Carlos Vela helped grow soccer in the U.S. Here are 9 other Latino players who have done the same

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

A legend of Major League Soccer has officially hung his cleats. Carlos Vela, the first designated player signed by Los Angeles Football Club and the top scorer in the club's history, announced his retirement on Tuesday.
During his time with LAFC, the Mexican striker established the club as a prime destination for well-known players from around the world — European stars Gareth Bale, Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris all joined the black and gold. He helped the team win its first trophy by scoring 34 goals during the 2019 season, en route to lifting the Supporters' Shield and setting the MLS single-season record.
Vela's arrival was yet another chapter in the long history of Latino players leaving a mark on MLS. Here are nine other footballers who did the same.
As the newest kid on the soccer block, MLS needed serious playmakers to establish itself as a legitimate league when it first launched in 1996. To do so, it enlisted high-profile players from Latin America. Marco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderrama and Jorge Campos dominated American soccer from 1996 to 2001.
Etcheverry, born in Bolivia, dribbled his way into the history books by helping D.C. United reach the MLS Cup finals four consecutive years, winning three of them, including the inaugural one. Valderrama, who hailed from Colombia, directed the offense of the Tampa Bay Mutiny and was instrumental in the club winning the first ever Supporters' Shield — awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the regular season.
The league's initial success also depended on the personalities on the field. Sports, after all, exist to entertain. Enter Jorge Campos, the very colorful goalkeeper from Mexico. Campos didn't just have swagger; he was also a two-way player. As a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire, Campos would start games as the goalkeeper and finish as a striker. His unique style gave the MLS the coolness it needed to remain relevant.
Carlos 'El Pescadito' Ruiz, who started off his career in his native Guatemala, admitted that he had doubts when he first agreed to transfer to MLS.
'Everything we hear about Major League Soccer is not so good. … We hear that all the players come here to finish their careers,' Ruiz told the New York Times.
It didn't take long for Ruiz to make an impact. He notched 24 goals during the 2002 season — his first in the league — earning the Golden Boot award given to the season's top goal scorer. That same year, Ruiz led the Galaxy to its first MLS Cup.
English soccer legend David Beckham made a splash when he joined the Galaxy in 2007. But he wasn't the only high-profile footballer to make a move to MLS that year. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, one of the most popular players in Mexican soccer history, chose to take his talents to the Chicago Fire, becoming the second-highest-paid MLS player in the process (behind Beckham). Blanco's short MLS stint was productive: He was a two-time MVP finalist, scored the MLS goal of the year in 2007 and took home the MLS All-Star Game MVP honors in 2008.
Also coming into the league in 2007 was Guillermo Barros Schelloto, who joined the Columbus Crew after not getting enough playing time at Argentine club Boca Juniors. Thanks to Schelloto, the Crew, one of the league's founding clubs, won its first MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield in 2008. He was also named the 2008 MVP. In 2011, Schelloto returned to Argentina, though not before cementing his place as one of the most iconic players in Crew history.
These three highlight how important attracting players from Latin America has been for MLS during much of its existence.
Raul Ruidiaz was instrumental in the Seattle Sounders' transformation from expansion team to one of the most formidable clubs in North America. The Peruvian-born player joined the team in 2018 at age 27 and led the team to its second MLS Cup victory in 2019. In 2022, the Sounders became the only MLS club to date to win the CONCACAF Champions League. Ruidiaz contributed two goals in the Sounders' 5-3 aggregate victory against Mexican side UNAM. Ruidiaz left the club at the end of 2024, but not before becoming the Sounders' No. 2 all-time leading scorer in franchise history.
After bouncing around and struggling at clubs in Switzerland and Italy, the Venezuelan-born Josef Martínez found a home at Atlanta United FC, joining the expansion club while on loan from Torino in 2017, during its inaugural season. The following year, Martínez had one of the most prolific individual seasons in MLS history. His 31 goals set an MLS single-season record (broken the following year by Carlos Vela). In addition to winning the Golden Boot, Martínez was named league MVP, All-Star Game MVP and MLS Cup Final MVP (Atlanta United won its only MLS Cup by defeating the Portland Timbers, 2-0).
Martínez was key in turning Atlanta into a soccer city. During the 2018 season, the franchise averaged more than 53,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For context, BMO Stadium (where LAFC plays) and Dignity Health Sports Park (where the Galaxy play), have a seating capacity of 22,000 and 27,000, respectively.
Since its inception, MLS has had a somewhat earned reputation of being a place where players go to retire. But over the last decade, the league has helped change the narrative by exporting young talent to Europe.
Which brings us to Miguel Almirón. The Paraguayan soccer player formed part of Atlanta United's 2018 championship run. In 2019, he was sold to English Premier League club Newcastle United for a reported $27 million. Almirón's transfer paved the way for the likes of Mexican American Ricardo Pepi and Colombian Jhon Durán to follow suit. In 2022, FC Dallas received $20 million for Pepi (he was 18 at the time) from German club Augsburg, and the Chicago Fire received $18 million in transfer fees from EPL club Aston Villa for Duran.