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Meet the rest of the new Orange County Blues players

Eight more players added to the roster who made their debuts on Saturday.

By Jake Schwartz
Pluntke in action for a Gladbach youth team.
Pluntke in action for a Gladbach youth team.
Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

Those who watched the Orange County Blues' season opener on Saturday may have noticed a number of new faces. In fact, eight players who were previously unannounced made their debuts for the club. We give you a quick rundown of the previously-unknown Blues added to the roster for 2016:

Akwafei Ajeakwa F Last club: Biggleswade United; Nationality: United States

  • Ajeakwa is from Gardena, California, and played collegiately at Chico State. In 2015, he played for Biggleswade United, an English team deep in that country's football pyramid.

Daniel Baccielo F Last club: AC Connecticut; Nationality: United States

  • A highly decorated scorer at Post University, Baccielo played in the PDL for AC Connecticut last season

Mats Bjurman M Last club: OC Blues U23; Nationality: United States

  • Bjurman is no stranger to Orange County, growing up in Irvine and playing at UCI. He played for the Blues' PDL squad last season after his college career.

Gevorg Karapetyan M Last club: Alashkert FC; Nationality: Armenia

  • The 25-year-old Armenian Premier League veteran joins the Blues from Alashkert, where he played in Europa League qualifiers this season for the club.

Roy Meeus M Last club: KFC Dessel Sport; Nationality: Belgium

  • A Belgian attacking midfielder, Meeus has been playing in his domestic leagues since 2006, including a stint with first division side Club Brugge.

Maurice Pluntke M Last club: Fortuna Dusseldorf; Nationality: Germany

  • A young player from Germany, Pluntke was in the Borussia Monchengladbach academy before playing in the lower divisions of the Bundesliga system for Fortuna Dusseldorf's second team.

Steve Purdy D Last club: Chivas USA; Nationality: United States/El Salvador

  • A familiar face to readers of The Goat Parade, the veteran Purdy is back playing professionally after a two-year hiatus. Purdy previously played for FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, and Chivas USA, and has 17 caps for the El Salvador National Team.

Dusan Stevanovic M Last club: BASK; Nationality: Serbia

  • Little can be found on Stevanovic, at least in English. The 23-year-old midfielder has previously played professionally in his native Serbia.
All eight of these players featured for the Blues on Saturday, so expect to see regular minutes from some, maybe even all of them, as the season wears on. We'll be sure to keep an eye on the players featuring for the club moving forward this season.

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