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name: Julian Valentin
position: D height: 6-0 weight:180 Birthdate: February 23, 1987 Hometown: Lancaster, PA last club: |
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| Regular Season Stats | full bio l year-by-year stats l video highlights |
| year | club | gp | gs | min | g | a | sht | sog | fc | fs | c | ej |
| 2009 | Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 1 | 1 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
A rookie defender with vast National Team experience, Valentin was selected by the Galaxy in the third round of the SuperDraft. In 2007 he captained Wake Forest to the College Cup championship, while also playing for the U.S. at the Under-20 World Cup in Canada. A highly intelligent defender, Valentin will be hoping to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the upcoming Summer Games in Beijing.
MLS Experience
2008: Recovered from a preseason ankle injury to play the full 90 minutes for the Galaxy Reserves in the 2-1 loss vs. SJ on 4/4… Was named in the 18-man squad for the first time but was an unused substitute in the 5-2 win vs. CHV on 4/29… Was called up to the U.S. Under-23 National Team for the Toulon International Tournament that is held in France from May 21-29… Played in and started two games at the tournament, playing the full 90 minutes in the 3-2 tournament opening loss to Turkey on 5/21 and the 2-0 loss to Italy four days later on 5/25.
College Highlights
2007: A co-captain for the 2007 NCAA Championship team at Wake Forest, Valentin had three goals and two assists in 20 games for the Demon Deacons. Valentin marshaled a defense that allowed just over 0.50 goals per game and kept 15 clean sheets in 25 games. He notched his first assist of the season against UNC-Greensboro in the 8-0 victory on 10/16 and then added another assist in the victory against Duke three days later. Valentin scored his first goal of the season against Coastal Carolina on 10/23 and added goals against Clemson on 11/14 during the ACC Tournament and against Furman when he scored the game-winning goal against Furman in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In the College Cup Final, Valentin was forced to leave the match late on after a major cut was opened on his face, leading to more than 30 stitches to close the wound.2006: One of just three players to start all 25 games, Valentin tallied a career-high four goals and one assist on the season and was named All-ACC and an NSCAA All-American. He helped the Demon Deacons reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, giving up an average of less than one goal per game. Valentin tallied the game-winning double OT goal vs. Connecticut on 10/10 and scored the only goal in1-0 victory over third-ranked UNC on 10/13, earning him ACC, Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer America Player of the Week honors.
2005: Valentin started and played in 22 games as a junior, scoring three goals and adding an assist. He tallied goals against St. Joseph's on 9/20, Maryland on 9/30 and NC State on 10/30. Valentin recorded his only assist of the year by setting up the game-winning goal in the NCAA Tournament victory over Old Dominion on 11/22. He helped the Deacons log nine shutouts on the season and was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Year.
2004: Valentin played in 17 games as a freshman, starting 12 at outside back and recording two goals and one assist. Valentin collected an assist in his first collegiate game against Ohio State on 9/3, a 2-0 Wake Forest win. Just over a month later, Valentin tallied his first career goal in the 4-2 triumph over Maryland on 10/2. His only other goal came against VCU in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Valentin was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and was a Second Team Top Drawer Soccer Freshman All-American.
National Team
A member of the U.S. Under-17, U-18, U-20 and U-23 National Teams, Valentin has been a part of the National Team setup ever since the Spring of 2003 when he entered U.S. Soccer's Under-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. He played for the U.S. at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland and the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, helping the U.S. reaching the quarterfinals at each. Valentin is now a member of the Under-23 National Team player pool, along with teammates Sean Franklin and Mike Randolph, and will look to earn a spot in the U.S. team for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying and perhaps a spot in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
Personal
A native of Lancaster Pa., Valentin majored in English at Wake Forest. His brother Zarek is currently a member of the U.S. Under-18 and Under-20 National Team player pool and will play his college soccer at Akron University. While with the National Team, Valentin wrote a pair of columns called "Jule's Journal and The Valentin Chronicles" that instantly became one of the most popular features on the U.S. Soccer website.
Acquired
Selected by the Galaxy in the third round (29th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
