Micheal Azira

Micheal Azira (born 22 August 1987) is a Ugandan professional footballer.

Micheal Azira
Personal information
Full name Micheal Azira
Date of birth (1987-08-22) 22 August 1987
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

Professional career

Azira signed with Charleston Battery of USL Pro in 2012.[1] 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[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 17 5
Total 25 5 — 2 0 — 27 5
Charleston Battery 2012 USL Pro 14 0 0 0 3[lower-alpha 2] 1 — 17 1
2013 26 5 2[lower-alpha 3] 0 2[lower-alpha 2] 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[lower-alpha 3] 0 4[lower-alpha 4] 0 — 23 0
2015 10 0 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 2[lower-alpha 4] 0 4[lower-alpha 5] 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[lower-alpha 3] 0 4[lower-alpha 4] 0 — 35 0
2017 30 0 1[lower-alpha 3] 1 — — 31 1
2018 5 0 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 — 1[lower-alpha 5] 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[lower-alpha 6] 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[lower-alpha 3] 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. Appearance(s) and goal in USL Pro playoffs
  3. Appearance(s) in US Open Cup
  4. Appearance(s) in MLS Cup playoffs
  5. 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
YearAppsGoals
201610
201740
201800
201950
Total100

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


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