Luciano Federico "Lucho" Acosta (born 31 May 1994) is an Argentine professional

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 ...

who plays as a

attacking 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 Major League Soccer club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

Club career

Boca Juniors

Acosta made his professional debut for Boca Juniors on 9 February 2014, when Boca tied against

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

, replacing

Juan Manuel Martínez Juan Manuel Martínez (born October 25, 1985), nicknamed ''Burrito'' (in English, "Little Donkey"), is an Argentine football forward who plays for Almirante Brown. He also holds a Portuguese passport. Martínez is best known for his agility, ...

for the 2014 Final. Acosta appeared in the Xeneizes as a starter throughout the 2014 Torneo Final.

D.C. United

In 2016, Acosta went on a season-long loan to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

of Major League Soccer. Acosta made his competitive debut on in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal match against Queretaro. He scored his first goal for

in the 86th minute of a league game against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

on April 23. After the 2016 season, D.C. United purchased Acosta’s contract outright for a club record fee. He scored his first professional hat-trick on 13 August 2018 when playing for D.C. United against Orlando City and the match ended 3–2 in favor of D.C. United. On 21 October 2018, Acosta provided an assist for

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

following an outstanding dribble, and also scored himself in a 3–1 win over

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...

which secured a play-off spot in the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

for D.C. United. Since

's arrival to D.C. United, Luciano and Wayne developed a good chemistry together in the field and provided goals and assists to each other. Their chemistry made them to be considered to one of the best duos in all of MLS. D.C. United fans nicknamed their duo "Luchoroo". Before the 2019 season, Acosta was very close to sign for

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As ...

Sources said the offer to D.C. United was under US$10 million and Acosta was scheduled to arrive at Paris for his medical. In the 2019 MLS Season, Acosta's form was declining, and was starting to get pushed out of the first team. After the 2019 season, Acosta's contract with D.C. United ended. He played his last game for D.C. on October 19, 2019, in a MLS playoff game against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. On November 12, 2019, Acosta told an Argentine radio channel, 'La Mano de Dios', that former D.C. teammate

told him he wanted to bring him to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, where Rooney was going to become player-coach in 2020. Acosta left D.C. United at the end of the 2019 season when his contract expired.

Atlas

On 19 December 2019, it was announced that Acosta would join Liga MX side

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

on 1 January 2020. Acosta scored his first goal for Atlas against

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

on January 31, 2020.

FC Cincinnati

On 17 March 2021, Acosta returned to Major League Soccer, joining

on a three-year deal as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. FC Cincinnati acquired his MLS rights from

in exchange for $250,000 in General Allocation Money plus potential future incentives. He made his debut for the club on 17 April 2021 in their opener against

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

. He scored in the 8th minute as FC Cincinnati drew 2–2 away.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

Personal

Acosta holds a U.S. green card, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Luciano 1994 births Footballers from Buenos Aires Association football midfielders Boca Juniors footballers D.C. United players Atlas F.C. footballers FC Cincinnati players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Living people Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Designated Players (MLS)