Jan. 18, 2008 – Revolution select Rob Valentino with No. 13 pick in MLS SuperDraft

Jan. 18, 2008 – Revolution select Rob Valentino with No. 13 pick, Michael Videira in second round (18^th overall) in MLS SuperDraft

Valentino went on to make three starts at right back the Revolution’s run to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, then was sent to Colorado in 2009. Valentino, 6-foot-3, was projected as a central defender, but ended up mostly filling in at outside back with the Revolution.Valentino found success with Orlando, playing for coach Adrian Heath, captaining the team and being named USL defender of the year in 2011. Valentino was not involved in the team’s plans when it joined MLS in 2015, but the next year he became an assistant coach for Orlando City B in the USL.

Just after Valentino had been drafted, I interviewed him in Phoenix, where his family had moved while he was a teenager (I was actually on assignment for The Boston Globe’s coverage of the Super Bowl, but somehow found a couple spare hours to enterprise a Revolution-related story). Valentino seemed motivated and had a good tactical sense of the game, so it was not surprising he became involved in coaching, like many other former Revolution players.

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