Míchael Umaña Corrales (born 16 July 1982) is a Costa Rican former professional

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 played as a defender. He made over 100 appearances for the Costa Rica national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Santa Ana, Umaña played for Carmelita and Herediano in his native Costa Rica before coming to the United States in 2005 to play on loan in

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 ...

with

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 ...

.Defensor se integró esta semana al Galaxy Umaña quiere saltar a Europa
- Nación Umaña was released by Galaxy after the 2005 season after an unsuccessful campaign, and returned to Costa Rica to play for Brujas. He moved back to Herediano in 2006, but asked the club to be transferlisted after a move to Israeli side MS Ironi Ashdod fell through. He eventually transferred to Liberia Mia in 2007, where he spent the next three seasons.

Chivas USA

After winning the 2009 Torneo Verano of the

Primera División de Costa Rica The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

in with Liberia Mia, Umaña returned to the United States in 2010 to play for his former club's cross-town rivals,

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. Umaña scored his first goal with Chivas USA in a Superliga 2010 match against Puebla. Umaña spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons with

Central America

In January 2012, after his release from Chivas, he signed with Guatemalan side

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional association football, football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala, Liga Nacional, th ...

and a year later he returned to Costa Rica to play for Saprissa.

Persepolis

On 17 August 2014, Umaña joined

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

after passing medical tests, thus became the inaugural Costa Rican footballer to play in Iran. He signed a two-year contract with the club and was given the number 4 shirt. He made his debut for the club on 25 August in a 1–1 draw against Padideh.

International career

Umaña played for the Costa Rica national team at various youth levels, and was part of their squad at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. He made his senior debut in a June 2004

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and has, as of October 2017, earned a total of 103 caps, scoring one goal. He played at the

2005 UNCAF Nations Cup The eighth edition of the bi-annual UNCAF Nations Cup was held in Guatemala, from February 19 to 27, 2005. All matches were played at the Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City. The four semifinalists qualified for 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Particip ...

and the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious i ...

before becoming part of the senior squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He played in all three of Costa Rica's group matches at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, as the team was eliminated without winning a point. In June 2014, Umaña was named in Costa Rica's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. In the team's first two group matches, he and his central defensive colleagues Giancarlo González and Óscar Duarte allowed only one goal as ''Los Ticos'' beat

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 ...

(3–1) and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(1–0) to qualify for the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. During the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, Umaña converted Costa Rica's decisive fifth kick in a 5–3

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

defeat of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In the quarter-final against 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 ...

, Umaña was one of two Costa Ricans to have his kick saved by

Tim Krul Timothy Michael Krul (; born 3 April 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Luton Town. Krul's career began at youth clubs RAS and ADO Den Haag before moving to Newcastle United in 2005. At Newcastle, he m ...

in a 3–4 shoot-out loss.

Personal life

Umaña is the youngest of three brothers; his brother Erick played in the Costa Rican second division.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Los Angeles Galaxy * U.S. Open Cup:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

* Western Conference Championship:

Individual *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

Best XI (Honorable Mention):

References

External links

*
2006 World Cup profile
- Nación *
Profile
at Nacion.com
All-Time MLS Player Register
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umana, Michael 1982 births Living people Footballers from San José Province Men's association football defenders Costa Rican men's footballers 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Costa Rica men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Costa Rica Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2004 Copa América players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players A.D. Carmelita footballers C.S. Herediano footballers LA Galaxy players Brujas F.C. players A.D. Municipal Liberia footballers Chivas USA players Comunicaciones F.C. players Deportivo Saprissa players Persepolis F.C. players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Guatemala Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Liga FPD players Major League Soccer players Persian Gulf Pro League players Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States FIFA Men's Century Club