Rónald Alberto Matarrita Ulate (born 9 July 1994) is a Costa Rican 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 plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Liga FPD 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 ...

club

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

and the Costa Rica national team.

Club career

New York City FC

Matarrita was signed to

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

from

on 20 January 2016 for an undisclosed fee. Matarrita made his MLS debut against the Chicago Fire on 6 March 2016. He scored his first goal for New York City during a 2–0 victory over

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

on 25 June 2016. After a strong first season, he was named New York City's Defensive Player of the Year for 2016.

FC Cincinnati

On 29 December 2020, Matarrita was traded to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

in exchange for $500,000 of General Allocation Money. He was released by Cincinnati following their 2022 season.

Aris

On 20 June 2023, Matarrita joined

Super League 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 repla ...

club

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

on a three-year contract.

International career

Matarrita has represented

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

at under-17, under-20, under-22, and senior levels. He made his senior debut on 5 September 2015 in a friendly against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He scored his first goal for Costa Rica 6 September 2016, in a 3–1 win over

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, in a World Cup qualification match. Matarrita was called up for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, but was ruled out of the tournament three days before Costa Rica's debut due to a harmstring injury.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Matarrita goal.''

Personal

Matarrita earned his U.S. green card in March 2017. This status also qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours

Alajuelense *

Costa Rican Primera División 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 ...

: 2013–14 Invierno Individual * CONCACAF Best XI:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 ...

Team of the Week 2016: Week 6, Week 10, Week 16,

References

External links

Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matarrita, Ronald 1994 births Footballers from Alajuela Living people 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's youth international footballers Costa Rica men's under-20 international footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers New York City FC players FC Cincinnati players SC Dnipro-1 players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Liga FPD players Major League Soccer players Ukrainian Premier League players Super League Greece players Copa América Centenario players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Greece