Armada FC Public Relations | March 10, 2016



JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the beginning of the North American Soccer League regular season just over a month away, the 2016 Jacksonville Armada FC roster continued to grow on Wednesday with the signing of Cameroonian International forward Charles Eloundou.

Eloundou, who hails from Yaoundé, Cameroon, had been on trial with the Armada FC since the beginning of February and leads the team with three goals during the preseason.

“We are happy to add Charles to our roster,” said Tony Meola, Armada FC head coach and technical director. “After watching Charles in our training environment and games over the last few weeks, it became obvious to myself and my technical staff that we were adding a player that gives us a different look in our attack. We are looking forward to seeing Charles grow both on and off the field over the next couple of years in an Armada FC uniform."

Eloundou, 21, came to Jacksonville following a two-year stint with Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, where he made 22 total appearances, seven starts and recorded three assists. He also had brief loan spells with United Soccer League sides Charlotte Independence (three appearances) and the Colorado Springs Switchbacks (four appearances) in 2015.

Prior to his acquisition by the Rapids in 2013 via a MLS special lottery, Eloundou was considered one of the top young players in Africa, where he began his professional career with Cameroonian side AS Fortuna in 2010. He also played for other Cameroonian clubs Unisport, where he scored nine goals in 20 games in 2012, and for Coton Sport in 2013, considered one of the top clubs in the country.

In 2012, Eloundou made four appearances with the Cameroonian National Team in the Nehru Cup in India. He received the senior team call up after a standout performance with the U-20 team during African Nations Cup qualifying that same year, scoring eight goals in seven matches. Eloundou originally made his debut with the Cameroonian U-17 National Team in 2009 at just 14-years-old and played regularly with the team until 2011.

Eloundou joins Mechack Jerômé (Haiti), Alhassane Keita (Guinea), Pekka Lagerblom (Finland), Pascal Millien (Haiti) and Shawn Nicklaw (Guam) as Armada players with national team experience.

The club also announced the release of midfielder Nico Zaldana. Zaldana made his lone regular season appearance in Jacksonville’s 3-0 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to Richmond last May and missed the rest of the season after sustaining a leg injury in training.

The Armada will return to action at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday when it takes on local NCAA Division I team Jacksonville University at Southern Oak Stadium on the JU campus.