Roman Celentano
 Celentano with FC Cincinnati in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roman Marcello Celentano[1] | ||
| Date of birth | September 14, 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Naperville, Illinois, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | FC Cincinnati | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2016–2019 | Chicago Sockers | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2021 | Indiana Hoosiers | 39 | (0) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022– | FC Cincinnati | 90 | (0) |
| 2022 | → FC Cincinnati 2 (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of match played October 19, 2024 | |||
Roman Marcello Celentano (born September 14, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati.
Early life
[edit]Roman Celentano was born on September 14, 2000, to Marcello and Manuela Celentano. He is from Naperville, Illinois, where he attended Neuqua Valley High School. He has two siblings, named Julian and Remi.[3]
Club career
[edit]
Youth and college
[edit]Celentano enrolled at Indiana University in 2019 and joined the Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team. He played for the Hoosiers for three seasons, the first two of which they were Big Ten Conference regular season champions and tournament champions. Celentano was twice named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, was twice named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team, and was recognized as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Tournament in 2020.[3]
Professional
[edit]Celentano decided to forgo his senior year of college at Indiana University to sign a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer, making him eligible for the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. Projected as a Top 10 draft pick,[4] Celentano was drafted second overall by FC Cincinnati in the draft, becoming the highest drafted goalkeeper in the SuperDraft since Andre Blake in 2014. As a Generation adidas player, he signed with FC Cincinnati the same day on January 11, 2022.
Celentano went on loan for the early part of the 2022 season with Cincinnati's reserve team, FC Cincinnati 2 in MLS Next Pro, where he made his professional debut on March 27, 2022, in a 0–2 loss to Philadelphia Union II.[5] Celentano made his first team debut for Cincinnati on April 19, 2022, in a U.S. Open Cup match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.[6] A few days later, on April 24, 2022, Celentano made his MLS debut, starting and playing the full match in a 1–2 loss to Los Angeles FC.[7]
Celentano bagged his first clean sheet in a victory against Toronto FC on May 4, 2022, and then followed that up with a second consecutive clean sheet against Minnesota United FC. That earned the rookie a spot in the MLS team of the week[8] for Week 10 of the 2022 Major League Soccer season.
International career
[edit]In January 2023, Celentano received his first call-up to the United States ahead of friendlies against Serbia and Colombia.[9]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played November 9, 2024[10]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental[a] | Other[b] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Cincinnati | 2022 | MLS | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 33 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |||||
| 2024 | 30 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |||
| Total | 90 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 107 | 0 | ||
| FC Cincinnati 2 (loan) | 2022 | MLS Next Pro | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 92 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 109 | 0 | ||
- ^ Appearances in CONCACAF Champions Cup
- ^ Appearances in MLS Cup Playoffs
Honors
[edit]FC Cincinnati
Individual
- Big Ten Conference Goalkeeper of the Year: 2020, 2021
- NCAA Men's Division I Tournament Defensive MOP Award: 2020
- MLS Save of the Year: 2023[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup – Club roster: FC Cincinnati (USA)" (PDF). CONCACAF. January 30, 2024. p. 5. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "Roman Celentano". U.S. Soccer.
- ^ a b "Roman Celentano – Men's Soccer". Indiana University Athletics. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Clark, Travis (January 11, 2022). "Final 2022 MLS Mock Draft". Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "PHIvsCIN 03-27-2022 | Lineups". mlsnextpro.com. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Brennan, Pat (April 19, 2022). "US Open Cup: Alvaro Barreal scores twice, leads FC Cincinnati past Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Gough, Brad (April 24, 2022). "Player Ratings: FCC loses 2-1 to LAFC". Cincinnati Soccer Talk. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ Sigal, Jonathan (May 9, 2022). "Team of the Week presented by Audi: FC Cincinnati reach new heights in Week 10". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
- ^ "TWENTY-FOUR PLAYERS CALLED FOR USMNT BIOSTEEL JANUARY TRAINING CAMP TO KICK OFF 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP CYCLE". January 18, 2023.
- ^ Roman Celentano at Soccerway
- ^ "FC Cincinnati's Roman Celentano wins 2023 MLS Save of the Year presented by Allstate". Major League Soccer. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
External links
[edit]- 2000 births
- Living people
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- FC Cincinnati draft picks
- FC Cincinnati players
- FC Cincinnati 2 players
- Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players
- Major League Soccer players
- MLS Next Pro players
- Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois
- Soccer players from DuPage County, Illinois
- American men's soccer players
- 21st-century American sportsmen