Diego Barrera (born March 25, 1987) is a soccer player. Born in Colombia, he represented the United States at youth level.

Diego Barrera
Personal information
Full name Diego Alejandro Barrera
Date of birth (1987-03-25) March 25, 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Bogotá, Colombia
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Midfielder / Forward
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Loyola Marymount Lions
2007 New Mexico Lobos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 San Fernando Valley Quakes 4 (1)
2007 Ventura County Fusion 8 (0)
2008 San Fernando Valley Quakes 13 (4)
2009–2010 Hollywood United Hitmen 11 (1)
2010 Ventura County Fusion 2 (1)
2011 Wilmington Hammerheads 12 (0)
2011–2012 Syracuse Silver Knights (indoor) 13 (3)
2012 Cal FC
2013 Stallion Sta. Lucia F.C. 9 (1)
2014 Team Socceroo 13 (7)
2015–2016 Kaya FC 12 (8)
2016–2017 Kasem Bundit University FC 22 (18)
2018 Phitsanulok F.C. 9 (6)
2019 Pathumthani University F.C. 18 (14)
2021– Los Angeles Force 14 (9)
International career
2005 United States U18
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 September 2021

Career

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College and amateur

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Barrera is a professional American football player from California. He attended Thousand Oaks High School, and played three years of college soccer at Loyola Marymount University, where he was named to the College Soccer News All-Freshman Third Team, the All-WCC second team and the WCC All-Freshman Team in his debut year in 2004. He transferred to the University of New Mexico prior to his senior year in 2007.

During his college career and beyond, Barrera played extensively with numerous Southern California teams in the USL Premier Development League, including the San Fernando Valley Quakes[1] (twice), Hollywood United Hitmen[2] and Ventura County Fusion[3] (twice). He also made a Walmart TV commercial for the Fifa World Cup year 2010 Mom Knows Walmart

Professional

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Barrera signed his first professional contract in March 2011, joining USL Pro club Wilmington Hammerheads.[4] He made his professional debut on May 14, 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 win over F.C. New York.[5]

After the season at Wilmington, he played professional indoor soccer with the Syracuse Silver Knights in the MISL, before returning to California. Barrera then joined his home town based team, amateur side Cal FC in the USASA-affiliated La Gran Liga de Oxnard based in Oxnard, California.[6]

Year 2013 he signed his first contract in the Philippines with the first division team STALLION FC and have won the United Football League Division One Championship. He then transferred to team Soccoroo for the second quarter of 2014 and loaned by KAYA FC for the UFL CUP 2014. In year 2015 KAYA FC signed him and made a big contribution. KAYA FC won their first championship in CUP 2015.

In the following year, 2016 he moved to Bangkok, Thailand and he made a huge contribution that awarded him as the 2016 BEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Year 2016, he was also the Top Goalscorer with 17 goals and 14 assists in 22 games played as consistent starting line up player.

In January 2021, Barrera moved back to United States of America and signed in California club Los Angeles Force.[7] He scored two goals, one assist on the first game and became the captain of the club. Barrera became the top player and made the first team of all seasons. He retired in June 2023 and started his own soccer academy training school.

Personal

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Diego Barrera is married to Eva Barrera (m.2014).

Diego's younger brother, Danny Barrera, is also a professional soccer player.[8]

Honors

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Club

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Stallion

References

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  1. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  2. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". www.uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011.
  3. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  4. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  5. ^ http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::72013+Elements/Display+E+47107+Stats/+2175627[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "LaGranLiga.com is available at DomainMarket.com". LaGranLiga.com is available at DomainMarket.com.
  7. ^ @LosAngelesForce (February 25, 2021). "⚡️ 2021 Roster Alert ⚡️The Force welcomes Diego Barrera! 📈⚽️#WeAreTheForce #NISA #USOpenCup2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Paterson, Bill (July 2, 2016). "Republic FC players set aside day jobs to play under lights". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
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