Steven Vitoria

Philadelphia Union acquired Steven Vitoria via loan from Benfica of Portugal’s Primeira Liga on February 9th, 2015.

A 6-foot-5 center back, Vitoria was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, but has spent his entire professional career playing in Portugal. He represented Portugal at the youth level at the 2006 UEFA U19s Championship and at the 2007 FIFA U20s World Cup.

At 18 years old, Vitoria signed with FC Porto as a youth, and had loan stints at Tourizense, Olhanense and Covilha while with the club. In 2010, he signed with fellow Portuguese squad Estoril and helped the team earn promotion into Primeira Liga by winning the second division title during the 2011-12 season. The following year, he scored 11 goals and helped qualify Estoril for Europa League. He then signed with Benfica during that offseason in June 2013.