Ramiro Borja is a retired Ecuadorean-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. He played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League,

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. Borja, brother of Chico Borja, was raised in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "beautiful town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 ...

, and played prep soccer at Belleville High School. He attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, playing for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was affi ...

team in 1979 and 1980. In 1986, Borja signed with the

Memphis Storm The Memphis Storm was an American soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee which existed from 1986 to 1994. They underwent several names changes including the Rogues, the Survivors, the United Express and finally the Jackals. They played in the A ...

of the

. In 1987, he moved to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League, but was back with the Storm a year later. In 1989, he moved outdoors with the

Albany Capitals The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club was based in Albany, New York, a ...

of the American Soccer League. He played three seasons with the Capitals, the last two in the

. He was 1991 First Team All League.

International

Borja competed for the

Puerto Rico national football team The Puerto Rico national football team () represents Puerto Rico in men's international Association football, football, and are governed by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (). The team's nickname is ''El Huracán Azul'' meaning The ...

during Puerto Rico's qualification games for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

.Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico (March 21, 1992)
11v11.com; accessed October 16, 2016.

References

External links

Living people 1961 births Footballers from Quito American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1988–89) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Belleville High School (New Jersey) alumni American Professional Soccer League players Albany Capitals players Los Angeles Lazers players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Memphis Storm players Sportspeople from Belleville, New Jersey Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Rutgers University alumni Soccer players from Essex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Quito Ecuadorian emigrants to the United States Puerto Rican men's footballers Puerto Rico men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards 20th-century American sportsmen {{PuertoRico-footy-bio-stub