Christian Ramirez has played for four MLS clubs since 2017, and the common trend is that he's scored goals for all of them. While he hasn't spent much time with one club, his attacking consistency has been remarkable wherever he goes. In college, Ramirez played at both Concordia University Irvine and UC Santa Barbara before signing with the USL's Charlotte Eagles. In January of 2014, Ramirez signed with a NASL club called Minnesota United. Ramirez won the NASL Golden Boot, Young Player of the Year Award, Best XI, and tied the record for goals in a season. He ran the Golden Boot back in 2016 as well. He holds the NASL version of Minnesota United's club record in total goals, with 53. In 2017, this little NASL club joined Major League Soccer under the same name. Three years after joining the club originally, Ramirez inked an MLS contract with Minnesota. He truly worked his way up through the ranks of American soccer, he has a very unique story.
Christian Ramirez practically kickstarted Minnesota United in MLS, picking up where he left off in NASL. In a 5-1 loss during the club's debut match, Christian Ramirez scored the first ever Minnesota MLS goal, against the Portland Timbers. They lost the next game 6-1 against Atlanta, meaning they conceded 11 goals in their first two matches. In the next match, Ramirez headed a goal in at the near post to take the first lead of the team's history in the league. They earned point number one in a 2-2 draw with Colorado. The following match was a 5-2 loss at New England. Ramirez registered an assist, but Minnesota had conceded five goals in three out of their first four matches of the 2017 season. For their fifth match of the campaign, the Loons returned to their temporary home at TCF Stadium. Now called Huntington Bank Stadium, the venue primarily hosts University of Minnesota football games. On April Fool's Day, Minnesota United ended their MLS curse and defeated Real Salt Lake 4-2. Christian Ramirez scored a brace. He toe poked his first goal home in the 52nd minute, then added a very comedic second goal ten minutes later. During the first week of May, Ramirez had already scored his sixth goal of the season with a diving header versus SKC. On June 21st, he scored a pretty flick against Portland in a 3-2 victory. Now an Apple TV MLS commentator, Callum Williams said it best on the local Minnesota broadcast, "It's that boy again, it's always him!" Ramirez scored 14 goals as Minnesota narrowly missed the playoffs in their inaugural season.
Ramirez started the 2018 season with the club he helped grow in Major League Soccer, but he did not end there. On August 6th, 2018, LAFC acquired Ramirez from Minnesota in exchange for up to $325K in allocation money. Ramirez had already scored another 7 goals for the Loons in 20 matches before making the move to Los Angeles. On July 22nd, just two weeks before the trade, Ramirez left his mark on Minnesota in a match against LAFC. Minny dropped five on LAFC, Ramirez scored one at the near post and one at the far post. Odds say this brace had something to do with LAFC's front office wanting to acquire Ramirez. He made his LAFC debut on August 11th, then endeared himself to his new fans on August 15th. In just his second match in LA, Vela split the lines for Ramirez, who cleanly beat Nick Rimando. Less than 20 minutes later, Ramirez made it a first half brace for his new club. Real Salt Lake got their revenge in the playoffs, defeating LAFC 3-2, Ramirez came on as a halftime sub.
Prior to the 2019 MLS season, Ramirez made two caps for the USMNT, playing just 18 minutes and scoring a goal. Jonathan Lewis centered a cross for Ramirez in friendly against Panama in Glendale, AZ, he tapped it into the waiting goal. Ramirez hit his signature celebration, in which he waves his hand next to his ear. He says it represents the silencing of his doubters. Even though he was scoring goals, LAFC did not keep him around long. On August 7th, 2019, almost exactly a year to the day of his last trade, the Houston Dynamo acquired Ramirez from LAFC. The Dynamo sent $250K in GAM for his services. Four days later, Ramirez made his first start, and unsurprisingly at this point scored a debut goal. Ramirez clipped a low cross up to himself, before placing a volley in the bottom left corner against Philadelphia. On September 11th, Ramirez had a chance for a revenge game against Minnesota United. He took his chance, scoring a goal and having no problem celebrating on the club that he began his MLS career with. In the final match of the season, Ramirez notched a brace against LA Galaxy. He scored 5 goals in 10 matches with Houston to close the season.
Christian Ramirez did not play in the MLS Is Back Tournament, opting to be with his wife that was birthing the couple's second child. He rejoined the team in late August. The craziness of 2020 saw Ramirez play a smaller role after not being with the team for such a long period of time. His time in Houston began to fade, it was almost time for his next move. In 2021, Ramirez played just 89 minutes, less than a full match of minutes across the opening games of the season. In his final start before leaving, he scored against Colorado. On June 28, 2021, Ramirez went abroad. He signed with Scottish side Aberdeen. He scored on his debut there too, in a Europa Conference League match. Ramirez scored 10 goals for Aberdeen.
On January 19, 2023, Christian Ramirez returned to MLS, signing with the Columbus Crew. In the least shocking development of the year, Ramirez scored a goal, make that two, in his Columbus debut. He does that basically wherever he goes. His first was a left-footed first time finish inside the box. Moreira played a through ball that he finished off for his second. On June 3rd, Ramirez scored another brace. He charged straight through Charlotte's defense to open the scoring five minutes in. Later on, Ramirez slammed the door shut on a Charlotte comeback with a calm finish inside the box. On the final day of July, he scored a clincher against Club America in Leagues Cup. In the next match, Christian Ramirez scored another goal against Minnesota, celebrating with the Superman celebration that goes along with his nickname, Superman. Columbus ended up losing in penalties.
As it stands, Ramirez has 8 goals and 4 assists in his return season to MLS. He has become a pretty regular starter for the high-octane Crew attack. Columbus has scored 54 goals this season, by far the most in the Eastern Conference. The Cucho-Rossi-Ramirez trio in attack has and will continue to be dangerous for one of the East's contenders. Even with Zelarayan departing, the Crew are in a great spot going forward. They are most certainly a team to watch down the stretch, they have title aspirations. Christian Ramirez has played in many places, and has scored in all of them. For that, he comes in at #87 on the list.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | CLB | 1,472* | 8* | 4* |
2021 | HOU | 89 | 1 | 0 |
2020 | HOU | 675 | 2 | 2 |
2019 | LAFC/HOU | 1,637 | 9 | 3 |
2018 | MIN/LAFC | 1,645 | 9 | 2 |
2017 | MIN | 2,392 | 14 | 3 |
Kommentare