Míchael Umaña Corrales (born 16 July 1982) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made over 100 appearances for the Costa Rica national team.

Míchael Umaña
Umaña with Persepolis in 2015
Personal information
Full name Míchael Umaña Corrales[1]
Date of birth (1982-07-16) 16 July 1982 (age 41)
Place of birth Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2003 Carmelita 82 (5)
2003–2007 Herediano 85 (3)
2005LA Galaxy (loan) 14 (0)
2006Brujas (loan) 11 (1)
2007–2010 Liberia Mía 76 (5)
2010–2011 Chivas USA 50 (1)
2012 Comunicaciones 46 (3)
2013–2014 Saprissa 51 (4)
2014–2016 Persepolis 39 (0)
2016 Liberia 5 (0)
2016–2017 Alajuelense 31 (3)
2017 Cartaginés 3 (0)
2017 Pars Jonoubi Jam 7 (1)
2018 Cartaginés 16 (0)
2018–2021 Comunicaciones 91 (2)
2021 Santos de Guápiles 10 (0)
International career
2003–2004 Costa Rica Olympic 10 (0)
2004–2017 Costa Rica 102 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Early career edit

Born in Santa Ana, Umaña played for Carmelita and Herediano in his native Costa Rica before coming to the United States in 2005 to play on loan in Major League Soccer with Los Angeles Galaxy.[2]

Umaña was released by Galaxy after the 2005 season after an unsuccessful campaign, and returned to Costa Rica to play for Brujas. He moved back to Herediano in 2006, but asked the club to be transferlisted after a move to Israeli side MS Ironi Ashdod fell through.[3]

He eventually transferred to Liberia Mia in 2007,[4] where he spent the next three seasons.

Chivas USA edit

After winning the 2009 Torneo Verano of the Primera División de Costa Rica in with Liberia Mia, Umaña returned to the United States in 2010 to play for his former club's cross-town rivals, Chivas USA.[5] Umaña scored his first goal with Chivas USA in a Superliga 2010 match against Puebla. Umaña spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Chivas USA.

Central America edit

In January 2012, after his release from Chivas, he signed with Guatemalan side Comunicaciones[6] and a year later he returned to Costa Rica to play for Saprissa.[7]

Persepolis edit

On 17 August 2014, Umaña joined Persepolis after passing medical tests, thus became the inaugural Costa Rican footballer to play in Iran. He signed a two-year contract with the club[8] and was given the number 4 shirt. He made his debut for the club on 25 August in a 1–1 draw against Padideh.[9]

International career edit

 
Umaña playing against Uruguay at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Umaña played for the Costa Rica national team at various youth levels, and was part of their squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[10]

He made his senior debut in a June 2004 friendly match against Nicaragua and has, as of October 2017, earned a total of 103 caps, scoring one goal.[11][12] He played at the 2005 UNCAF Nations Cup and the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup[13] before becoming part of the senior squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He played in all three of Costa Rica's group matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, as the team was eliminated without winning a point.[14]

In June 2014, Umaña was named in Costa Rica's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[15] In the team's first two group matches, he and his central defensive colleagues Giancarlo González and Óscar Duarte allowed only one goal as Los Ticos beat Uruguay (3–1) and Italy (1–0) to qualify for the knockout stage.[16][17] During the round of 16, Umaña converted Costa Rica's decisive fifth kick in a 5–3 penalty shoot-out defeat of Greece.[18] In the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Umaña was one of two Costa Ricans to have his kick saved by Tim Krul in a 3–4 shoot-out loss.[19]

Career statistics edit

Club edit

As of 6 November 2015.
Club Season League Cup1 Continental2 Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Carmelita 1999–2000 Costa Rican Primera División 3 0 3 0
2000–01 10 0 10 0
2001–02 40 4 40 4
2002–03 29 1 29 1
Total 82 5 82 5
Herediano 2003–04 Costa Rican Primera División 31 1 31 1
2004–05 16 2 3 1 19 3
2006–07 38 0 38 0
Total 85 3 3 1 88 4
LA Galaxy (loan) 2005 Major League Soccer 14 0 1 0 15 0
Brujas (loan) 2005–06 Costa Rican Primera División 11 1 11 1
Liberia Mía 2007–08 29 1 29 1
2008–09 34 3 34 3
2009–10 13 1 2 1 15 2
Total 76 5 2 1 78 6
Chivas USA 2010 Major League Soccer 28 1 3 0 2 1 33 2
2011 22 0 0 0 22 0
Total 50 1 3 0 2 1 55 2
Comunicaciones 2011–12 Liga Nacional de Guatemala 20 2 20 2
2012–13 26 1 26 1
Total 46 3 46 3
Saprissa 2012–13 Costa Rican Primera División 14 2 14 2
2013–14 373 2 37 2
Total 51 4 51 4
Persepolis 2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League 24 0 3 0 8 0 35 0
2015–16 15 0 1 0 16 0
Total 39 0 4 0 8 0 51 0
Career total 454 22 8 0 15 3 477 25

1 Includes U.S. Open Cup and Hazfi Cup.
2 Includes UNCAF Interclub Cup, North American SuperLiga, CONCACAF Champions League and AFC Champions League.
3 Includes four matches in league play-offs.

International goals edit

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 26 March 2013 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica   Jamaica 1–0 2–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life edit

Umaña is the youngest of three brothers; his brother Erick played in the Costa Rican second division.[2]

Honours edit

Los Angeles Galaxy

Individual

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Costa Rica" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b Defensor se integró esta semana al Galaxy Umaña quiere saltar a Europa - Nación (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Michael Umaña negociará salida de Herediano - Nación (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Michael Umaña firmó con Liberia - Nación (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Michael Umaña fichó con el Chivas USA - Nación (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Serrano, Adam (4 January 2012). "Chivas USA part ways with Umana, three others". Major League Soccer.
  7. ^ Saprissa ficha al defensor Michael Umaña - Nación (in Spanish)
  8. ^ "Costa Rican defender Michael Umaña signs with top Iranian club following World Club success". The Tico Times. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  9. ^ Vargas, Gabriel (26 August 2014). "Michael Umaña debutó en el fútbol iraní en empate del Persépolis FC". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  10. ^ Michael UmañaFIFA competition record (archived)
  11. ^ Michael Umaña - Century of International Appearances
  12. ^ Appearances for Costa Rica National Team Archived 6 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine - RSSSF
  13. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 - Full Details Archived 24 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine - RSSSF
  14. ^ "Michael UMANA". FIFA. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Costa Rica World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica". BBC Sport. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  17. ^ "Italy 0-1 Costa Rica". BBC Sport. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Costa Rica 1-1 Greece". BBC Sport. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  19. ^ "Netherlands 0-0 Costa Rica". BBC Sport. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.

External links edit