José Alegría

José Alegría (born 5 October 1980) is a Peruvian former footballer.

José Alegría

Personal information
Date of birth	(1980-10-05) October 5, 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Alianza Lima
	Washington Diplomats
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	D.C. United	38	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He holds the MLS record for fastest red card in league history, earning one in 18 seconds during a match on 13 June 2001.^[1]

Career

Born in Lima, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and grew up in Springfield, Virginia.^[2][3]

He was initially signed by D.C. United directly out of high school in 1998.^[4] However, after participating in their spring training, he was forced to return to Peru in order to obtain a work visa.^[3] The process was delayed because he overstayed his initial tourist visa limit and he missed both the 1999 and 2000 seasons as a result.^[5] While waiting in Peru, Alegría trained with Alianza Lima, the country's most successful team,^[5] and played in the second division.^[3]

He joined D.C. United in October 2001 and made 38 league appearances across three seasons with the team, registering one goal and three assists before he was waived in early 2004.^[2]