Juan Carlos Toja Vega (born 24 May 1985) is a former Colombian

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 ...

Club career

Colombia

Toja started his soccer career in Colombian tournament Interclubes (played amongst select country clubs) in the Clan MacGregor team, playing alongside retired professional player Lucas Jaramillo. Joined Colombian Santa Fe at age 16, playing for the club's U-19 team for six months, was promoted to the first team in early 2004, where he played 25 games in the next two seasons.

Argentina

Toja signed with Argentine club River Plate following the tournament but struggled to break into the first team. He played 5 games in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

Tournament for River Plate, scoring once. He played in only three Torneo Verano games while loaned to River Plate from Santa Fe in 2006.

United States

In February 2007, after sending a highlight video to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

and impressing in a tryout held at

pre-season camp in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Toja was signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

on a loan from

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional Association football, football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio El Campín, El Cam ...

. With his electric play and flashy style (topped off with an impressive hairdo – an homage to

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...

, the late lead singer of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

), Toja quickly became a fan favorite in Dallas. He scored his first MLS goal, the game-winner, in a 2–1 win at

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

on 5/12, and tallied another game-winner in a 2–1 win at Chicago Fire on 5/17. He scored his fourth goal in a 1–0 victory at

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

on 6/23, his team-leading third game-winner. He scored two in a historic comeback at

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

on 7/14 and earned the Week 15 MLS Player of the Week honors for his effort. He was named to the

Major League Soccer All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially adopted a traditional all ...

, starting and scoring the second goal of the MLS team's 2–0 win over

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...

on 7/19 in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Toja started all three

SuperLiga Superliga (''super league'') may refer to: Sports Superliga can refer to different sports leagues: Association football *Albanian Superliga, the Albanian top-flight men's division * Argentine Superliga, the Argentine top-flight men's division *D ...

matches and tallied a goal and an assist. He left the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

quarterfinal game vs. Charleston at halftime on 8/7 with a sprained ankle, which kept him out for the next two regular season games. Missed 9/15 game at

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

due to sprained right ankle. Returned to play full 90 minutes on 9/20 in 1–1 tie with Chicago Fire. Started 27 regular season games, finishing second on the team with 6 goals. Appeared in all 4

games and all 3

games, scoring once vs.

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

on 7/31 in

match. His 34 appearances in all competitions tied for second on the team with Arturo Alvarez and

Drew Moor Drew Moor (born January 15, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a center-back in Major League Soccer. Born in Dallas, Moor began playing college soccer for the Furman Paladins before transferring to the Indi ...

. His production fell after the 2007

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

as he received an ankle injury and struggled to find consistency. The season was considered a success and

purchased Toja's contract from

. His performances remained at a high standard in the 2008 season with

, scoring 2 goals and being named to the 2008

, but he left the US shortly after the All-Star Game to follow his 'dream' to play in Europe for Romanian giants Steaua București. As a testament to the quality and effort Toja put into his performances the FC Dallas faithful would wear wigs in celebration of his trademark 'rock and roll' mullet.

Romania

On 1 August 2008,

made Toja's transfer to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n side Steaua București official. He was thus the first player to move from the United States to a Romanian club. Several days after his appearance at the

All-Star game against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, it had been speculated that Toja would move to Europe within a few days. He joined

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n mates

Dayro Moreno Dayro Mauricio Moreno Galindo el borracho del gol (born 16 September 1985) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Categoría Primera A club Once Caldas. He is the top goalscorer of the Colombian Categoría Primera A ...

and

Róbinson Zapata Róbinson Zapata Montaño (born 30 September 1978), is a Colombian former association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeper coach for Colombian club Independiente Santa ...

Greece

On 21 July 2010, Toja was transferred to

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut in the UEFA Europa League against

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

. He scored his first goal for Aris against Olympiakos F.C. in Kleanthis Vikelidis (2011–2012).

New England Revolution

On 23 August 2012, Toja was acquired by the

through the league's Allocation process. He arrived in the United States on 9 September, and trained with the Revolution for the first time on the next day. Despite battling knee stiffness, he made his Revolution debut in a substitute appearance against

on 15 September, which was his first MLS action since 19 July 2008 when he was with

. On 26 June 2013, Toja made his first goal in a Revolution uniform in the

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

against the

from a curving free kick in top left corner. Toja scored his first domestic league goal for the club on 17 July 2013 against the

on a free kick with a soft touch in the lower left corner.

Colombia National Team

He played with the Colombian U-20 national team at the 2005

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

, which Colombia hosted and won. Toja then competed at the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, helping Colombia to the Round of 16 before losing to eventual champion Argentina. Toja appeared in three of the team's four games, once as a substitute, including a start against Argentina. He was called up to the full Colombian national team in October 2008 and started in his first game versus Brazil on 15 October 2008 for a 2010 World Cup Qualifier.

Personal life

His family sustained a tragedy when brother Sebastian, one year younger, was involved in an accident that claimed his life when Juan was 14 years old. He is a fan of a variety of music, including rock with his favorite performers being

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

and

Soda Stereo Soda Stereo was an Argentine rock band formed in Buenos Aires in 1982. The band's membership consisted of singer-guitarist Gustavo Cerati, bassist Zeta Bosio and drummer Charly Alberti. During their career, the band released seven studio a ...

also likes salsa music. His grandfather on his dad's side, also named Juan Carlos Toja, was born in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and played professional football in his country for C.A. Peñarol; he later moved to

and played for

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

and Cucuta Deportivo. His grandfather on mother's side, Victor Vega, is Colombian and played professionally for Santa Fe,

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most successful and iconic clubs i ...

, and was a member of the Colombia National Team. He is of Spanish descent through his paternal great-grandfather.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toja, Juan 1985 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Colombian expatriate men's footballers Independiente Santa Fe footballers FC Dallas players Major League Soccer All-Stars FCSB players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players New England Revolution players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Categoría Primera A players Major League Soccer players Liga I players Super League Greece players Argentine Primera División players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Colombia men's international footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Footballers from Bogotá Colombian people of Uruguayan descent Colombian people of Spanish descent