July 19, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
Ask Manuel Arteaga how many teams he’s played for in his career, and it may take him a moment to recall them all. That’s understandable when your career spans 14 years, 13 different teams across six countries and three continents. As a kid growing up in Venezuela dreaming of playing professional soccer, Arteaga never planned for the circuitous path his career has taken that’s led him to the Tampa Bay Rowdies this year.
“It wasn’t what I hoped for but that’s how things played out,” Arteaga says of his winding career path. “I’m grateful to God to have been able to experience so many countries, and learn about so many cultures, so many languages, and so many people. I’m grateful to God for how lovely it’s turned out to be, honestly.”
At 30 years old, Arteaga is arguably in the middle of one of his best seasons yet as a professional. Through 17 league appearances for the Rowdies, the veteran attacker has already notched 10 goals. He still has some work to do in the back half of the season to eclipse his standout 2023 season, when he recorded 15 goals and six assists to help lead Phoenix Rising FC to their first league title, but there’s plenty of time left for that.
Arteaga’s career has entered a bit of a renaissance since coming to the U.S. to sign for Indy Eleven in 2021. In four years stateside, Arteaga has netted 40 goals to become one of the most consistent scoring threats in the USL Championship.
Success hasn’t always come easy for Arteaga, who experienced plenty of ups and downs throughout the first decade of his career. He made his professional debut with his hometown club Zulia FC in Maracaibo, Venezuela when he was 16 years old. Arteaga set his sights on Europe the following year, earning trials with Liverpool and Fiorentina. A contract never materialized with either club and Arteaga had to wait another year before securing a loan to Parma in Serie A. The transition to life in Italy was difficult for Arteaga, who struggled to break through on the field as a teenager.
“I was alone, I didn’t speak the language,” recalls Arteaga. “Life and soccer is that way. You must try to adapt quickly to every obstacle that comes your way, mature quickly, grow quickly, and go through each obstacle without thinking about what could happen. In all of that, you make mistakes, a lot of them, and in the end that’s the most important thing. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t…