Micheal Azira

Micheal Azira
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
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders
2011 Mobile Rams
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (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.

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]
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mississippi Brilla 2010 USL PDL 10[16] 0 — 0 0 — 10 0
2011 15[17] 5 — 2[a] 0 — 17 5
Total 25 5 — 2 0 — 27 5
Charleston Battery 2012 USL Pro 14 0 0 0 3[b] 1 — 17 1
2013 26 5 2[c] 0 2[b] 2 — 30 7
Total 40 5 2 0 5 3 — 47 8
Seattle Sounders U-23 2013 USL PDL 1 1 0 0 — — 1 1
Seattle Sounders FC 2014 MLS 14 0 5[c] 0 4[d] 0 — 23 0
2015 10 0 1[c] 0 2[d] 0 4[e] 0 17 0
Total 24 0 6 0 6 0 4 0 40 0
Seattle Sounders U-23 (loan) 2014 USL PDL 6 0 — — — 6 0
Tacoma Defiance (loan) 2015 USL 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 0
Colorado Rapids 2016 MLS 30 0 1[c] 0 4[d] 0 — 35 0
2017 30 0 1[c] 1 — — 31 1
2018 5 0 1[c] 0 — 1[e] 0 7 0
Total 65 0 3 1 4 0 1 0 73 1
Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan) 2018 USL 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Montreal Impact 2018 MLS 10 1 0 0 — — 10 1
2019 19 0 2[f] 0 — — 21 0
Total 29 1 2 0 — — 31 1
Chicago Fire 2019 MLS 4 0 0 0 — 0 0 4 0
2020 6 0 — 0 0 — 6 0
Total 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
New Mexico United 2021 USL Championship 28 1 — — — 28 1
2022 2 0 2[c] 0 — — 4 0
Total 30 1 2 0 0 0 — 32 1
Career total 235 13 15 1 17 3 5 0 262 17
  1. ^ Appearance(s) in USL PDL playoffs
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) and goal in USL Pro playoffs
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Appearance(s) in US Open Cup
  4. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in MLS Cup playoffs
  5. ^ a b 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
Year Apps Goals
2016 1 0
2017 4 0
2018 0 0
2019 5 0
Total 10 0

Honours

Charleston Battery

  • USL Pro Championship: 2012
Seattle Sounders

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