Alec Díaz (born December 7, 2001) is a Puerto Rican

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who currently plays for MLS Next Pro club

Colorado Rapids 2 Colorado Rapids 2 is a professional soccer club based in Denver, Colorado area that competes in the MLS Next Pro league, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Socce ...

and the Puerto Rico national team.

Early life

Díaz began playing soccer at age three or four. He played youth soccer with Pacific Northwest SC(PacNW). He also played at the state level for Washington. In 2015, he joined the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

Academy via the Sounders Discovery Program. At the U16 level, he helped them win the Youdan Trophy in 2016 defeating

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

. In 2018, he won the USSDA National Championship with the U17 Sounders, scoring 36 goals in 38 matches across all competitions and also scored the winning goal to win the Generation Adidas Cup over the New York Red Bulls Academy.

Club career

In 2018, he signed a USL Academy contract with

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington (state), Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the Unit ...

(later renamed to Tacoma Defiance). He made his

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

debut on September 5, 2018, appearing as a 59th-minute substitute in a 4–4 draw against the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

. He scored his first professional goal on October 10 against the

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

. Díaz signed a professional contract with Seattle Sounders FC 2 ahead of their 2019 season. In his first full professional season, he scored one goal in 16 appearances. In 2020, he ranked in the top 10 in the league in combined goals and assists per 90 minutes, the only teenager in the top 10. In March 2022, he joined

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

of MLS Next Pro. On September 15, 2023, he scored a brace with two goals in two minutes against

New York City FC II New York City FC II is an American professional soccer team based in New York City. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of New York City FC, and plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. His ...

. In March 2024, he signed with

for the 2024 season. He made his debut on March 17, recording his first assist for the club in a match against St. Louis City 2. He scored his first goal on March 21 in a 2024 U.S. Open Cup match in a 3–0 victory over Azteca FC.

International career

In January 2019, Díaz was called up to a training camp for the United States U18. In September 2019, Díaz was called up to the Puerto Rico national team ahead of a friendly match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

and CONCACAF Nations League match against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. He made his debut against Honduras on September 5, 2019. In February 2020, he was called up for the Puerto Rico U-20 national team for the first round of the

2020 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying The 2020 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying stage took place between 15–23 February 2020. The teams competed for four of the 20 berths in the 2020 CONCACAF U-20 Championship final tournament. Teams The qualifying format changed from the 2016 ...

tournament. He appeared in all three matches, including scoring two goals against the Cayman Islands U20.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Alec 2001 births Living people Puerto Rican men's footballers Puerto Rico men's international footballers American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards People from Issaquah, Washington Tacoma Defiance players Soccer players from King County, Washington USL Championship players Puerto Rico men's youth international footballers Toronto FC II players MLS Next Pro players Colorado Rapids 2 players