Micheal Azira

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Micheal Azira
Micheal Azira (33860085500) (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Full name Micheal Azira
Date of birth (1987-08-22) 22 August 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Kampala, Uganda
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2008–2010 Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders
2011 Mobile Rams
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2010–2011 Mississippi Brilla 28 (5)
2012–2013 Charleston Battery 40 (5)
2014–2015 Seattle Sounders FC 25 (0)
2015 → Seattle Sounders FC 2 (loan) 1 (0)
2016–2018 Colorado Rapids 66 (0)
2018 → Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan) 1 (0)
2018–2019 Montreal Impact 29 (1)
2019–2020 Chicago Fire 10 (0)
2021–2022 New Mexico United 45 (1)
International career‡
2016–2021 Uganda 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 April 2022

Micheal Azira (born 22 August 1987) is a Ugandan professional footballer.

Contents

Professional career

Azira signed with Charleston Battery of USL Pro in 2012. [1] [ better source needed ] He scored the winning goal for Charleston against Wilmington Hammerheads in the 2012 USL Pro Championship match. [2] Azira scored six more goals for the Battery in 2013.

Azira was transferred to Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer on 6 March 2014. [3] [4] He made his MLS debut as a substitute against Montréal on 23 March. [5]

Seattle did not renew Azira's contract following the 2015 season. Azira entered the MLS Waiver Draft in December 2015 and was selected by Colorado Rapids. [6]

Azira was traded by the Rapids on 8 August 2018 to Montreal Impact for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. [7]

Azira was traded again in August 2019, this time to the Chicago Fire. [8] His contract with the club expired at the end of the 2020 season. [9]

On 1 February 2021, Azira signed with USL Championship side New Mexico United. [10]

International career

Azira plays for his birth nation of Uganda. Coach Milutin Sredojević selected Azira for the final 23-man roster for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. [11]

Coaching career

Azira served as head coach for the Daniel Island Soccer Academy U-16 and U-18 Boyz teams in Charleston, South Carolina. He also served as assistant coach at UMS-Wright in Mobile, Alabama for two seasons, helping lead them to a state title in 2011. [12]

Personal life

Azira previously held a U.S. green card, which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. [13]

On 9 October 2021, Azira was naturalized as an American citizen in Albuquerque. [14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 April 2022 [15]
ClubSeasonLeagueDomestic CupLeague CupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mississippi Brilla 2010 USL PDL 10 [16] 0—00—100
2011 15 [17] 5—2 [a] 0—175
Total255—20—275
Charleston Battery 2012 USL Pro 140003 [b] 1—171
2013 2652 [c] 02 [b] 2—307
Total4052053—478
Seattle Sounders U-23 2013 USL PDL 1100——11
Seattle Sounders FC 2014 MLS 1405 [c] 04 [d] 0—230
2015 1001 [c] 02 [d] 04 [e] 0170
Total240606040400
Seattle Sounders U-23 (loan) 2014 USL PDL 60———60
Tacoma Defiance (loan) 2015 USL 400000—40
Colorado Rapids 2016 MLS 3001 [c] 04 [d] 0—350
2017 3001 [c] 1——311
2018 501 [c] 0—1 [e] 070
Total650314010731
Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan) 2018 USL 1000——10
Montreal Impact 2018 MLS 10100——101
2019 1902 [f] 0——210
Total29120——311
Chicago Fire 2019 MLS 4000—0040
2020 60—00—60
Total100000000100
New Mexico United 2021 USL Championship 281———281
2022 202 [c] 0——40
Total3012000—321
Career total235131511735026217
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in USL PDL playoffs
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) and goal in USL Pro playoffs
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Appearance(s) in US Open Cup
  4. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in MLS Cup playoffs
  5. 1 2 Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
  6. ↑ Appearance(s) in Canadian Championship

International

As of matches played on 16 July 2019 [18]
Uganda national team
YearAppsGoals
201610
201740
201800
201950
Total100

Honours

Charleston Battery

Seattle Sounders

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References

  1. ↑ "Charleston Battery transfers Mike Azira to Seattle Sounders FC". wlox.com. Raycom Media. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Andrew Miller (8 September 2012). "Charleston Battery captures fourth USL title with 1-0 win over Wilmington". Post and Courier. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Charleston Battery transfers Mike Azira to Seattle Sounders FC". Charleston Battery. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Dave Clark (6 March 2014). "Sounders Sign Ugandan International Micheal Azira". Sounder at Heart.
  5. ↑ "Montreal Impact vs Seattle Sounders FC 03-23-2014 – Rosters". MLSsoccer.com. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Former Sounders FC midfielder Micheal Azira lands with Colorado Rapids". Seattle Sounders FC.
  7. ↑ "Colorado Rapids trade Micheal Azira to Montreal Impact, receive 2020 draft pick". Colorado Rapids. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Chicago Fire pick up Micheal Azira in trade with Montreal Impact". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "MLS contract options: Who's staying and who's going entering 2021 offseason | MLSSoccer.com".
  10. ↑ "New Mexico Adds Veteran Midfielder Micheal Azira". USL Championship . 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Uganda name Africa Nations cup squad". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Micheal Azira finds his niche on Sounders with good humor, positive attitude". The Seattle Times. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Impact acquires Uganda international midfielder Micheal Azira". impactmontreal.com. Montreal Impact. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  14. ↑ "Naturalization ceremony held at New Mexico United game". KRQE NEWS 13. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "Uganda - M. Azira - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Mississippi Brilla FC". 10 July 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "2011 Roster & Stats - Brilla Soccer Ministries". 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  18. ↑ Micheal Azira at National-Football-Teams.com


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