Diego Fagúndez

Diego Fagúndez

Fagúndez poses with a fan
Personal information
Full name	Diego Santiago Fagúndez Pepe
Date of birth	February 14, 1995
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder, forward
Club information
Current team	New England Revolution
Number	14
Youth career
2000–2007	Leominster Youth Soccer
2007–2009	Greater Boston Bolts
2009–2010	New England Revolution
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2011–	New England Revolution	122	(29)
National team^‡
2012–2015	Uruguay U20	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 30, 2016. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of January 16, 2015

Diego Santiago Fagúndez Pepe (born February 14, 1995) is a Uruguayan footballer who currently plays for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.

Career

Youth

Fagúndez was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and moved with his family to Leominster, Massachusetts when he was five years old. Diego began his football career with local team Leominster Youth. He continued to play with his town team through 13 years of age.

He then went on to play for FC United (Massachusetts) and FC Greater Boston Bolts, before joining the New England Revolution academy team in 2009. He was a State Cup finalist with FC United 2005 and winner in 2006. He won the State Cup with FC Greater Boston Bolts in 2008 and 2009. He also played for the Massachusetts Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2006 to 2009, as captain from 2008 to 2009. He was named a 2007–2008 Adidas Interregional All-Star as a member of the Region I ODP team. In his debut season he led the Revs' U-16 squad to a 14–7–8 record (50 pts), placing first in the Northeast Division of the US Soccer Development Academy. He scored 20 goals in 30 appearances, tying with Felix Debona for the team lead in goals.

On March 10, 2011, Top Drawer Soccer named Fagúndez their number one ranked player nationally in the class of 2013.^[1]

Professional

On November 15, 2010, Fagúndez was signed to a contract by the New England Revolution,^[2] making him the first ever homegrown player the Revolution signed from its youth academy. Although on the main club roster, he continued to train with and play for the academy team.

He made his full professional debut on April 26, 2011, in a Revs' 3–2 victory over D.C. United in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.^[3][4] He made his league debut on August 6, 2011, as a substitute against Chivas USA, where he drew a penalty (which was converted by Shalrie Joseph) and scored his first goal for New England.

For the first time in his career, Fagundez became a regular starter for the New England Revolution in 2013, and he delivered fantastic results as a regular in the first team. Fagundez quickly became one of MLS's great young talents, and won player of the week honors in week 14 of the 2013 MLS season. Fagundez obtained a US green card in October 2013 qualifying him as a domestic player under MLS squad rules.^[5] During the 2015 season, Fagúndez became the youngest player in MLS history to reach 100 caps.

International

Fagúndez made his debut for Uruguay U20 team October 2012.^[6] He played two games for Uruguay U20 against Peru in that month. In the first he entered as a substitute in the 83rd minute; in the second fixture he was brought on in the 45th minute.^[7]

In April 2013, he stated that he would be willing to represent either Uruguay or the United States at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.^[8] in Gaziantep, Turkey. However he was not called up by Uruguay and was not eligible for represent U.S. at the time due to not having citizenship.

In August 2014, he was called up again for the Uruguay U20 national team and played in two games against Peru, a 1-0 win victory^[9] and a 1-1 draw.^[10]

In January 2015, Fagúndez was called up for the 2015 South American Youth Championship. He played in Uruguay's 1-0 victory over Colombia.^[11]

Personal

Diego's father, Washington Fagúndez, was a professional footballer in Uruguay who played as a goalkeeper with Central Español in the 1990s. Diego is the godson of former Uruguayan international footballer and 1995 Copa América winner Diego Dorta, after whom he is named.^[12]

Fagúndez received his U.S. green card in October 2013, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.^[13]

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

1. "National Top 100 Boys". Top Drawer Soccer.
2. "Revs sign 15-year-old Diego Fagúndez". New England Revolution.
3. USOC: New England hold on to tip DC United 3–2
4. Revs' Fagúndez beaming over professional debut
5. O'Connell, Brian (October 23). "Fagundez relishes acquiring green card". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Con caras nuevas" (in Spanish). futbol.com.uy. October 9, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
7. "Amistosos Sub 20". llamaceleste.com. October 15. Retrieved August 5, 2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Rojas, John E. (April 23, 2013). "MLS: Fagúndez a la espera del sueño Turquía" (in Spanish). goal.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
9. "Selección Peruana Sub 20 ganó 1-0 Uruguay en partido amistoso" (in Spanish). depor.pe. August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
10. "Sub 20 igualó 1-1 con Uruguay en amistoso y sigue invicta [VIDEO]" (in Spanish). elbocon.pe. August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
11. "URUGUAY 1 0 COLOMBIA". estadisticas.conmebol.com. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
12. Koczara, Kevin (February 23, 2014). "The phenomenal life of Diego Fagundez". Boston Globe. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
13. http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/2013/10/diego-fagundez-gains-us-permanent-resident-status

External links

• MLS player profile
• Revolution player profile
• Soccer phenom opts to learn from the pros at Boston Globe
• Profile at WorldFootball
• US Soccer Development Academy