Fredy Montero

Fredy Montero

Personal information
Full name	Fredy Henkyer Montero Muñoz
Date of birth	(1987-07-26) 26 July 1987
Place of birth	Campo de la Cruz, Colombia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Tianjin Teda
Number	10
Youth career
2000–2005	Deportivo Cali
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	Deportivo Cali	65	(22)
2005	→ Academia (loan)	9	(0)
2006–2007	→ Atlético Huila (loan)	39	(15)
2009–2010	→ Seattle Sounders FC (loan)	56	(22)
2011–2014	Seattle Sounders FC	63	(25)
2013	→ Millonarios (loan)	22	(8)
2013–2014	→ Sporting CP (loan)	16	(13)
2014–2016	Sporting CP	51	(14)
2016–	Tianjin Teda	29	(9)
National team
2007–2009	Colombia	4	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2016.

Fredy Henkyer Montero Muñoz (born 26 July 1987), known as Fredy Montero, is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese club Tianjin Teda.

Montero is Seattle's all-time top scorer in official club competitions, having scored 60 goals since joining the club in 2009. Montero has been called up to the Colombian national team 5 times, scoring once in an unofficial match against Catalonia.

Montero was born to a policeman and his wife in Campo de la Cruz, Atlántico in northern Colombia and began playing youth soccer at Deportivo Cali at age 13. He earned his professional debut at age 18 in 2005 before being sent on loan to Academia for the season. Montero was loaned to Atlético Huila for two additional years, becoming the league topscorer in the 2007 Torneo Apertura before returning to Deportivo Cali and becoming league topscorer for a second time in the 2008 Torneo Finalización. Cali loaned him to the MLS expansion team Seattle Sounders in 2009, where he was named Newcomer of the Year and led the team in goals. Montero was sold to the Sounders in 2010 and became a Designated Player and a permanent resident of the United States. During his four seasons as a Sounders player, Montero has been named to the MLS All-Star squad twice, playing against Everton in 2009 and being named inactive in 2010

Club career

Atlético Huila

Montero was loaned to Atlético Huila in 2006, where he was named "Top Goal Scorer" in the Copa Mustang with 13 goals. Despite rumors and interest from European clubs, he returned to Deportivo Cali in 2007; he was again the top goal scorer in the 2008-II Copa Mustang, with 16 goals.^[1]

Seattle Sounders FC

Montero (right) crosses the ball in front of Chicago Fire defender Arne Friedrich

Montero was acquired by Seattle Sounders FC in January 2009 on loan from Deportivo Cali despite interest from European side Real Betis. There were unconfirmed reports that suggested Montero's contract was owned by a third-party.^[2] Montero scored nine goals in nine preseason games in 2008/09. Montero made his MLS debut on 19 March 2009, in the 2009 season opener against New York Red Bulls, and scored the first and third goals in Seattle Sounders FC club history.^[3] Montero was named the MLS Player of the Week for the first week of the 2009 MLS season for his two goals.^[4] An additional goal against Real Salt Lake helped Montero be named MLS Player of the Month for March 2009 as he won the first two Goals of the Week.^[5]

In April 2009, Montero told Sports Illustrated that he would like to play in Europe in the future and that the mix of players in MLS appealed to him as a place to learn.^[6] He later dismissed a rumor of a transfer to Fulham and told the press that he was focused on the Sounders.^[7]

Montero was selected to the 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton and played during the first half alongside teammates Kasey Keller and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.^[8] He would go on to be named the MLS Newcomer of the Year.^[9][10] In August 2009, it was incorrectly reported that MLS had negotiated the transfer of Deportivo Cali's portion of Montero's rights to Major League Soccer.^[11] It was believed that the league owned his rights, but details of any such deal were never publicly clarified.^[12]

Montero in a 2010 match against Dallas

Montero did not meet the high expectations of coach Schmid and the fans at the beginning of the 2010. He was left out of the starting lineup for the ninth game of the year. By July, he was named player of the month and selected to the inactive roster of the 2010 MLS All-Star Game.^[13] A scheduling conflict between a team CONCACAF Champions League match and the game made him unable to start in the exhibition game.^[14] Montero earned his second career MLS Player of the Month in July 2010.^[15] Although he failed to score a goal in league play between September 1 and the end of the season on 23 October,^[16] Montero finished the year with 10 goals and 10 assists.^[17] He totaled 12 goals (six game-winners) and 11 assists in all competitions. A total of 22 goals and 17 assists in league play between 2009 and 2010 was the third most in the league.^[18] Montero was also named as the top player in the MLS "24 Under 24" list, which honors players under 24 years old who perform well in MLS.^[19]

On 1 December 2010, Seattle Sounders FC announced that Montero had agreed to a contract extension with his rights permanently transferred to the club and Major League Soccer. He became the third Designated Player and the highest paid player on the team with a base salary of $500,000.^[16][20]

Before the second game of the 2011 season, Montero fractured his wrist. He missed two matches and played with a cast that may have contributed to multiple matches of reduced performance. His play improved by midseason. Schmid attributed it to increased growth, maturity, and fitness. The addition of Mauro Rosales to the team's midfield also helped Montero in the second half of the season.^[16] Montero ended the regular season of league play with 12 goals. He ended the year with 18 goals in all competitions. His goals scoring efforts made him the MLS player who scored the most goals across all competitive match in 2011. The Sounders won the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Montero was named Player of the Tournament after scoring three game-winning goals in the final three games.^[21]

Millonarios

Montero was officially loaned to Colombian champions Millonarios, playing in the Categoría Primera A, on 21 January 2013,^[22][23] also signing a multi-year extension to his contract with the Sounders.^[24]

Sporting CP

On 22 July 2013, Montero was loaned to Primeira Liga side Sporting Clube de Portugal for US$1.2 million^[25] with an option to buy.^[26]

On his debut for the Portuguese club, Montero scored a hat-trick against newly promoted side F.C. Arouca, in a 5–1 win in the first round of the Primeira Liga season.^[27] On 31 August, Montero opened the scoring with a header in an eventual 1–1 draw with Lisbon rivals Benfica at the Alvalade.^[28]

On 30 January 2014, it was announced that Montero had signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Sporting for an additional $1.55 million transfer fee plus bonuses.^[25][29] Montero scored his first goal for Sporting since December 2013, netting in a 4−0 win over Penafiel on 4 October 2014.^[30]

Tianjin Teda

On 6 February 2016, Montero transferred to Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda for €5 million.^[31][32]

International career

Montero received his first international cap during a 4–0 win against Panama on 9 May 2007, playing the final 13 minutes of the match at Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City.^[1][33] In October 2008, he started and played 55 minutes in a 1–0 World Cup qualifying loss to Paraguay in Bogotá.^[2][34] The forward scored his first goal for Colombia in the 2nd minute of extra time against Catalonia on 29 December 2008 during a 2–1 loss at Camp Nou in Barcelona.^[35] Montero last played for Colombia in a 2–1 loss against Venezuela during a friendly on 12 August 2009.^[36][37] Montero has expressed interest in returning to the national team but has failed to receive a call-up.^[38]

Personal life

Fredy was born to parents Fredy Montero, Sr., a policeman, and Jaynne, who currently reside in Barranquilla, Colombia. He is the oldest of four children and has two sisters named Jaynne Jr. and Fyorella as well as a brother named Luiggi.^[36] Montero was accused of sexual assault in April 2010, but the charges were dropped after a prosecutor found insufficient evidence.^[39][40] He married his girlfriend Alexis Immig during a private ceremony in April 2012.^[41]

Montero was named MLS Humanitarian of the Month for March 2011 after raising over $29,000 to donate towards relief for victims of the 2010 Colombian floods.^[42][43] Montero threw out first pitch for the Seattle Mariners baseball team against the Cleveland Indians on 21 August 2012, shortly after honoring Félix Hernández's perfect game in his goal celebration against the Vancouver Whitecaps.^[44][45][46] Montero was also the subject of an episode of the MLS 36 documentary series that debuted on 10 August 2012. The episode filmed his preparations and gameplay during a friendly against Chelsea F.C. on 18 July 2012.^[47] The episode revealed that his dog is named FIFA (after the governing body of the sport) and that Montero is a fan of EA Sports' FIFA video game franchise.^[48]

Montero gained permanent residency in the United States in 2010.^[49]

Career statistics

Club

As of 30 October 2016.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

International

As of 12 August 2009.^{[2][33][34][35][36][37]}

International appearances

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	29 December 2008	Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain	Catalonia	1–2	1–2	Unofficial friendly

Honours

Seattle Sounders

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (3): 2009, 2010, 2011

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal: 2014–15
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2015

Individual

• Categoría Primera A top goalscorer (2): 2007 Torneo Apertura, 2008 Torneo Finalización^[1]
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Player of the Tournament (1): 2011^[21]
• MLS 24 Under 24 Top Player (1): 2010^[19]
• MLS All-Star (2): 2009,^[8] 2010,^[13]
• MLS Humanitarian of the Month (1): March 2010^[42]
• FutbolMLS.com's 2010 Latino del Año: November 2010,FutbolMLS.com
• MLS Newcomer of the Year Award (1): 2009^[9][10]
• Major League Soccer Player of the Month (2): March 2009,^[5] July 2010^[15]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fredy Montero.

• http://www.fredymontero.com
• MLS player profile
• Seattle Sounders FC bio
• Fredy Montero at National-Football-Teams.com
• Fredy Montero profile at Soccerway