Darwin Espinal (born 16 January 1995) is a Honduran professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Maryland Bobcats in the National Independent Soccer Association.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1995-01-16) 16 January 1995 (age 27) | ||
| Place of birth | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Maryland Bobcats | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Plantation FC | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2014 | Darton Cavaliers | 35 | (52) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2016 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 25 | (4) |
| 2016 | Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 | 2 | (1) |
| 2017 | South Florida Surf | 2 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Reno 1868 | 13 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | New York Cosmos B | 16 | (9) |
| 2020 | New York Cosmos | 5 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Oakland Roots (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Detroit City (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2021 | Detroit City | 19 | (2) |
| 2022– | Maryland Bobcats | 3 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015 | Honduras U23 | 5 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:13, 10 April 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 December 2015 | |||
Espinal was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, though his family moved Washington DC, Espinal and family later moved to Broward County, Florida where he played high school soccer for J. P. Taravella High School. While at Taravella, Espinal was named the 2012–2013 Florida Class 5A-4A Player of the Year. Espinal also enjoyed success at the club level in Broward, playing for Plantation FC. Espinal led Plantation to the Florida State Cup Championship and a spot in the Region III Championship, where he was named tournament MVP.
Coming out of high school, Espinal had an offer to join the Chicago Fire SC Academy, but he opted to go to college at Albany, Georgia's Darton State College. In his freshman season as a Darton Cavalier, Espinal scored 23 goals and notched 10 assists in just 16 games. During his 2014 sophomore season, Espinal continued his impressive form, scoring 29 goals with 19 assists in 19 games. He was a 1st Team NJCAA All-American both years and helped the Cavaliers win the Region 17 Championship in 2014. His 52 goals and 81 points were both good for school records.
On 23 December 2014 it was announced that Espinal had signed his first professional contract with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League.[1] During the Rowdies preseason tour of Portugal ahead of their 2015 campaign, Espinal scored goals against the 'B' teams of S.L. Benfica[2] and Sporting CP.[3]
Espinal's strong preseason performance earned him a spot in Coach Thomas Rongen's starting eleven for the Rowdies first match of the 2015 season against the San Antonio Scorpions. Espinal cashed in on the opportunity, scoring a goal in first half stoppage time off an assist by Darnell King.[4]
In 2017, Espinal signed on to play with the South Florida Surf of the Premier Development League. For three weeks, Espinal was listed as the PDL's top prospect.
On June 21, 2017, it was announced that Espinal had signed with Reno 1868 FC of the USL in a one-year deal.[5] He scored his first goal for the team on July 3 in its historic 9–0 rout of LA Galaxy II; Espinal's 88th-minute strike, Reno's ninth of the game, set the league record for largest margin of victory.[6] He was one of five Reno players called up by the San Jose Earthquakes, Reno's Major League Soccer affiliate, to play in its July 14 friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt, and made his first appearance for the club off the bench during the 4–1 victory in the 33rd minute for Danny Hoesen.[7]
Espinal was called up to represent Honduras for the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship in the United States.
Darwin's younger brother, Isaac is also a professional footballer, and currently plays for Loudoun United FC in USL Championship.