Bethlehem Steel FC Acquires Defender Walter Cortes

Steel FC acquires Costa-Rican-international Walter Cortes via loan from Deportivo Saprissa

CHESTER, Pa. (February 28, 2019) – Bethlehem Steel FC announced today that the club has acquired defender Walter Cortes (pronunciation: WALL-ter cor-TES) via loan. A 19-year-old defender from San Jose, Costa Rica, Cortes becomes the 11th player on Steel FC’s 2019 roster. The deal is pending league and federation approval. Cortes will be added to the Steel’s active roster following receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and P1 Visa.

“We are very excited to have Walter joining Steel this year,” said Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner. “He is a skilled, intelligent player that brings passion and discipline to Steel’s young squad with great potential to develop further with us.”

Cortes joins Steel FC from Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica’s top-flight Liga FPD. Cortes featured heavily for Saprissa’s youth squad. Deportivo Saprissa has won Liga FPD a record 34 times, including most recently winning the Costa Rican Apertura championship in 2018.

“Walter has impressed so far in preseason, with dogged determination on the defensive side of the ball and good technical ability and passing range on the offensive side of the ball,” said Steel FC Head Coach Brendan Burke. “We are excited for him to challenge the core of first-team left backs in the coming months.”

On the international stage, Cortes featured for Costa Rica’s Under-20 National Team during the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, scoring one goal in two starts and recording clean sheets in both of his appearances during the competition. Cortes started in Costa Rica’s matches against Bermuda (November 1) and Barbados (November 4), scoring in the match against Bermuda and helping the Costa Rican’s win both matches by scores of 5-0 ad 2-0 respectively. The defender’s efforts helped Panama’s U-20s go undefeated in the competition, before falling to the United States U-20 National Team on November 17.

TRANSACTION: Bethlehem Steel FC acquires defender Walter Cortes via loan on February 28, 2019.

Name: Walter Cortes

Kit Number: 47

Position: Defender

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 156 lb.

Born: February 5, 2000

Hometown: San Jose, Costa Rica

Citizenship: Costa Rica

Acquired: Bethlehem Steel FC acquires defender Walter Cortes via loan on February 28, 2019