Luis Saúl Silva López (born 10 December 1988) is a Mexican former 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 played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

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 ...

Playing career

Youth and college

Silva was born in

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, Mexico, and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at a young age. Silva spent two years playing with local youth club Pateadores, helping them win the Premier Division in 2006, as well as spending two years with

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 ...

's U-19 team. Silva attended Bishop Mora Salesian High School in Los Angeles where he was a two-time All-CIF selection as a midfielder and forward. He was named Offensive Player of the Year in the 2007 season when he helped the Mustangs win the CIF Southern Section Championship and scored a goal in the Mustangs' 6–1 romp over Pasadena Marshall as the team set a finals scoring record. He went on to play collegiately with the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as ''UC Santa Barbara'' or ''UCSB'', the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I ...

. He was named to the All-

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

First Team three times. In his senior year, Silva scored 17 goals and added 10 assists, garnering recognition as a 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 ...

Semifinalist.

Club

During his college years, Silva also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

for

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Weste ...

in 2011. He joined UCSB teammates

Charley Pettys Charles Danforth Pettys (born April 25, 1990) is an American-born, Filipino professional footballer who plays as a defender for Global F.C. He has also been a member of the Philippines national football team. Early life and education Born on ...

and Christian Ramirez on the squad and finished with 5 goals and 2 assists in 10 matches played. Luis Silva was selected 4th overall by

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 BMO ...

in the first round of the

2012 MLS SuperDraft The 2012 MLS SuperDraft was the thirteenth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 12, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The draft was reduced from three rounds to two with the 19 MLS clubs selecting a total of 38 p ...

. Silva made his debut for Toronto FC on March 7, 2012, scoring a goal against the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Silva scored his first league goal against

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

on July 11, the game ended in a 3–2 home victory. Three days after his first league goal, he scored the lone goal in an away victory over

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 compet ...

. On July 9, 2013, it was announced that Silva had been traded to fellow MLS side

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 ...

in exchange for allocation money. On his regular season debut on July 20, Silva scored from as his team lost 4–1 to the Chicago Fire. Silva appeared in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup Final on October 1, 2013, in the 75th minute and helped D.C. win 1–0 against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

and secure United's third U.S. Open Cup Championship. Silva scored a first half

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against the Montreal Impact at

Saputo Stadium Saputo Stadium (french: link=no, Stade Saputo) is a soccer-specific stadium at Olympic Park in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The stadium opened on May 21, 2008, and is the current home of CF Montr� ...

on June 11, 2014, leading D.C. United to a 4–2 win. On July 16, 2015, it was announced that Silva had been traded to MLS team Real Salt Lake for

Álvaro Saborío Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón (; born 25 March 1982) is a Costa Rican professional footballer, who plays as a forward and captains Costa Rican club San Carlos from the Primera División de Costa Rica. Saborío originally retired in 2017, b ...

. Silva ended his D.C. United career with totals of 15 goals and six assists in 54 appearances, including a career-best 11 goals in 2014. In 2016, he moved to

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

. On March 6, 2019, Silva joined

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

side Honka on a one-year deal with an option for an additional year. He left the club in August to return to the United States, signing with

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 ...

in MLS. Silva and Seattle went on to win the 2019 MLS Cup. He was released by Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Toronto FC * Canadian Championship:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

D.C. United * U.S. Open Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Tigres UANL *

: Apertura 2016 Seattle Sounders FC *

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 Conference ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

*
UC Santa Barbara player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Luis 1988 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Men's association football midfielders D.C. United players Expatriate soccer players in Canada FC Honka players Footballers from Oaxaca Major League Soccer players Orange County Blue Star players Real Salt Lake players Seattle Sounders FC players Soccer players from Los Angeles Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players USL League Two players Mexican footballers