifinal 2-0 win over Costa Rica and the final 2-1 win over Jamaica.

Personal life

In November 2011, Villafaña changed his name from "Jorge Flores" to "Jorge Villafaña" opting to take his mother's maiden name as his last name. On May 17, 2018, Jorge and his wife were robbed of over $20,000 USD in a shopping mall after exchanging currency after the first leg of the 2018 Liga MX final.

Honors

Portland Timbers * MLS Cup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Western Conference (playoffs): 2015 * MLS is Back Tournament:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Santos Laguna *

: Clausura 2018 United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

United States * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villafana, Jorge 1989 births Living people American soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent American expatriate soccer players Chivas USA players Portland Timbers players Santos Laguna footballers Soccer players from Anaheim, California Major League Soccer players Liga MX players Expatriate footballers in Mexico 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Association football fullbacks 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) LA Galaxy players