Phoenix Rising FC has resigned defender Alejandro Fuenmayor, pending league and federation approval, the club announced Thursday.

The Rising in November captured the USL Championship with a 3-2 victory in a penalty shootout against the Charleston Battery after the sides had played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and extra time.

“Ale was a fundamental piece of our success last season,” Phoenix Rising FC Head Coach Juan Guerra shared in a press release. “We’re grateful to have him back. It’s important to create a continuous idea, vision, and culture on and off the field within the organization. I cannot wait to get started working with him again in 2024.”

Fuenmayor joined the Rising on Dec. 22, 2022, and was the USL Champion’s most dependable defender, logging 2,534 minutes on the back line in league play. The defender started and played every minute (450) across all four matches during Rising’s playoff run, helping the team concede just three goals in the final 330 minutes of the postseason.

“Phoenix is a great team,” Fuenmayor stated. “It is a great organization. We finished as champions. It started as a team full of new players and little by little we got better.”

Fuenmayor, 27, spent the first five seasons of his career with Carabobo FC in the Venezuelan first division. Making his first start as a 17-year-old in 2013, he appeared 75 times and scored two goals for his hometown team before joining MLS side Houston Dynamo in 2018.

The Rising is the highest-level professional soccer franchise in Arizona history. Established in 2016, the club won the 2023 USL Championship as well as the 2023, 2020 and 2018 Western Conference titles.

The new season starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9 against Birmingham Legion FC at Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium, 3801 E. Washington St.

Visit PHXRisingFC.com or call 623-594-9606 for season tickets.