Marcus Velado-Tsegaye

Marcus William Velado-Tsegaye (born 1 July 2001) is a professional footballer who plays for Edmonton Scottish in League1 Alberta. Born in Canada, he represented El Salvador at youth international level.

Early life Velado-Tsegaye began playing soccer at age five with Edmonton Xtreme FC, later playing with the Edmonton Drillers SC and Edmonton Victoria SC. In 2016, he joined the FC Edmonton Academy. In 2018, he won the EDSA Premier Division double with the academy and scored eleven goals, finishing third among the league's top scorers.

University career In 2023, he began playing for the men's soccer team at the University of Alberta. On October 4, 2023, he scored a brace in a 2-0 victory over the MacEwan Griffins. At the end of the season, he was named a Canada West First Team All-Star.

Club career In February 2019, Velado-Tsegaye signed his first professional contract with Edmonton ahead of the side's inaugural season in the Canadian Premier League. On 1 July 2019, which was his 18th birthday, he scored his first professional goal against the HFX Wanderers. In 2020, he was named to the CPL's Top 23 under 23 list. In November 2020, he re-signed with the club for the 2021 season. In February 2022, the club announced that Velado-Tsegaye and all but two other players would not be returning for the 2022 season.

In 2023, he played with Scrosoppi FC in League1 Ontario.

International career Velado-Tsegaye was born in Canada to an Ethiopian/Eritrean father and a Salvadoran mother.

In December 2015, Velado-Tsegaye participated in a Canadian U14 identification camp.

In October 2020, in an interview with El Salvador scout Hugo Alvarado, he mentioned that the team was in contact with Velado-Tsegaye. The following month, he was invited to a camp with the El Salvador U20 team. He attended another camp the following month. In December 2020, he received his Salvadorean passport, allowing him to be eligible to represent the nation at international level. He made his debut on 14 December 2020 in a friendly against Nicaragua U20.

In July 2023, he was called up to the Ethiopia national team, ahead of friendlies in early August against Guyana and a US club side. On August 5, he started in an unofficial friendly against club side Loudoun United of the USL Championship.

Career statistics