Ramiro Corrales

Corrales dealt with injuries and made only 17 appearances overall for the club, but scored a goal and helped lead Brann to their first title since 1963.

Ramiro Corrales (born March 12, 1977) is an American former professional soccer player who is currently a technical advisor and assistant coach for USL Championship expansion side Monterey Bay FC.

He spent most of his professional career with the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer.

Corrales was drafted 81st by the Columbus Crew but was then immediately traded to the San Jose Clash (later to be renamed "Earthquakes") for a second-round selection in the MLS Supplemental draft.

Known as a "reliable contributor who [is] strong in defense, composed and responsible with the ball and who works hard to make his teammates better", Corrales was the last remaining active MLS player from its inaugural season in 1996 upon his 2013 retirement.

Born in Salinas, California, Corrales did not play college soccer; instead he signed with the California Jaguars of USISL.

He then became a professional and entered the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft.

This was before the advent of Project-40, so Corrales forfeited any opportunity to guarantee a college scholarship.

Ramiro made his MLS debut on April 28, 1996 as a substitute in a match against the LA Galaxy.

His first assist came a couple months later on June 8 against the Dallas Burn and his first goal came off a free kick against the Tampa Bay Mutiny on September 9.

In his rookie season for the San Jose Clash, he garnered a goal and an assist playing 11 matches.

He started in 11 games the following season.

In November 1997, Corrales was drafted 16th by the Miami Fusion in the 1997 Expansion Draft.

He was traded again in June 1998, this time to the MetroStars in exchange for Carlos Parra.

In 1998 Corrales played in 3 matches for the Metros, getting one assist.

The 1999 season saw Corrales take a large amount of playing time with the club in a total 31 appearances.

He was second on the team in minutes with 1,460.

The 2000 season saw Corrales split his time between the Metrostars and the US Olympic squad who were going through Olympic qualification and the 2000 Summer Olympics soccer tournament.

Corrales ended the season with two assists in twenty two games played.

In 2001, Corrales was traded back to San Jose for the rights to goalkeeper Paul Grafer.

There, he was an integral part of coach Frank Yallop's team that won the 2001 and 2003 MLS Cups.

The 2002 season was one of Corrales' best, scoring three goals and providing nine assists in 28 matches played, both career highs.

In nine years in MLS, Corrales scored nine goals and provided 19 assists.

Seeking to leave MLS, Corrales signed with Norwegian club Hamarkameratene on a three-year contract.

He was part of a wave of American MLS players who went to Scandinavia to seek better wages and European play.

He was signed to play as a central midfielder at the club but he mainly played as left back while sometimes being used as a left midfielder.

He made his first appearance for the Quakes since 2004 on April 3, in a match against the LA Galaxy.

In the 2006 season he scored his first goal in Norway, a free kick goal against IK Start.

He was selected the club player of the year in the 2006 season by both local newspaper Hamar Arbeiderblad and as voted by the fans on the club's official homepage.

Due to the fact that HamKam was relegated at the end of the season, rumors swirled about where Corrales would leave to.

He was rumored to be heading for Spain or Belgium, though IK Start in Norway seemed to be the front runner to sign him.

Corrales was expelled because he had played the whole 2006 season without a work-permit.

The case was solved on March 14 when the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) gave Corrales a new work-permit.

The Houston Dynamo still held his rights, which were kept by the team since their move from San Jose in 2006, and so any return to MLS would have to go through Houston.

On January 5, 2007, Hamarkameratene and Brann agreed on a transfer, but Corrales was expelled from Norway on February 9 by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, leaving it uncertain if he could play for Brann.

After a US versus Sweden training match in January 2008, Ramiro refused to return to Bergen and expressed that he would rather give up soccer than return.

He claimed he did not like the Bergen weather, although he later said he would accept a move to Oslo which has a more dry climate than Bergen.

He also modified his statement to he did not like being benched.

Corrales was rumored to return to MLS with Toronto FC and former club New York Red Bulls showing interest.

Corrales eventually returned to the United States in 2008, re-signing for the San Jose Earthquakes, who bought his rights from the Houston Dynamo.