David Loera (born September 10, 1998) is a professional

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 ...

player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for USL League One side

Lexington SC Lexington Sporting Club is an American professional soccer team based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2021, the team will play its inaugural season in 2023. The team will compete in USL League One, in the third division of the United States ...

. Born in Spain, he has represented the United States at youth level.

Career

Early career

As a youth, Loera played with the Orlando City Development Academy team. In July 2016, Loera made his Orlando City B debut in

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 ...

, coming on as a 54th minute substitute against Louisville City, the first player to appear for Orlando's USL affiliate while still in the academy. He made seven appearances for the team between 2016 and 2017.

College career

In February 2017, Loera signed a letter of intent to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. In three seasons at NC State, Loera started in all 57 of his appearances for the Wolfpack, scoring nine goals and adding 15 assists. Ahead of his final season, he was named to the

MAC Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

Watch List and reached No. 13 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Men’s National Top-100 list, the highest ranked player in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Orlando City

Ahead of the 2020 season, Loera returned to Orlando City, signing a multi-year Homegrown contract with the club. He made his professional debut on 3 October 2020 as a stoppage time substitute in a 3–1 win over

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. On September 9, 2021, Loera joined Phoenix Rising of the USL Championship on loan for the rest of the season. Loera had his contract option declined by Orlando City at the end of the 2021 season.

San Antonio FC

On January 11, 2022, Loera signed with USL Championship club San Antonio FC.

Lexington SC

Loera joined USL League One club

on January 26, 2024.

International

In 2016, Loera was called up to the United States U19 squad by head coach

Brad Friedel Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at ...

for the Copa de Atlantico tournament. He played in all three games as the United States lost 1–0 to Spain U19, 5–0 to France U19, and 1–0 to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Career statistics

Club

''As of November 8, 2021''

References

External links

* *
US Soccer bio
* 1998 births Living people Footballers from Zaragoza American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Spanish men's footballers Spanish emigrants to the United States Orlando City SC players Orlando City B players Phoenix Rising FC players Homegrown Players (MLS) NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players SIMA Águilas players Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Orlando, Florida USL Championship players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players North Carolina FC U23 players San Antonio FC players Lexington SC players {{US-footy-midfielder-stub