Diego Barrera

{{Short description|Colombian-born American soccer player (born 1987)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Diego Barrera

| image = LA force photo.jpg

| fullname = Diego Alejandro Barrera

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|3|25}}

| birth_place = Bogotá, Colombia

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=8}}

| position = Midfielder / Forward

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| collegeyears1 = 2004–2006

| college1 = Loyola Marymount Lions

| collegeyears2 = 2007

| college2 = New Mexico Lobos

| years1 = 2006

| clubs1 = San Fernando Valley Quakes

| caps1 = 4

| goals1 = 1

| years2 = 2007

| clubs2 = Ventura County Fusion

| caps2 = 8

| goals2 = 0

| years3 = 2008

| clubs3 = San Fernando Valley Quakes

| caps3 = 13

| goals3 = 4

| years4 = 2009–2010

| clubs4 = Hollywood United Hitmen

| caps4 = 11

| goals4 = 1

| years5 = 2010

| clubs5 = Ventura County Fusion

| caps5 = 2

| goals5 = 1

| years6 = 2011

| clubs6 = Wilmington Hammerheads

| caps6 = 12

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2011–2012

| clubs7 = Syracuse Silver Knights (indoor)

| caps7 = 13

| goals7 = 3

| years8 = 2012

| clubs8 = Cal FC

| caps8 =

| goals8 =

| years9 = 2013

| clubs9 = Stallion Sta. Lucia F.C.

| caps9 = 9

| goals9 = 1

| years10 = 2014

| clubs10 = Team Socceroo

| caps10 = 13

| goals10 = 7

| years11 = 2015–2016

| clubs11 = Kaya FC

| caps11 = 12

| goals11 = 8

| years12 = 2016–2017

| clubs12 = Kasem Bundit University FC

| caps12 = 46

| goals12 = 28

| years13 = 2018

| clubs13 = Phitsanulok F.C.

| caps13 = 9

| goals13 = 6

| years14 = 2019

| clubs14 = Pathumthani University F.C.

| caps14 = 22

| goals14 = 14

| years15 = 2021– 2022

| clubs15 = Los Angeles Force

| caps15 = 18

| goals15 = 9

| nationalyears1 = 2005

| nationalteam1 = United States U18

| nationalcaps1 =

| nationalgoals1 =

| medaltemplates =

| pcupdate = 16 September 2021—2022

| ntupdate =

}}

Diego Barrera (born March 25, 1987) is a Colombian-born American soccer player.

Career

=College and amateur=

Barrera was born in Bogotá, Colombia. His family moved to California when he was ten. Later 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{{cite web |url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2008/roster/4069052.html |title=United Soccer Leagues (USL) |accessdate=2010-04-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106075606/http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2008/roster/4069052.html |archivedate=January 6, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} (twice), Hollywood United Hitmen{{cite web |url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2009/4069052.html#STATS |title= United Soccer Leagues (USL)|website=www.uslsoccer.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610173553/http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2009/4069052.html |archive-date=June 10, 2011}} and Ventura County Fusion{{cite web |url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2007/roster/6188518.html |title=United Soccer Leagues (USL) |accessdate=2011-01-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517160109/http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2007/roster/6188518.html |archivedate=May 17, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} (twice). He also made a Walmart TV commercial for the Fifa World Cup year 2010 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CQr6NcpObg Mom Knows Walmart]

=Professional=

Barrera signed his first professional contract in March 2011, joining USL Pro club Wilmington Hammerheads.{{cite web |url=http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/511205.html |title=United Soccer Leagues (USL) |accessdate=2011-03-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928141913/http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/511205.html |archivedate=September 28, 2011 |df=mdy-all }} 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.[https://archive.today/20120718143008/http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::72013+Elements/Display+E+47107+Stats/+2175627]

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.{{Cite web|url=www.lagranliga.com/resultados.html|title=RESULTADOS DE LA COPA RUBY'S CAFE 2011|website=LaGranLiga.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713183758/http://www.lagranliga.com/resultados.html |archive-date=13 July 2011 |url-status=usurped}}

Year 2013 he signed his first contract in the Philippines with the first division team STALLION FC and won the United Football League Division One Championship. He then transferred to team Soccoroo for the second quarter of 2014 and was 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 signed a 4-year contract to play in Bangkok, Thailand and he made a huge contribution that awarded him as the 2016 BEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR. In the year 2016, he was also the Top Goalscorer with 17 goals and 14 assists in 22 games played as a consistent starting lineup player.

In January 2021, Barrera moved back to the United States of America and signed into the California club Los Angeles Force.{{cite tweet|number=1365013222986641412|user=LosAngelesForce|title=⚡️ 2021 Roster Alert ⚡️The Force welcomes Diego Barrera! 📈⚽️#WeAreTheForce #NISA #USOpenCup2021 |date=February 25, 2021}} He scored two goals, and one assist in 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 business.

Personal

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

Diego's younger brother, Danny Barrera, is also a professional soccer player.{{Cite news |last=Paterson |first=Bill |date=July 2, 2016 |title=Republic FC players set aside day jobs to play under lights |url=http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article87428777.html |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |location=Sacramento, California |accessdate=December 1, 2020}}

Honors

=Club=

;Stallion

UFL Division 1: 2013

References

External links

[http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/barrera_diego00.html LMU profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609181551/http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/barrera_diego00.html |date=June 9, 2016 }}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110807022230/http://www.golobos.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/barrera_diego00.html New Mexico profile]
{{Soccerway|diego-barrera/133109}}

Category:1987 births

Category:Living people

Category:Colombian men's footballers

Category:Footballers from Bogotá

Category:Colombian emigrants to the United States

Category:Colombian expatriate men's footballers

Category:American men's soccer players

Category:New Mexico Lobos men's soccer players

Category:Hollywood United Hitmen players

Category:San Fernando Valley Quakes players

Category:Syracuse Silver Knights players

Category:Ventura County Fusion players