José Martín Leitón Rodríguez (born August 6, 1993) is a Costa Rican footballer who plays for Municipal Grecia.

José Leitón
Personal information
Full name José Martín Leitón Rodríguez
Date of birth (1993-08-06) August 6, 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Moravia, San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left midfielder
Team information
Current team
Municipal Grecia
Number 77
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 CS Uruguay 14 (0)
2015 Puntarenas
2016 CS Uruguay 17 (1)
2016–2019 Herediano 43 (3)
2017–2018Minnesota United (loan) 1 (0)
2020– Municipal Grecia 14 (2)
International career
2017– Costa Rica 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of February 11, 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 10, 2017

Career

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Beginnings

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Leitón grew up in Moravia, Costa Rica. He had no formal football education so he learned how to play in the street. After a strong performance in an amateur tournament in San Jerónimo de Moravia Leitón's brother managed to get him a trial with Deportivo Saprissa. Leitón did not know how to run the drills for the club and he was corrected repeatedly by the coach. The coaches at Saprissa told Leitón that they would call him back in a few days about with their decision. In this time, Leitón decided to ride his bike to Coronado, Costa Rica to try out for C.S. Uruguay de Coronado. After a week, the coaches at C.S. Uruguay told Leitón to go to the club's office to sign a contract. A few days later, Saprissa's youth coach called Leitón to ask him to sign a contract but he turned them down as he had already signed with C.S. Uruguay.[1]

Club

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On August 10, 2017 it was announced that Leitón was to be loaned from C.S. Herediano in the Primera División de Costa Rica to Minnesota United in Major League Soccer through July 10, 2018.[2]

International

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In June, 2017 Leitón was chosen the preliminary 40-man roster for Costa Rica's 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad. He was not selected by Óscar Ramírez to participate in the group stage of that tournament, however, he was called up to join the squad for the knockout stage. Leitón earned his first cap for the national team in their 0–2 defeat against the United States in the semi-finals.

References

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  1. ^ Alfaro, José. "José Leitón: Soy hecho en la calle, sin liga menor". nacion.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Costa Rica international José Leitón joins MNUFC". Minnesota United FC. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
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