An '00 central midfielder who has also played center back. He was born in Tampa, FL and currently plays for Atlético Nacional U19 and Colombia U17. He is in contention for the U17 World Cup in India. He was provisionally cap-tied to Colombia at the South American U17 World Cup qualifiers, where he started 7 of their 9 matches, wearing the #6. (Via CONMEBOL's website.) owhentheyanks.com/2013/08/17/00-us-eligible-player-starring-in-colombia/ Snip of the cached version of the above article (OWTY's site is currently down): Earlier this year we were alerted about a Florida youth with Colombian roots, who headed down to Atletico Nacional de Medellin, one of the most successful clubs in South America. Andres Perea, a 2000 youth born in Tampa, is starring at center back. He is a leader who has shown great ability in commanding the squad and organizing from the back line. His squad won the Pony Futbol Tournament, a prestigious event in Colombian football that has been the springboard for Colombian stars Falcao and James Rodriguez. Perea was named one of the stars of the tournament. Perea spent a few years in Florida playing with VSI West Florida Premier Academy before making the jump to Nacional. Here's an interview with him. http://capsulas.com.co/a-andres-felipe-perea-lo-espera-la-india/ Snip (translated): -How were your beginnings in football? "I started in soccer from a very young age, thanks to my father who was a soccer player (Nixon Perea), the passion I think comes from the family, starts in Tampa, Florida at about 4 years. I entered a school called Old Mars F.C ,. I always liked to play in the middle of the field, (as well as my older brother at that time was a flyer that also encouraged me a lot). I perform as a central steering wheel or also as a mixed steering wheel. I lived in the United States for 5 years and when we arrived in Colombia to live I entered the National Athletic Club with 6 years of age where my parents accompanied me to develop my talent and continue with this dream that I have longed for, and so far, Economically as well as emotionally." His Transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.com/andres-perea/profil/spieler/491536
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Perea http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=166208/index.html It looks like his father is a youth coach at Atletico Nacional. http://www.atlnacional.com.co/content/nixon-perea
It looks like this kid lived more of his life in Colombia. Not that he couldn't feel more American, but he only spent a few years here and now he's cap-tied to a good team like Colombia, so this might be a tough sell to get him to switch.
http://www.pulzo.com/deportes/convocatoria-seleccion-colombia-para-mundial-sub-17/PP349825 Named to Colombia's final squad for the U17 World Cup, and mentioned in this article as one of their top players. He will face the US in the group stage, so we will get to see him in action.
So the first post of this thread answers my question. Probably not the biggest connection to the USA. Hopefully he does not boss the USA at this tournament, as our CM can be prone to be bossed, and it'll be annoying if an American is the player who eliminates us.
Your attitude sucks! Hopefully he does great! And we both advance, beat them in the final after beating all the other teams with American-eligible players along the way, everyone comes back to us for their U20 cycle, and they all lead us to World Cup victory in 2022! Whoo!!!!
Although his father's experience could serve as a cautionary tale: Nixon played for Colombia at the youth level but never the full NT.
Haven't checked on this guy in a while but according to Soccerway and Wikipedia, he made his full debut for Atlético Nacional in 2017. 2 matches for a total of 33 minutes, and a yellow card. https://uk.soccerway.com/players/andres-felipe-perea-castaneda/475475/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrés_Perea He was also part of their first-team squad for the Florida Cup in early 2018. Obviously he will be with Colombia YNTs for a while longer, but he's worth monitoring given it's tough for anyone to break into the senior national team. @bungadiri He's made his Categoría Primera A debut and should be in the main forum.
Not as tough as it might be if it were any other South American country. If he were, in fact, born in the US, he is likely to be intensely proud of this fact (as would his father) and envied by his peers. Colombians, for the most part, remain much more pro-American than their SA neighbors.
Estos son los 25 jugadores que viajarán a la #PretemporadaVerdolaga en los Estados Unidos 🇺🇸 Daniel Bocanegra y Carlos Cuesta, se quedaron en Medellin en fisioterapia y readaptación de campo. #VamosVerdolaga 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/SePeV2aMZA— Atlético Nacional (@nacionaloficial) July 10, 2018 http://nacionalespasion.com.co/atletico-nacionalcontinua-la-pretemporada-en-orlando-florida-usa/ He was one of four U20 players to be with Atletico Nacional's first team for their 25-man preseason camp in Florida, where he was born. He's described as a "versatile midfielder with excellent technical ability." He's starting out the season with their U20 side, and has one goal so far. @TheFalseNine "Andrés Perea at Atlético Nacional (Colombia)". He should be in the main forum as he's made his debut in Categoria Primera A, which is not a small-time league. Thanks!
The article goes on to say that Almiron, the coach, stated in a recent press conference that he plans to give more first team opportunities to players from their various youth squads.
Coming to Orlando on loan?: RUMORAndrés Perea is rumored to join Orlando City on a one year loan, with the option to buy his contract at the end of the season SWIPE ➡️ https://t.co/szDaAF2RDx— Orlando City News Page (@_thelionden) December 6, 2019 Listo Andrés Perea al Orlando City, préstamo un año con opción de compra— Pilar Velásquez V. (@pilarvelasquezv) December 6, 2019
Official: NEWS: Orlando City Acquires Colombian Midfielder Andrés Perea on Loan. #VamosOrlando— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) December 9, 2019
Transfermarkt doesn't have any 2019/20 stats, but it looks like he played several league matches already: @bungadiri -- Let's promote, por favor.
A quick NT note: Andrés Perea has been added to the #USMNT roster - replaces Frankie Amaya - who tested positive for COVID. Perea, 20, was born in Tampa but has tropes Colombia at both the U-17 & U-20 World Cups. Not sure if he is filing a 1-time switch yet but another promising dual national— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) December 1, 2020
He's in an interesting club situation. Went on loan to as good of or a better club and did fairly well. Now he returns to Nacional. Don't know if the next step here is to play for Nacional, maybe make the loan move permanent, or use his success as a 19-20 yr old to compel a sale to a better league than both. Nacional has a low key impressive sale history, typically to Argentina, Brasil, & Mexico for several million a pop, but occasionally a bigger club in Europe too.
Berhalter was complimentary* in the press conference just now. He particularly noted Perez’s range as being very impressive I really liked what I saw from him when he was on the field for Orlando.
Not every under-the-radar YA who comes to MLS plays their cards right, but it sure seems like this one did.
Just as an FYI, the loan was made permanent. But he is certainly one who wants to use Orlando as a springboard to Europe. He has a great relationship with Oscar Pareja.
Sounds like he also wants to use the US national team as a springboard to Europe too... “I played such a long time with Colombia, there is a deep feeling there, but to play for the U.S. would also be very wonderful, so I have had to take my time to decide. The decision is not long away from being made, it’s actually very close.” What would else would compel him to put a rush on that decision, other than wanting to play in January camp, which he'd have to file a one-time switch for? I guess he could be the exception who doesn't want to leave another national team hanging, but the other explanation is more likely. And it would please me, because I think he'd be right in the mix w/ the likes of Cardoso & Yueill, but a different type of d-mid that I more appreciate, which is the rangy, defensively sound, smooth, dribbling, and playing more simple (but still positive) type. He was 19-20 so he still did really well in MLS for someone of that age. But I do think Orlando suppressed his effectiveness somewhat by playing him further up the field. He's a d-mid & already better than a donk like Jhegson Mendez. Now Perea being on a full transfer & having a year of experience there should make him more of a fixture.
Great interview! Were his answers in English or were they translated from Spanish? If it's the former, his English is damn good for having spent most of his life in the Spanish speaking world; even in Orlando he must speak a lot of Spanish at work.
it was in Spanish. His English is actually okay but he wanted to speak in Spanish for this given the important topics at hand. He wanted to make sure he could give his best answers