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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Calderón and the second or maternal family name is Chaparro.

Giovanni Dwight Calderón Chaparro (born February 8, 2002) is a footballer who plays as a defender at the California State University, Fullerton. Born in the mainland United States, he plays for the Puerto Rico national team.

Early life

Calderón was born in North Haven, Connecticut to a Colombian father and Puerto Rican mother.[1]

Club career

Early career

Calderón first took an interest in soccer from the age of three, and joined his first club, Connecticut Football Club Impact, at the age of eight, playing alongside ten year olds.[2] He played youth soccer for FC Westchester, before going on to play for a number of academy sides, including professional clubs D.C. United and New York City FC.[3]

College soccer

Calderón was given a scholarship worth $5,000 from the New York Red Bulls in November 2018.[4]

He played for the United States Naval Academy's soccer team, the Navy Midshipmen, in 2021.[5] He then transferred to the California State University, Fullerton, where he again represented the university in soccer and captaining the side.[3]

Professional

In May 2021, he signed a contract with Hartford Athletic of the USL Championship, following a trial in March of the same year. He became the first player in the club's history to sign a USL Academy Contract, which allowed him to keep his collegiate eligibility while remaining eligible to represent Hartford Athletic in USL competitions, having already committed to playing for the Navy Midshipmen in December 2020.[6][7]

Despite this, he went on to play for AC Connecticut in the USL League Two in the same month.[8] He made three appearances for AC Connecticut, before signing with the Ventura County Fusion for 2022 - going on to make five appearances in the league and five in the playoffs.[9] While at Ventura County Fusion, he captained the side and won the 2022 USL 2 National Championship.[10]

International career

Calderón made his senior international debut for Puerto Rico on September 6, 2019, in a 4–0 friendly loss to Honduras.

Personal life

He has two elder brothers, Joshua and Neekoli, both of whom played soccer, with Joshua also representing the Puerto Rico national football team.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of 28 March 2023[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hartford Athletic 2021 USL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
AC Connecticut 2021 USL League Two 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Ventura County Fusion 2022 USL League Two 5 0 0 0 5[a] 0 10 0
Career total 8 0 0 0 5 0 13 0
  1. ^ Appearances in the playoffs

International

As of matches played 28 March 2023[12]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Puerto Rico 2019 3 0
2023 2 0
Total 5 0

References

  1. ^ Urrea P., Roberto (October 26, 2020). "Joshua Calderón, colombo-estadounidense, con sueño boricua" [Joshua Calderón, Colombian-American, with a Puerto Rican dream]. capsulas.com.co (in Spanish). Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  2. ^ Vanoni, Maggie (May 24, 2021). "From North Haven and Hartford to the Puerto Rico National Team, Calderón's journey to professional soccer". ctpost.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Giovanni Calderón". fullertontitans.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  4. ^ "Red Bulls help surprise high school player with scholarship". eu.usatoday.com. November 28, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Giovanni Calderón". navysports.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Vanoni, Maggie (May 10, 2021). "North Haven's Giovanni Calderón signs first Hartford Athletic USL Academy Contract". ctpost.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Sigal, Jonathan (May 12, 2021). "A new pathway? Giovanni Calderon signs with Hartford Athletic". hartfordathletic.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "AC Connecticut statistics". uslleaguetwo.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  9. ^ "Ventura County Fusion statistics". uslleaguetwo.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  10. ^ "Fusion Try To Get Back to Winning Ways vs. Marin Legends Sunday, June 19 at 10:30 am". vcfusion.com. June 18, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  11. ^ Giovanni Calderón at Soccerway
  12. ^ Giovanni Calderón at National-Football-Teams.com

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