Betashur, Stephen

Stephen Betashur was born into the family of Edward and Paris Betashur in San Jose , California . He has one brother, Tony ^{[2] [3]} . His parents are both from Iran ^{[4] [5]} ; his father, an electrical engineer , played football for State University in San Francisco before he started working for Apple ^{[3] [6]} . Beitashur is a Christian of Assyrian descent by his father, and his mother is a Persian Muslim , so he enjoys support from both communities in the United States ^[5] . He has dual Iranian-American citizenship ^{[4] [7]} .

Youth Career and Amateur Football

Betashur graduated from Leland High School in 2005, subsequently his 3rd number was fixed, which was only the second case among athletes after Pat Tillman ^{[8] [9] [10]} . Stephen was the captain of the school’s sports team and was the top scorer of the youth team, playing as a playmaker ^[8] . He won school awards for 4 years and was twice selected as the best striker of the year before playing for the main team ^[11] . In his graduation year at Leland, Betashur received the Pat Tillman Award for Excellence in Sport and Education ^[8] .

After that, he continued to play football at the University of California at San Diego , preferring this university to several others, including the University of California at San Jose , the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Notre Dame de Namer ^{[2] [6 ] ] [8]} . Stephen graduated from the university with a major in communication and additional in biology ^{[2] [3]} . Coach Lev Kirshner transferred Beitashur to the right-back position to use his high speed and defensive abilities when playing face to face ^[8] . In the final year at the university, Stephen received an honorary prize from the Pacific-10 conference ^{[8] [12]} . In 2007-2008, Beitashur played for the San Jose Frogs in the Premier Development League ^{[13] [14]} . He graduated from the university in December 2009 ^[8] .

Professional Football

San Jose Earthquakes

In 2010, Beitashur was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes during the 2010 MLS Super Draft in the second round of 30. Previously, he already supported this team as a ball fight . Stephen became the second Iranian (after Hodadad Azizi ) to play for the San Jose Earthquakes. On April 10, 2010, he made his professional football debut in a match with the Chicago Fire . ^[8] April 24, 2010 scored his first goal in professional football in a match against Chivas USA ^[8] . In 2012, Beitashur joined the all-stars team of MLS 2012 and played in his entire 90 minutes against Chelsea (victory 3: 2) ^[15] . San Jose Earthquakes won the 2012 MLS Supporters' Shield . Betashur played in 33 matches and spent the largest number of crosses in the league (110) ^[8] . After receiving the title, Beitashur played in the CONCACAF Champions League 2013/2014 ^[16] . He gave 16 assists in 3 years playing for this club. This is more than any other MLS defender in the same time period ^{[8] [17]} .

Vancouver Whitecaps

On January 27, 2014, Vancouver Whitecaps acquired Beitashur ^{[18] [19]} . On March 8, he played his first match for the team in a match against the New York Red Bulls , ending 4-1 ^[20] . Beitashur was included in the MLS team of the week after the April 19 match against Los Angeles Galaxy (2: 2) ^[21] . On April 26, he scored an assist for Sebastian Fernandez in the last minute of the match against Real Salt Lake Club (2: 2) ^[22] . Beitashur was included in the MLS team at the 2014 All-Star Game against Bayern ^[23] . September 27, he gave an assist to Pedro Morales , who brought victory to his team in the match against the Real Salt Lake club with a score of 2: 1 ^[24] . According to the results of the season, Whitecaps qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League 2015/2016 as the best Canadian team of the season ^[25] .

On March 14, 2015, in the second half of the match against the Chicago Fire , Beitashur assisted Octavio Rivero in the 86th minute, bringing his team 1-0 victory ^[26] . On August 26, 2015, Whitecaps won the Canadian Football Championship , qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions League 2016/2017 ^[27] .

Toronto

Betashur was sold to Toronto during the 2015/2016 offseason in the second round of the 2016 MLS Super Draft ^[28] . March 6, 2016, Steven made his debut for the “Toronto” in the match against the “ New York Red Bulls ” (2-0) ^[29] .

In the 2017 season , Toronto, with Beitashur in the squad, became the owner of the treble - he won the MLS Cup , MLS Supporters' Shield and the Canadian Championship. But after the end of the championship season, the club did not renew the contract with the player and he became a free agent ^[30] .

Los Angeles

In January 2018, Beitashur signed a contract with the MLS rookie club Los Angeles ^[31] . On March 4, Stephen entered the starting lineup in the match against the Seattle Sounders, the first official match in the history of Los Angeles. On May 5, in a match against Dallas , he scored his first goal for the Los Angeles club.

Youth Career

Main career

Citizenship

Beitashur has Iranian citizenship on the principle of Jus sanguinis , as a result of which he has the right to play for Iran ^[4] . Beitashur was born in the United States and is a US citizen; thus, he had to make a choice: either to play for Iran, or for the USA ^[7] .

When asked about his choice in a 2012 interview, he stated ^[7] :

I think it's a great position to have both options, at least ... I just keep playing well here [for San Jose Earthquakes ]. I think this is the most important thing, and good things will come from this.

Original text

I think it's a great position to be in to have two options, to say the least ... I've just got to keep playing well here. I think that's the main thing, and good things will come from that.

Coach of the national team Carlos Keirush began aggressively attracting qualified players with the Iranian diaspora to strengthen the team ^[34] . In June 2012, it became known that Keirush was interested in inviting Beitashur ^[4] .

US Team Challenge

Beitashur was called up to the US national team for an international friendly match against the Mexican national football team on August 15, 2012. ^[35] However, he remained on the bench ^[36] . National team coach Jürgen Klinsmann later explained his “unexpected challenge” ^[37] :

Stephen has been building his business over the past two months, and talking with Frank Yellop [Beitashur coach at San Jose Earthquakes Club] and getting information about him were the most important steps ... We are happy to bring him here. He will be welcome here and he will see this very positive and comfortable environment where he can be without problems. We are interested in looking at him in a couple of training sessions. This is not much, because we have two and a half days to prepare for the game, but, obviously, I would like to see it for a longer period of time. It will be interesting to get your first impression of him.

Original text

Steven has built his case over the last couple of months and talking with Frank Yallop and getting his information was the most important step ... We are pleased to bring him in. He will be welcomed here and he'll see it is a very positive and comfortable environment where he can settle in with no problems. We are curious to see him in the couple training sessions that we have. It's not much because we have two and a half days to prepare for a game, but obviously I'd love to see him over a longer period of time. It will be curious to get his first impression.

Iran

On October 5, 2013, Beitashur was called up to the Iranian national football team by Carlos Kearush as part of a preliminary list of 27 players for the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying match against Thailand . It was initially unclear whether Beitashur would accept the invitation. ^[38] Two days later, it was confirmed that Beitashur accepted him and would join the team during the match on October 15 ^[39] . He made his debut in a victory match with a score 2: 1 over Thailand, replacing Makhini in the 76th minute ^[40] . He gave his first scoring pass to Gucci in an away match against Thailand on November 15, helping to win their place in the Asian Cup 2015 ^[41] . On June 1, 2014, Beitashur was included in the application of the Iranian national team for the 2014 World Cup ^[42] . The player spent all three matches on the bench.

Team

San Jose Earthquakes

• MLS Regular Championship Winner : 2012

Vancouver Whitecaps

• Canadian Championship Winner: 2015 ^[27]

Toronto

• MLS Champion ( MLS Cup Winner ): 2017
• MLS Regular Championship Winner : 2017
• Canadian Championship Winner: 2016 ^[27] , 2017

Individual

• Member of the All-Star Game MLS : 2012

• Player profile on Transfermarkt
• Soccerway Profile
• National Football Teams profile
• Profile on the MLS website
• Facebook player profile
• Stephen Beitashur's Videos and Highlights
• USMNT or Iran, A player with options - Power 5 Klinsmann's Radar on Youtube
• Inside: Steven Beitashour 4-15-12 on Youtube
• Steven Beitashour High School highlights on Youtube