Michael Barrantes


Michael Barrantes Rojas is a Costa Rican professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Saprissa.
On 6 November 2011, he scored two goals for Aalesund in the 2011 Norwegian Cup Final, in a 2–1 win against Brann, and was awarded the man of the match award. He won the Kniksen award as the best midfielder in the 2011 Tippeligaen.

Career

Club career

Deportivo Saprissa

Barrantes started his professional career with his native side A.D. Belén in 2003. Barrantes later joined the Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa after first playing two seasons for Puntarenas F.C. in 2007, much to the disappointment of Puntarenas fans. The following season he secured for his team the 2008 league title when he scored the winning goal in the last playoff match against LD Alajuelense. In May the following season he sustained a left knee injury that left him out for eight weeks.

Aalesunds FK

In July 2010, after delivering an impressive display during Saprissa's European tour, he was signed by Norwegian side Aalesunds FK on loan, joining his compatriot Pablo Herrera who was already at the club. After some initial hurdles with the paperwork, Barrantes quickly became a favorite both with the players and coaching staff. He received his starting debut with Aalesunds on 12 September in an away loss against Odd Grenland, during which he caused a penalty 50 seconds into the match. And it became evident that the midfielder needed time to adjust to the European style of playing. The following season proved to be much more successful for Barrantes, as his game play not only saw him become the center piece of the Aalesunds midfield, the club also decided to make the loan-spell permanent, six months ahead of time.
In the run-up to the 2011 season, Barrantes' qualities on the pitch was praised by both commentators and coaches such as Ole Gunnar Solskjær. The high expectations were matched by at times very good performances. He was credited with orchestrating the 2–3 away win against IK Start, as well as the 2–0 home win against Viking FK, where he netted the final goal. He was subsequently named Man of the match in the next four consecutive AaFK matches, and the local newspaper Sunnmørsposten crowned him King of the midfield. Despite a mid-table position for Aalesunds, Barrantes helped the team advance to the playoffs at the Europa league qualifiers. In addition he crowned the season with winning the domestic cup when Aalesunds beat SK Brann 2–1 in the finals, with Barrantes scoring twice and securing the title. At the end of the season, he was given the award "Midfielder of the year" by Norsk Toppfotball, despite speaking neither Norwegian nor English.
In the following 2012 season, despite being watched closely by a number of clubs, Barrantes remained in Aalesunds. With his opponents now familiar with his style of play, it proved to be much harder for him to dominate than in the previous season. Much to his frustration, the season turned out to be mixed for the team. However, on 13 May, he was made awarded the Captaincy for the first time, in the 3–1 home win against Strømsgodset IF. A week later, in a repeat scenario of the cup-final, Barrantes scored again against SK Brann to secure a 2–0 home win. On 15 July he again scored two goals in the home win against Fredrikstad FK, the match Barrantes claimed, was his best match that year. He repeated the feat in the away win against Fredrikstad a month later with an impressive left-foot goal from 30 meters, and again in the home win against Vålerenga Fotball with two goals on 21 October. In October with the season coming to an end, the club revealed that Barrantes had in fact been struggling with a pelvic injury throughout much of the 2012 season that kept him out of the pre-season, and that was the main reason behind his mixed success. However the club stated that when he is 100% well, he will again be the able to dominate the midfield.

Shanghai Shenxin

In June 2015, Barrantes signed for Shanghai Shenxin.

Wuhan Zall

On 15 January 2016, Barrantes transferred to China League One side Wuhan Zall.

International career

Barrantes made his debut for Costa Rica in a February 2007 friendly match against Trinidad & Tobago and has, as of 1 January 2014, earned 50 caps, scoring 4 goals. He has represented his country in 14 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup as well as the 2007 and 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cups.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
126 January 2010Estadio Ingeniero Hilario Sánchez, San Juan1–12–3Friendly
23 September 2010Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City1–02–2Friendly
39 July 2013Jeld-Wen Field, Portland1–03–02013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
49 July 2013Jeld-Wen Field, Portland3–03–02013 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Personal life

Barrantes lives with his wife, Andrea in Ålesund. In August 2012, they announced that they were expecting their first child. The child, a baby boy named Arjen, was born in February 2013 in Ålesund.

Honours

Club

;Aalesund