FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas forward and 2019 top scorer Jesús Ferreira has committed to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team, the U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed today.
“I had a long conversation with my family, asking what they thought I should do,” Ferreira told ussoccer.com. “We all came to a conclusion that the U.S. has been following me for a while, they’ve seen me, this is where I’ve been playing for a lot of my years. That led towards my final decision to play for the U.S., that they always had me in their thoughts, even when unfortunately, I couldn’t play.”
Born in Colombia, Ferreira moved to Texas with his family in 2009 when his father, David, signed with FC Dallas on loan. After joining the FC Dallas Academy, Ferreira quickly became a standout player and caught the attention of the USMNT and was invited to participate in various youth camps. However, since he wasn’t yet a U.S. citizen, Ferreira couldn’t represent the nation in actual games.
However, in December of last year, Ferreira earned his citizenship and became eligible to play for the U.S. Just weeks later, the Homegrown forward was invited to the senior USMNT’s winter camp for the first time. Having never been called up by his native Colombia, Ferreira felt this was an opportunity to make a decision.
“At the beginning of the camp I said to myself that I was going to see what this was like, and if I liked it, I was going to stick to the decision at the end,” he said.
Following Ferreira’s decision (and a successful FIFA waiver process), USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed that the 19-year-old will start against Costa Rica on Saturday, Feb. 1. While the past 12 months have been full of accolades and accomplishments for the teenager, making his long-awaited international debut may be the sweetest of them all.
“It’s been a long time where I’ve been hoping to play for the U.S.," Ferreira said. “Seeing my friends get called up and me wanting to get called up, then me being able to be called up but not being able to play. That was sad, but all those emotions turn into happiness. I have my decision made, and I’m here getting called to the U.S. Men’s National Team.”
