Christian Ramirez (soccer, born 1991)

Christian Ramirez (born April 4, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew.

Early life and education
Born in Santa Ana, California, Ramirez attended La Quinta High School in Westminster, California near his hometown of Garden Grove where he played center midfield and forward. As a freshman, he scored 17 goals and tallied 10 assists. During his sophomore year, he scored 18 goals and served eight assists. He opted not to play for the high school team during his junior and senior seasons. Ramirez played for the Olympic Development Program (ODP) and earned the Golden Boot award at the nationals in 2008 after the squad won the tournament. He was named team captain for three seasons.

Ramirez played two years at Concordia University Irvine (CUI) in California after starting his college career at UC Santa Barbara, where he appeared 24 times in two years, making two starts and scoring one goal. The 6'2" forward finished his CUI career with 44 goals and 18 assists. While at Concordia, Ramirez was named NAIA First Team All-American in 2012 while recording 23 goals and 6 assists and was also the GSAC 2012 Player of the Year. In 2011, Ramirez was named All-GSAC First Team and broke the school record for points in a game with five goals and three assists for 13 points against William Jessup. Ramirez tied the school single season mark for points with 48 in 2011 and would go on to set the school record for points in a season with 52 in 2012.

Charlotte Eagles
In 2013, Ramirez signed with the Charlotte Eagles of the USL PRO. He made his debut for the squad in a match against Antigua Barracuda FC, in which he tallied his first professional goal and was named to the USL Pro Team of the Week. Ramirez finished the regular season with 8 goals and 5 assists. He continued his form into the postseason, scoring 4 goals in 3 playoff appearances and helping lead the Eagles to the USL Pro Championship, where they lost to Orlando City SC.

Minnesota United FC
On January 8, 2014, Minnesota United FC signed Ramirez for the 2014 NASL season. He became a first-choice striker after Pablo Campos suffered an injury in preseason, and went on to start every game, earning the NASL Player of the Week three times  and the NASL Player of the Month three times.

Ramirez scored his 20th goal on the final game of the 2014 NASL season, equaling the league record held by Campos and Etienne Barbara. Ramirez won the 2014 NASL Golden Boot and the NASL Young Player of the Year award. Due to his performances, Ramirez was named in NASL's Best XI for 2014 and earned the same honor in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Ramirez again won the NASL Golden Boot in 2016 after tallying 18 goals in 31 appearances. Ramirez holds the club record for goals (53) for the now defunct NASL version of Minnesota United.

With Minnesota United's move to Major League Soccer, Ramirez signed an MLS contract in January 2017. Ramirez scored the club's first-ever MLS goal on March 3 in a 5–1 loss at the Portland Timbers. He helped Minnesota earn their first point in league history on March 18, scoring once in a 2–2 draw at the Colorado Rapids. Ramirez scored twice on April 1 to help the Loons secure a 4–2 win over Real Salt Lake. Ramirez ended the season with 14 goals and 3 assists from 30 appearances, but Minnesota finished 9th in the Western Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Minnesota opened the 2018 season with a 3–2 loss at the San Jose Earthquakes, with Ramirez picking up an assist in the game. He scored his first goal of the season on April 22 in a 3–1 defeat to Seattle Sounders FC. Ramirez scored 3 times in a 5-game stretch between May 12 and June 23. On July 18, he scored once to help Minnesota to a 2–1 win over the New England Revolution. On July 22, Ramirez scored 2 goals and had one assist as the Loons beat LAFC 5–1.

Los Angeles FC
On August 6, 2018, Ramirez was traded to Los Angeles FC for $250,000 in General Allocation Money in 2018 and 2019, $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money in 2018, $200,000 in Targeted Allocation Money in 2019, and up to $200,000 in future Allocation Money based on performance. Ramirez made his LAFC debut on August 11 and scored his first two goals for the team in a 2–0 win against Real Salt Lake on August 15. He finished his debut season for LAFC with eight appearances and three goals across all competitions.

During his second season with LAFC in 2019, Ramirez began the year as the team's starting striker due to Adama Diomande's injury. He scored his first goal of the season in the second matchweek against the Portland Timbers in a 4–1 victory. On July 3, 2019, Ramirez had a goal and an assist in a 5–1 win over Sporting Kansas City. During his partial second season with LAFC, Ramirez scored four goals from 20 appearances across all competitions.

Houston Dynamo
On August 7, 2019, Ramirez was traded to Houston Dynamo in exchange for $250,000 in allocation money. Ramirez made his Dynamo debut and scored his first goal for his new club on August 11 in a 2–1 loss to the Philadelphia Union. On September 11, the Dynamo hosted Ramirez's old team, Minnesota. He scored once as the Dynamo defeated the Loons 2–0. In the final game of the season, Ramirez scored twice, including the winner in the 83rd minute, to help Houston defeat the LA Galaxy 4–2. He enjoyed good form to end the year, scoring 5 and assisting 1 in his 10 games with the Dynamo. His good performances weren't enough to save the Dynamo's season however, with Houston failing to qualify for the playoffs.

After the first two games of the 2020 season, with Ramirez appearing off the bench in both, the season was paused for four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Houston returned to play in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, however Ramirez did not take part, leaving the "bubble" to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. He rejoined the team after the tournament and made his first start of the year on August 21 in a 0–0 draw with FC Dallas. On August 25 Ramirez scored once and added an assist as Houston won 5–2 at Sporting Kansas City. He found the back of the net again on September 9 to give Houston a 1–1 draw at the Colorado Rapids. In a shortened season due to COVID-19, Ramirez ended the season with 2 goals and 2 assists from 15 games, 8 of them being starts. It was another disappointing season for the Dynamo as a team, finishing bottom of the Western Conference and missing the playoffs again.

During the 2021 season, Ramirez only made 6 appearances before being transferred. He scored in his only start, a 3–1 loss at the Colorado Rapids on May 15.

Aberdeen
On June 28, 2021, Ramirez signed with Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen. Ramirez made his Aberdeen debut on July 22 in the new Europa Conference League where he scored in the 5–1 victory over BK Häcken of Sweden.

Columbus Crew
On January 19, 2023, Ramirez joined Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew on a two-year deal with an option for a third year. Ramirez scored one of the more memorable goals in Crew history when he found the back of the net in the 115th minute of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against Hell is Real derby opponent FC Cincinnati, ultimately sending Columbus to the MLS Cup.

International career
On January 8, 2018, Ramirez received a call-up for the United States men's national soccer team for a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made his first appearance as a substitute against Panama on January 27, 2019, along with scoring his first goal for the senior team.

International
As of November 14, 2020


 * Scores and results list United States' goal tally first.

Source: U.S. Soccer

Personal life
Ramirez's father, Juan, is a Colombian former player, who immigrated to the United States prior to Christian's birth. Juan stopped pursuing his soccer career in order to move his family to California. Ramirez says one of his motivations for playing soccer is to "live out [Juan's] dream that he wasn't able to." He was raised in a Catholic home and is a Christian. Christian and his wife Valerie have three children together. Ramirez developed a strong friendship with fellow Californian and former Orange County Blue Star and Minnesota United teammate Miguel Ibarra. Ramirez and Ibarra were nicknamed "Superman" and "Batman" by the Minnesota fans.

Honors
Minnesota United
 * NASL Spring Season: 2014
 * North American Supporter's Trophy: 2014

Columbus Crew
 * MLS Cup: 2023

Individual
 * NASL Best XI: 2014, 2015, 2016
 * NASL Golden Boot: 2014, 2016
 * North American Soccer League Young Player of the Year: 2014
 * NASL Player of the Month – May/June 2014, August 2014, October/November 2014, July 2015, July 2016
 * NASL Player of the Week – Week 4 2016, Week 12 2016