Xavier William Valdez Derrig (born 23 November 2003) is a 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

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 ...

club

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

. Born in the United States, he represents the Dominican Republic national team.

Club career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Valdez began his youth career with Manhattan SC where he played as a winger, and after a growth spurt was switched to a

. He moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

as a sophomore in high school, and joined

Shattuck-Saint Mary's Shattuck-St. Mary's (also known as Shattuck-St. Mary's School, Shattuck, or simply SSM) is a coeducational Episcopal-affiliated boarding school in the city of Faribault, Minnesota. History Established in 1858 as an Episcopal mission scho ...

where he continued playing football. After a couple of seasons there, he joined the youth academy at

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

in July 2020. On 27 February 2022, he signed a homegrown contract with Houston Dynamo. On November 7, 2024, his contract option was declined by Houston following their 2024 season. On 10 January 2025, Valdez signed with

on a one-year contract with club options for both of the following two years.

International career

Valdez was born in the United States to a Dominican father and American mother. In April 2022, he was called up to a training camp for the United States U20s. He played for the Dominican Republic U20s at the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was held in Honduras, in the cit ...

, where the team finished in second place. He was also called up for the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth Association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since i ...

. He made his debut with the senior Dominican Republic national team in a friendly 5–0 loss to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

on 17 June 2023.

References

External links

* 2003 births Living people People from Harlem Sportspeople from Manhattan Soccer players from New York City Dominican Republic men's footballers 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Dominican Republic men's international footballers Dominican Republic men's youth international footballers American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent Dominican Republic people of American descent Men's association football goalkeepers MLS Next Pro players Houston Dynamo FC players Houston Dynamo 2 players Nashville SC players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Dominican Republic 21st-century American sportsmen Homegrown Players (MLS) 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players {{DominicanRepublic-footy-bio-stub