Michael Ryan Hoyos (born 2 August 1991) is a

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 winger for

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

club

Independiente del Valle Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí Ecuador that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A. Founded in 1958, the club plays ...

. Born in the United States, he has represented Argentina at youth level.

Club career

Youth

Hoyos attended

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) is a coeducational college preparatory Roman Catholic high school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, United States. SMCHS is owned and operated by the Diocese of Orange, and was opened i ...

Rancho Santa Margarita, California Rancho Santa Margarita is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a planned community, master-planned community. The population was 47,853 at the 2010 census, up fro ...

where he was a footballer. Outside of school, he played with Irvine Strikers, coached by

Don Ebert Don "Mad Hatter" Ebert is a retired U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career with two indoor clubs, the St. Louis Steamers and the Los Angeles Lazers. Youth Ebert attended Rosary High School in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1976, Ebert and ...

. He moved to Argentina together with his mother at age fifteen, and soon had a successful trial with

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

and was placed into the club's youth system.

Estudiantes

Hoyos debuted with the first team in a January 2010 non-official match against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. He scored on a solo run from midfield, earning a spot on the first-team bench. On January 29, 2010, he made his league debut as a substitute against

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

OFI

Hoyos moved to

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

club

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

on July 8, 2013.

International career

After managers for both the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

expressed interest in having Hoyos attend their under-20 camps, Hoyos was part of the sparring roster that practiced with the Argentina national team during the South Africa

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, and was called for the Argentina under-20 side. In his international debut on July 27, 2010, against Uruguay, in Asunción, he scored the winning goal. He scored against Uruguay again in the 2011 edition of the South American Under-20 tournament.

Personal life

His parents were from

Don Torcuato Don Torcuato is a town in the Tigre Partido of the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is named after Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, ex-President of Argentina, as he had his ranch and residency there. Most of the streets are ...

Buenos Aires province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. Hoyos, who holds dual USA-Argentine citizenship, is the third USA player to play in the Argentine top league, after Renato Corsi, who played for

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

and other teams in the 1980s, and

Bryan Gerzicich Bryan Paul Gerzicich (born March 20, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primar ...

, who played for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 2006. His younger brother, Kevin, is also American and currently plays in the Estudiantes youth system as a striker. On April 4, 2011, Hoyos was involved in a car accident when his car struck a tree at the González roundabout in the outskirts of La Plata. After a few days in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

, Hoyos was released April 19 and started undergoing physical therapy to rejoin the team.

Honours

;Estudiantes *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

(1): 2010 Apertura

References

External links

* at Fútbol XXI
Inferiores Platenses
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyos, Michael 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Fountain Valley, California American people of Argentine descent American emigrants to Argentina Argentine men's footballers Argentine Primera División players Super League Greece players Ecuadorian Serie A players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Boca Unidos footballers C.D. Cuenca footballers OFI Crete F.C. players Guayaquil City F.C. footballers L.D.U. Quito footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Soccer players from California Argentina men's youth international footballers Pan American Games silver medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games footballers for Argentina Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Santa Margarita Catholic High School alumni 21st-century Argentine sportsmen