Rob Valentino (born December 21, 1985) is a former American soccer player who is an assistant coach at

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

Career

College and Amateur

Valentino grew up in

Danville, California The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 censu ...

, and began his soccer career playing youth soccer for the local Mustang Club. In 1999, his family moved to Arizona, where he played for the 1986 Sereno Golden Eagles with coach Harry Demos. Valentino was recruited out of high school, and chose to attend the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...

. Valentino was captain all four years at USF, where he was the WCC Defensive Player of the Year his sophomore season. He also earned WCC Player of the Year honors his junior season. In addition to playing collegiate soccer, Valentino spent the 2007 season with the

San Jose Frogs San Jose Frogs was an American soccer team based in San Jose, California, United States. Founded in 2005, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when the franchise ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

. However, he injured his left knee and was set to red-shirt the season, but ultimately decided to sign a generation Adidas contract.

Professional

Valentino was drafted in the first round, 13th overall, of the

2008 MLS SuperDraft The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from the expansion San ...

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. He made his full professional debut for Revolution on July 1, 2008, in a

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 of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

third round game against

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

, and was traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

in exchange for Nico Colaluca on May 6, 2009. Valentino asked for and was released before the 2010 season to play for Tampa without ever making an MLS appearance. He signed with FC Tampa Bay of the

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding ...

League in 2010, but chose not to re-sign with the club at the end of the season. He later signed with new

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, ...

franchise Orlando City on March 31, 2011; he scored his first career goal on April 16, 2011 in a 1–0 victory over the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games a ...

. In addition Valentino was voted Defensive Player of the year for the 2011 USL season. He also became the captain for Orlando City following his debut season. Valentino played for Orlando City for 5 years, but was not among the Orlando City players to make the move to MLS. Following Orlando City's move to MLS Valentino signed with Arizona United and was named captain for the team. He started in all 15 games for which he was fit. He missed a month of the season due to injury. Arizona announced that Valentino would retire from playing on August 11, 2015..

Coaching

On August 11, 2015, Valentino was announced as an assistant coach for the Central Florida USL team that begins play in 2016. The USL club is owned by

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the ...

and reunited Valentino with his former teammate Anthony Pulis who was the team's head coach. He was also named to the club's technical staff. In 2019 he was added to Frank De Boer’s technical staff as an assistant manager to the 2018 MLS Cup-winning team Atlanta United FC. On July 18, 2021, Valentino was named Atlanta United's interim head coach following the firing of previous head coach Gabriel Heinze. When Gonzalo Pineda was hired as the new head coach on August 12, Valentino was retained as an assistant.

Honors

Orlando City

(2): 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

References

External links

MLS player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentino, Rob 1985 births Living people People from Cave Creek, Arizona Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area Soccer players from Arizona American soccer players Association football defenders San Francisco Dons men's soccer players San Jose Frogs players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players Colorado Rapids players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players Phoenix Rising FC players Orlando City B players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players USL Championship players United States men's under-23 international soccer players American soccer coaches Orlando City B coaches Atlanta United 2 coaches Atlanta United FC coaches