Antonio de la Torre García (born November 18, 1977,) is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender, who recently played for the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. De la Torre holds dual citizenship in Mexico and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Before joining MLS, de la Torre played most of his career in Mexico's Primera A, the second division. He played for

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, two ...

in the Primera Division. He joined MLS for the 2004 season, signing with the Colorado Rapids, and immediately impressed with his offensive abilities. Unlike most American defenders, de la Torre was a danger going forward from his right back position, and finished the season with five assists in 28 starts. However, near the end of the season, coach Tim Hankinson grew tired of de la Torre's defensive failures, and benched him for the playoffs. Following the end of the season, de la Torre was exposed for the

2004 MLS Expansion Draft The 2004 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 19, 2004 and consisted of 10 rounds. The two new teams, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake, drafted players from the other 10 Major League Soccer teams. Existing MLS teams were allowed to protect 12 pl ...

, where he was selected fifth overall by

C.D. Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Gu ...

, but was cut before the season. He signed with Atlanta soon after. De la Torre's father,

Antonio de la Torre Villalpando Antonio de la Torre Villalpando (21 September 1951 – 2 August 2021) was a Mexican professional footballer who played as a defender, spending most of his career with Club América. Career De la Torre helped Club América win the 1975 ...

, played in Mexico during the 70's and 80's, and appeared for

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

during the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

tournament. His uncle, "Chepo", is the head coach of

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

of the

Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and amo ...

, actually he works as a construction worker in Atlanta and RETO

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torre, Antonio de la 1977 births Living people Mexican footballers Atlanta Silverbacks players Colorado Rapids players Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco American sportspeople of Mexican descent Mexican emigrants to the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players USL First Division players Association football midfielders