Diego Barrera (born March 25, 1987) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. Born in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Barrera represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at a youth level.

Career

College and amateur

Barrera was born in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia. His family moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

when he was ten. Later he attended

Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS) is a high school in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. Established in 1962, it is part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It has a suburban campus with one story buildings, connected by external ...

, and played three years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

, 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 The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

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 USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, including the

San Fernando Valley Quakes San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American soccer team based in Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when ...

(twice), Hollywood United Hitmen and

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

(twice). He also made a Walmart TV commercial for the Fifa World Cup year 201
Mom Knows Walmart

Professional

Barrera signed his first professional contract in March 2011, joining

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

club

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histor ...

. 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. After the season at Wilmington, he played professional indoor soccer with the

Syracuse Silver Knights Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

in the MISL, before returning to California. Barrera then joined his home town based team, amateur side

Cal FC Cal Football Club (Cal FC) is an American soccer club based in Thousand Oaks, California. The club was founded in 2006 and competes in the UPSL Premier Division, a fifth-tier United States Adult Soccer Association and Cal South affiliated league ...

in the

USASA The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for amateur soccer in the United States. It consists of 54 state associations in four regions, as well as national, regional, and state leagues. It compares to the Uni ...

-affiliated La Gran Liga de Oxnard based in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. 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 Los Angeles Force is an American professional soccer club based in Long Beach, California that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). History On August 2, 2019, the National Independent Soccer Association announced the add ...

. 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.

Honors

Club

;Stallion * UFL Division 1:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

LMU profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrera, Diego 1987 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Footballers from Bogotá Colombian emigrants to the United States Colombian expatriate men's footballers American men's soccer players New Mexico Lobos men's soccer players Hollywood United Hitmen players San Fernando Valley Quakes players Syracuse Silver Knights players Ventura County Fusion players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Cal FC players USL League Two players USL Championship players United States men's youth international soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Philippines American sportspeople of Colombian descent Kaya F.C.–Iloilo players Stallion Laguna F.C. players Team Socceroo F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Thousand Oaks, California Soccer players from Ventura County, California Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Diego Barrera Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–2014) players