Maykel Galindo
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Maykel Galindo Castañeda | ||
Date of birth | January 28, 1981 | ||
Place of birth | Villa Clara, Cuba | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2001–2005 |
Villa Clara | 87 | (31) |
2005–2006 | Seattle Sounders | 10 | (4) |
2007–2010 |
Chivas USA | 67 | (18) |
2010 |
→ FC Tampa Bay (loan) | 10 | (2) |
2011 | FC Dallas | 6 | (0) |
2012–2013 |
Los Angeles Blues | 21 | (1) |
Total | 201 | (56) | |
International career‡ | |||
2002–2005 | Cuba | 35 | (12) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 18, 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 27, 2009 |
Maykel Galindo Castañeda (born January 28, 1981, in Villa Clara) is a Cuban former professional footballer.
Career
International
A rising star in the youth ranks of the Cuba national team, he made his debut in a January 2002 friendly match against Guatemala. Galindo then made the senior squad for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup,[1] to be played in the United States. He has earned a total of 35 caps, scoring 12 goals.[2] He represented his country in 3 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches[3] and played at 3 CONCACAF Gold Cup final tournaments.
Defection
After scoring in a 3–1 loss to
In an interview with Irish radio show Team 33 on Newstalk, he said of his defection: "I made my decision when I went to United States and thought 'I'm not going back to Cuba'. I remember when I called my Mum, I said 'Mum, I'm not going back. I'm going to stay here, fighting'. She's crying but at the end of the day, she said 'You're my son, you're going to be alone over there. Take care, we support you with whatever you do'. And it's been almost 12 years."[5]
He confirmed that he had made his first visit to Cuba for more than 11 years in the Autumn of 2016.[5]
Professional
Galindo signed with
A new regime hired by Chivas USA before the 2011 season deemed Galindo expendable and his contract option was declined on January 21, 2011.[6] He spent the 2011 preseason training with FC Dallas though Chivas USA still held his rights. FC Dallas finally traded a Supplemental draft pick for his rights and signed him on April 1, 2011.[7]
Galindo stayed with FC Dallas for the 2011 campaign. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option, and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Galindo was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.
Honours
Seattle Sounders
- USL First Division Champion (1): 2005
References
- ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 – Full Details Archived 2008-10-24 at the Wayback Machine – RSSSF
- ^ "Appearances for Cuba National Team". RSSSF.
- ^ Maykel Galindo – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ "Cuban defector put it all on line for his soccer dream". CNN. March 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ a b ""I left the hotel alone" – Former Cuba star tells us about defecting to USA and launching his MLS career".
- ^ "Big roster changes as Chivas USA open training | Chivas USA". Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- ^ "FC Dallas acquires rights to Maykel Galindo from Chivas USA". 1 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
External links
- Maykel Galindo at Major League Soccer
- Maykel Galindo at National-Football-Teams.com