American-born soccer talent needs to feel at home

It sounds strange, but the United States national team just found a new player in Mexico.

Jose Francisco Torres of Longview is one of the few American-born soccer players plying his trade in Mexico.

Torres sent a significant message to the Mexican community by deciding to pursue an international career with the red, white and blue.

Torres was named to the United States national team’s roster for the Oct. 11 World Cup qualifier against Cuba in Washington, D.C.

With a Mexican-born father, Torres was eligible to play for either nation.

However, after refusing to pick sides during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Torres finally cast his lot with the U.S.

"I was born in the U.S. and I’ve lived in Mexico for five years now," Torres said. "My career, I made it in Mexico. It was a hard decision, but I talked it over with my family and they said whatever decision I made, they’d have my back."

The ability for U.S. Soccer to land Torres’ services is one of the most significant developments in recent soccer history.

See, the American system failed Torres initially as the ineffective and politicized Olympic Development Program never identified him when he was kicking around in Longview.

Club soccer in North Texas remains far too influenced by professional coaches looking to pad their incomes rather than develop talent.

The select system has become so diluted that essentially anyone who can afford to pay will get to play.

Frustrated by the politics, Torres dropped out of school after his sophomore season and moved to Mexico to turn pro.

It’s worked out well for the 20-year-old, who’s playing on one of top clubs in the Western Hemisphere at Pachuca.

Despite the early rejection, it’s refreshing to see Torres embrace his homeland.

One thing that has stunted Major League Soccer’s growth in the United States has been the immigrant community’s reluctance to embrace the league.

Instead, much of the local Mexican population remains loyally tied to clubs such as Chivas-Guadalajara or Club America.

However, as prominent players such as Torres and San Luis defender Michael Orozco say they’d rather play for the United States, then perhaps some of the Mexican-American fans will begin embracing the sport in the U.S.

The next key step is for U.S. soccer to make deeper in-roads into the American Hispanic communities so that players such as Torres don’t feel like they have to leave home in order to be discovered.