Now that his older brother Joel has moved to Stuttgart, I figured it was time for Alan to have his own thread. He's a '98 and the son of Diego Sonora, an Argentine who played with Boca Juniors, Dallas Burn, MetroStars and DC United. From Marca: In addition to Joel, Diego’s youngest son, Alan, is also a footballer and Boca youth team player. Alan’s role is that of playmaker and he already shows a lot of promise. "Alan has very high expectations. We’re waiting to see if the U.S. will call him, but I’m convinced that if they do Alan would go now," stressed Soñora. http://www.marca.com/futbol/estados-unidos/2016/01/27/56a8f1e822601df8568b4593.html
OWTY has learned that Joel’s younger brother Alan Sonora (’98), would be open to a call into US youth squads. It is reported early in 2013, when Joel accepted the US call, that younger brother Alan was unsure of donning the red, white and blue. Alan told OWTY over email that if the US U17 coach Richie Williams were to call him into a camp that he would accept. This could be quite the coup for Williams who already has a solid relationship with the Sonoras. Alan, like older brother Joel, wears the #10 for the Boca Juniors U17 squad. Alan is a tremendously creative player for his side and enjoys dictating the pace of the game. http://owhentheyanks.com/2014/08/11/boca-juniors-american-10s/
From O When The Yanks, last month: OWTY has spoken with Alan a number of times who maintains his willingness to accept a call in to the US program if invited. Accounts of Alan’s play with Boca Youth have been difficult to obtain but sources have told OWTY Alan is as polished as brother Joel was at the same point in his development. Surely one to monitor. http://owhentheyanks.com/2016/01/15/who-you-gonna-call/
The Boca Juniors website lists Alan as belonging to their youth team labeled as "6th division", which appears to be at least three levels below the first team (I believe there's also a reserve team in there too): http://www.bocajuniors.com.ar/futbol/noticias-futbol-6ta His father Diego is part of the team's staff as the Coordinador adjunto and appears in the team photo.
Unless I'm mistaken (quite likely) he just trained with the first team: 704350988711415808 is not a valid tweet id Twitter translator: That beautiful experience training with the first!
I tweeted him and asked if he would like to play for the US, and his response was "if the US calls me I would have no problem going"
Appears to be the number 10 for his age group at Boca: 707745041301839872 is not a valid tweet id 668493962878021632 is not a valid tweet id
#Quinta Vs #Acassuso: Herrera, Coria,Grandis,Vilan, @NicoCapaldo ,Osinaga, Mergen, Pérez, Bonet, Soñora, Marin pic.twitter.com/o3oCsprRgP— BOCA PASIÓN TOTAL 🎖74- Boca Juniors (@BocaPasionTotal) April 30, 2016
A blog article (in Spanish) on Alan: "Siguiendo sus pasos" Alan Soñora Not too much to it but here are the main points: born on August 3, 1998 in New York; father was a Boca player and gives him good advice; dream is to play for the Boca 1st team one day but would consider offers from abroad; idols are Iniesta and Riquelme.
A little dated (and weak on info) but just to juice the thread a bit... On the 6th of August, Alan played (subbed in) in the "Sábado Superclásico" tournament pitting all the academy sides of Boca Juniors against River. His team, in the 5th Division (U18), lost 0-1. This seems to be the same division he played in last year but I really don't know when the Juveniles start their new season. Overall, Boca's academy sides won two, tied one, and lost three. Might that be him s http://www.bocajuniors.com.ar/futbol/river-superc-inf
Started for the 5th Division side (U18) in their 2-0 defeat of Arsenal de Sarandí on 24 Aug. This defeat places them second in their table. Tomorrow they play at Atlético Rafaela.
I haven't seen him on a squad list since 10 September when he was subbed in in a loss to Vélez. Has anyone heard anything?
Update. On the bench for a 0 - 2 win over Argentinos. I haven't seen him start since 24 Aug. One would hope his Dad Chiche, the club's youth director, is telling him what he needs to do to succeed.
Alan's Juvenile Fifth Division side won the championship earlier this month without much serious opposition. Alan spent most of the season on the bench. Take from that what you will but his side seems particularly hard to break into (they have a kid named Kevin Mergen that I wish was a yank - top, top prospect) and credit his Dad for not pressuring the coach to play him more if he hasn't earned it. Alan still has a year to make good at the youth level before decision time.
Some news from Argentina. @alansonora now playing in Boca Junior's 'Cuarta'. Was on the 'Quinta' last fall. Still hoping for USYNT call.— Arch Bell (@ArchBell) January 6, 2017
4th, 5th and 6th are considered "youth", 7th, 8th and 9th something like "kids." All he did was age out of Quinta. There is a fourth division in Argentina but it is totally different and more of an amateur or semi-pro adult division.
So I guess this is equivalent to his being on a club's U19s/A-Jugend/top academy team/etc. Seems perfectly appropriate for a guy his age, but he's going to age out of this soon and we'll need to see where it leads.