Mauro Manotas


Mauro Andrés Manotas Páez is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.

Club Career

Uniautónoma

He was the top soccer at the 2013 Colombian U20 championship with 21 goals, and the following year he scored 22 goals for Uniautónoma's youth team in the group stage of the Campeonato Postobón 2014.
On 29 May 2013, Manotas made his first team debut for Uniautónoma when he got the start in a 3-2 loss to Valledupar FC in the Copa Colombia. He made his Categoria Primera A debut on 12 April 2014 when he came on as a sub in a 1-0 win over Millionarios. Manotas scored his first goal for the Uniautónoma first team on 13 August 2014 in a 2-1 Copa Colombia defeat to Valledupar. On 16 August 2014, he scored his first Primera A goal to give Uniautónoma a 3-2 win over La Equidad. Uniautónoma faced off with Deportes Quindío in the 2014 relegation playoffs, and Manotas scored the winning goal in the second leg to keep his team in the top flight.

Houston Dynamo

On 13 May 2015, Manotas signed with MLS club Houston Dynamo. He made his Dynamo debut on 17 June 2015 in a 2–0 win vs the Austin Aztex in the US Open Cup and got an assist in stoppage time. He made his MLS debut in the team's next match, coming on as a sub against the Portland Timbers on 20 June. Manotas got his first Dynamo start on 30 June in an Open Cup match vs the Colorado Rapids and scored the winning goal, which was his first as a Dynamo. He made 12 appearances and scored 1 goal across all competitions in his first season with Houston.
After only getting 3 substitute appearances in the team's first 6 games of the 2016 season, Manotas went on loan to the Rio Grande Valley Toros, the Dynamo's USL affiliate. After scoring twice in 4 games with the Toros, he rejoined the Dynamo on 21 May. On 15 June Manotas made his first start of the year and scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 win over San Antonio FC in a US Open Cup match. He scored a brace vs Sporting Kansas City on 29 June to advance the Dynamo to the quarter-finals of the Open Cup. He scored his first career MLS goal on 9 September in a 3-3 draw with SKC. Manotas scored a hat trick vs Portland on 24 September, becoming the youngest Dynamo to record a hat trick at 21 years of age. He was named MLS Player of the Week for his performance against the Timbers.
Manotas scored his first goal of 2017 on 15 April in a 2-2 draw with Minnesota United. On 6 May, he scored 2 and assisted on another in a 4-0 win over Orlando City and was named to the MLS Team of the Week. Manotas had the first multiple assist game of his career on 5 July 2017 when he recorded 2 vs the Montreal Impact. He ended the season in good form, scoring once in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire on the last day of the regular season. His good form continued into the MLS Playoffs where he scored a late goal against Portland in the second leg of the conference semifinals to give Houston a 2-1 win on aggregate.
Before the start of the 2018 season, Erick "Cubo" Torres was sold to UNAM. This made Manotas the starting striker for the Dynamo. He repaid the club by scoring in the first game of the season, a 4–0 win against Atlanta United on 3 March. He continued to produce, scoring 5 goals through the first 10 games. Manotas scored 2 against Portland on 15 September in a 4-1 Dynamo win. The goals gave Manotas 18 on the year in all competitions, breaking Will Bruin's franchise record for goals in a season across all competitions of 16. It was also Manotas's 14th goal in MLS on the year, tying Cubo's franchise record for MLS goals in a season. Manotas would help lead the Dynamo enjoyed great form in the US Open Cup. He scored once to give Houston a 1-0 win over Minnesota United in the Round of 16, scored twice to help Houston defeat Sporting Kansas City in the quarterfinals, and scored once against LAFC in the semifinals. He scored a brace on 26 September as the Dynamo defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-0. The first came in the 5th minute as Manotas headed in an Alberth Elis cross from his knees. The second came in the 25th minute when Manotas took a pass from Elis, dribbled past one defender before firing a left-footed shot from the top of the box that bounced off the post and in. His 6 goals in the Open Cup made him the tournament's top scorer. He was also named as the Player of the Tournament. On 29 September against the San Jose Earthquakes Manotas scored and got the winning assist as the Dynamo came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. The goal was his 15th MLS goal of the year, setting a new Dynamo record. On the final day of the season, Manotas scored a brace to lead the Dynamo to a 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy in a game the Galaxy needed to win to qualify for the 2018 playoffs. He finished 4th in the MLS Golden Boot race with 19 goals. His 19 goals in MLS and 25 in all competitions are both Dynamo single season records.
Manotas made his CONCACAF Champions League debut on 19 February 2019 in a 1-0 win against CD Guastatoya. On 22 February 2019, Manotas was rewarded for his strong 2018 season with a new contract from the Dynamo. On 26 February, in his first game since signing his new contract, Manotas came on as a substitute and scored a brace to send Houston past Guastatoya and on to the next round of the Champions League with an aggregate score of 3-1. His performance saw him named to the CONCACAF Champions League Team of the Week. On 2 March, the Dynamo opened MLS play with against Real Salt Lake. In the 62nd minute Manotas got on the end of a cross from Adam Lundqvist to tie the score at 1 and rescue a point for the Dynamo. In Houston's next MLS match, Manotas scored on a cross from Romell Quioto in the 86th minute to give the Dynamo a 2-1 over the Montreal Impact. This strike was his 50th goal in all competitions for the club. In the Dynamo's next 3 games, Manotas would pick up 4 assists, tallying one on 16 March against the Vancouver Whitecaps, one on 30 March against Colorado, and two on 13 April against the Earthquakes. After a quiet performance in a 2-1 loss to the Galaxy on 19 April, Manotas got his name back on the scoresheet when he was able to get a toe on a cross that was behind him and tip it in as he helped the Dynamo get a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week as for performance against the Crew. On 4 May, Manotas scored twice as Houston defeated their Texas Derby rivals FC Dallas 2-1. The first from Manotas was a penalty kick while the second capped off a counter attack with Manotas being involved in the build up before tipping in the cross from Memo Rodriguez. Manotas was named to the Team of the Week for the second straight week. Manotas had to return to Colombia in June due to visa issues with his wife, forcing him to miss a few US Open Cup games. On 20 July Manotas helped the Dynamo get a 3-1 win at Toronto FC, assisting on one goal and scoring one of his own from a fantastic solo effort. After receiving the ball on the left wing with five Toronto players in front of him, Manotas cut inside and dribbled past multiple defenders before rifling the ball into the left side netting. Manotas was rewarded for his performance against Toronto by once again being named to the Team of the Week. On 17 August, Manotas scored 2 goals to help the Dynamo overcome a 2 goal deficit to rescue a draw with Colorado. As a result, he was named to the Team of the Week for matchweek 24. Manotas ended the season with 15 goals in all competitions and a career high 8 assists, all coming in MLS games. His league total of 13 goals had Manotas finish 9th in the Golden Boot race.

International Career

Manotas featued for the Colombia national under-20 football team at the 2015 South American U-20 Championship. He made 3 appearances and scored 1 goal as Colombia finished second and qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Career Statistics

Honors

Club

Houston Dynamo

Houston Dynamo

Dynamo Young Player of the Year: 2016, 2017
Dynamo Team MVP: 2018
Dynamo Players' Player of the Year: 2018
Dynamo Ironman of the Year: 2018
US Open Cup Golden Boot: 2018
Us Open Cup Player of the Tournament: 2018

Personal life

When Manotas moved to Houston, he initially lived with a host family. Ed, who worked security for the Dynamo, and Ingrid Chaves invited Manotas to live with them and their two kids. When Manotas turned 23 he moved to his own place. In 2019, Manotas married his long time girlfriend Paola, who he had known since he was 15.