FC Dallas announced on Monday that young attacker Jesus Ferreira has officially received US citizenship.
Ferreira, 18, moved to the United States in 2009 when his father, former FC Dallas midfielder David Ferreira, signed for the club. Ferreira was born in Colombia and remains eligible to play for Colombia, but he is now also eligible to play for the US national team on the international front.
“I’m happy,” Ferreira said to FC Dallas' website. “I’m happy that now I can represent a country. For a long time, in my head I was trying to represent Colombia but never go the opportunity to get a call up. But now that I’ve become a US citizen, I’ll get more call ups to the [US] national team and I’m happy because I want to represent a country. I’ve been living here for a while now, so I feel like this is my home.”
Ferreira has been called up to US youth national team camps, but has not been allowed to play in games prior to now as he did not hold American citizenship.
The teenager enjoyed a breakout 2019 season, scoring eight goals and six assists while playing several positions on the field in 33 regular-season games for FC Dallas. FCD open their 2020 MLS regular season on Feb. 29 at home against the Philadelphia Union.
