Nelson Vargas

Nelson Vargas was a football (soccer) forward who played in high school in Miami, and then went to Europe to play with Valencienne in France and SC Portugal. He signed his first contract at age 16 to play for Standard Liège in Belgium.

Internationally, Vargas played for the United States at the 1991 U-17 World Youth Championships and at the 1993 U-20 World Cup. He later played for the US at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and eventually earned four caps with the US Men’s National Team.

Vargas was a 12th round selection of the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the inaugural 1996 MLS Draft. He spent two seasons with the Mutiny and was then selected by the Miami Fusion in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, playing with them from 1998-2000.