Keaton Parks

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Keaton Parks
Personnel
Surname Keaton Alexander Parks
birthday August 6, 1997
place of birth Plano , Texas ,  USA
size 193 cm
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
Liberty High School
2014-2015 Liverpool Warriors
2015-2016 Varzim SC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2015-2016 Varzim SC B 4 (0)
2016-2017 Varzim SC 10 (2)
2017-2020 Benfica Lisbon B 29 (7)
2017-2020 Benfica Lisbon 4 (0)
2020 →  New York City FC  (loan)
2020– New York City FC
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2017 USA U-20
2018– United States 1 (0)
1 Only league games are given.
As of June 17, 2018

2 As of June 17, 2018

Keaton Alexander Parks (born August 6, 1997 in Plano , Texas ) is an American football player in the position of midfielder . Since 2017 he has been in the professional squad of Benfica Lisbon with games in the Primeira Liga , the highest Portuguese football league. He is also used for the B team in the second-rate Segunda League and made his debut in 2018 for the senior national team in his home country .

Club career

Career start at home

Born on August 6, 1997 in the city of Plano, a suburb of Dallas , Texas, Keaton Parks began his career as a soccer player in his own backyard before establishing himself with school teams. His path led him to Liberty High School in Frisco , a few kilometers north , where he was active for three years. After three successful seasons in high school, he had already verbally accepted the soccer program of the sports department of Southern Methodist University , but then joined the NPSL franchise Liverpool Warriors . For the Liverpool- owned and sponsored franchise from the Dallas-Fort-Worth Metroplex , he was mainly used in the youth sector. Under the former Venezuelan international and legionnaire in Portugal Armando Pelaez , with whom he was already active as an eight-year-old and whom he followed from station to station, he took part in a youth tournament in the Portuguese city of Póvoa de Varzim in the summer of 2015 . Before that, his coach had put him on trial training at Portuguese clubs such as Benfica , Sporting Braga and Sporting Lisbon . At the tournament, he stood out for his performances and was scouted by the local club, the second division Varzim SC , and subsequently signed. As a result, his verbal acceptance to Southern Methodist University became irrelevant.

Change to Portugal

In the 2015/16 season, Parks was then mainly used in the club's own youth team for the U-19s, but also made his debut in men's football when he made four league appearances for the club's B team in the Campeonato de Portugal , the third highest Portuguese football league , brought. In 2016/17 he was promoted to the professional squad and was on the bench in a professional game for the first time a week after his 19th birthday, but was not yet used at that time. On September 4, 2016, the American, who was mainly used as a defensive midfielder, made his professional debut when he was sent onto the pitch by coach Armando Evangelista in the 83rd minute for Brazilian Diego Barcelos in the 2-0 home defeat to Desportivo Aves . After he alternately sat on the bench without being used or was not even part of the professional squad, he acted as a regular in midfield from October 23, 2016, when João Eusébio took over the coaching position and was almost exclusively used from the start. Under Eusébio, Parks was used in nine consecutive league games by the end of the year and contributed one goal in each of the last two games before the end of the year.

His positions in midfield varied, so that he was used in almost all positions. Through his performance, he helped his team from the bottom of the table to the first half of the table. There was also an appearance in the Taça de Portugal 2016/17 , as well as two appearances in the Taça da Liga 2016/17 . After he was still unused on the bench in a league cup game on January 4, 2017, he was no longer used in the professional team until the end of the season and was no longer part of the professional squad. The reason was contractual disputes, due to which he was not allowed to participate in another game for about seven months, whereby the case ended up before the International Court of Justice in Lausanne and subsequently ended in the American's favor.

Transfer to Benfica Lisbon

The season 2016/17 in the tightly tiered table in ninth place, three points behind in third place, ending, was courted park at this time of the Portuguese first division and international associations. These included, among others, AS Monaco , OSC Lille , Leicester City , Borussia Mönchengladbach or various Portuguese clubs such as Portimonense SC , to which the Portuguese media had already announced a move, which however did not materialize, which led to further disputes with the club's management. On July 25, 2017, his free transfer to the reigning Portuguese champions Benfica Lisbon was announced, where he was to collect match practice in the B-team from now on . The change had already been fixed in winter, but could not be carried out due to the contractual disputes, which is why the official transfer did not take place until the following summer. At Benfica Lisbon B he was used in 29 of 38 possible league games in the Portuguese second division during the LigaPro 2017/18 , scored seven goals and made six assists for his teammates. In the final standings, the team ranked 13th in the table.

After the first half of the season he found his way into the first team and completed on November 18, 2017 his competitive debut when he when 2: 0 home win over Vitoria Setubal in the fourth round match of de Taça Portugal 2017/18 after 71 minutes for Pizzi used has been. Afterwards, the Texan was brought on the substitute bench of the professional team by coach Rui Vitória in the league and after two games without a game on December 17, 2017 he came on for André Almeida in the 5-1 away win over CD Tondela from the 84th minute . A few days earlier, Parks had signed a new contract with the Portuguese top club, which ran until June 30, 2022. Three days after his first division debut, he was also used in a 2017/18 Taça da Liga game . In the further course of the Primeira Liga 2017/18 , Parks was used in three other league games by the end of the season and was unused on the bench in a few other games. The team ended the season seven points behind FC Porto in second place in the table, through which the team qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League .

National team career

Parks only gained his first experience in a national team of the United States Soccer Federation in 2017, when he was summoned by Tab Ramos to a training camp for the U-20s in London in preparation for the U-20 World Cup . Nothing is known about the missions of Parks, who at the time was in dispute with his Portuguese employer. Under Dave Sarachan , Parks made the leap to the US national team in May 2018 and was part of a young 22-man squad preparing for a friendly international match against Bolivia . He made his debut in the 3-0 win over Bolivia on May 28, 2018, when he came onto the pitch in the 62nd minute of the game for veteran Joe Corona . Under national coach Dave Sarachan, six players made their A-team debut that evening. For two more friendlies against Ireland and France , Sarachan nominated him again the following day in a 25-man squad. In the two games, however, Parks was not used.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Plano teen takes different route to make professional debut in Portugal , accessed June 17, 2018
  2. ↑ a b c d Keaton Parks finally wins case over Varzim , accessed June 17, 2018
  3. ↑ TAD decidiu contra o Varzim, Keaton Parks é jogador do Benfica (Portuguese), accessed on June 17, 2018
  4. ↑ Varzim confirma dois reforços para o Portimonense (Portuguese), accessed on June 17, 2018
  5. ↑ Keaton Parks officially signs with Benfica , accessed June 17, 2018
  6. ↑ KEATON PARKS REFORÇA BENFICA B (Portuguese), accessed June 17, 2018
  7. ↑ US youngster Keaton Parks makes first-team debut for Benfica , accessed June 17, 2018
  8. ↑ Keaton Parks faz a estreia no campeonato (Portuguese), accessed June 17, 2018
  9. ↑ BENFICA EXTENDS KEATON PARKS 'CONTRACT UNTIL 2022 , accessed June 17, 2018
  10. ↑ RAMOS CALLS 25 PLAYERS TO ENGLAND FOR PRE-WORLD CUP TRAINING CAMP , accessed on June 17, 2018
  11. ↑ DAVE SARACHAN CALLS YOUTHFUL 22-PLAYER ROSTER TO PHILADELPHIA FOR USA-BOLIVIA ON MAY 28 , accessed June 17, 2018
  12. ↑ Q&A: SARACHAN DISCUSSES USMNT ROSTER FOR BOLIVIA FRIENDLY , accessed June 17, 2018
  13. ↑ a b GOALS FROM ZIMMERMAN, SARGENT AND WEAH PROPEL YOUTHFUL USA PAST BOLIVIA 3-0 , accessed June 17, 2018
  14. ↑ SARACHAN CALLS 25 PLAYERS TO EUROPE FOR FRIENDLIES AGAINST REPUBLIC OF IRELAND AND FRANCE , accessed June 17, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Parks, Keaton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Parks, Keaton Alexander (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1997
PLACE OF BIRTH Plano , Texas , United States