Mauro Manotas

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Mauro Andrés Manotas Páez (born 15 July 1995) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.

Video Mauro Manotas

Club career

Uniautónoma

He was the top soccer in 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. His numbers led coach Jaime de la Pava to call Manotas to the senior squad alongside his partner in the youth team Walmer Pacheco.

On 16 August 2014, Mauro Manotas scored his first goal for Uniautónoma in the Categoría Primera A against La Equidad. On 25 September 2014 Manotas earn a call up to Colombia national under-20 football team. Uniautónoma faced off with Deportes Quindío in 2014 in a relegation playoff, and Manotas scored the winning goal to keep his team in the top flight. On 13 May 2015, Manotas joined the Houston Dynamo.

Houston Dynamo

Manotas 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. He got his first Dynamo start on 30 June in a Cup match vs the Colorado Rapids and scored the winning goal, which was his first as a Dynamo.

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. He rejoined the Dynamo on 21 May and got a goal his first start of the year on 15 June vs San Antonio FC. He scored a brace vs Sporting Kansas City on 29 June to advance the Dynamo to the quarter-finals of the Cup. Manotas scored a hat trick vs Portland on 24 September, becoming the youngest Dynamo to record a hat trick at 21 years of age.

Manotas had the first multiple assist game of his career on 5 July when he recorded 2 vs the Montreal Impact. He ended the season in good form and set a personal best for goals in a season with 10. His good form continues into the MLS Playoffs where he scored a late goal against Portland in the second leg of the conference semi-finals.

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.