Justin Jose Portillo (born September 9, 1992) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who currently plays for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that competes in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, t ...

Career

Portillo was raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and played at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

, becoming the school's all-time leader in appearances. Portillo signed a professional contract with

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

on March 19, 2014. He made his professional debut three days later in a 1–1 draw with Orlando City. At the end of the 2014 season, Portillo was voted the club's newcomer of the year after establishing himself as a key starter in central midfield. After a season with USL side

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

, Portillo joined

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

side

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

on February 26, 2019. Following the 2021 season, Portillo's contract option was declined by Salt Lake. On December 18, 2021, Portillo joined

side

New Mexico United New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U. ...

ahead of their 2022 season. On May 31, 2022, Portillo was named USL Championship Player of the Week for Week 12 in recognition of his brace and assist against

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. They won the league championship in 2023, defeating the ...

and his additional goal against

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

. On November 22, 2023, it was announced that Portillo would join

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

for their 2024 season. Portillo scored one goal and added two assists in his time with the club. Portillo transferred to

on June 7, 2024.

Honors

Real Monarchs *

Champions:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Coastal Carolina bio
1992 births Living people American expatriate men's soccer players American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Salvadoran descent Men's association football midfielders Baton Rouge Capitals players Charleston Battery players Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada K–W United FC players Reading United AC players Real Monarchs players Real Salt Lake players Salvadoran men's footballers Soccer players from Louisiana Sportspeople from New Orleans USL Championship players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players New Mexico United players FC Tulsa players Sacramento Republic FC players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub