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 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 ...

or forward.

Playing career

Youth and college

Silva was born in

Oaxaca ) , population_note = , population_rank = 10th , timezone1 = CST , utc_offset1 = −6 , timezone1_DST = CDT , utc_offset1_DST = −5 , postal_code_type = Postal ...

, 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 wor ...

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'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 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 th ...

Semifinalist.

Club

During his college years, Silva also played in the USL Premier Development League for Orange County Blue Star in 2011. He joined UCSB teammates Charley Pettys 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 BM ...

in the first round of the

2012 MLS SuperDraft The 2012 MLS SuperDraft was the thirteenth annual MLS SuperDraft, 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 ...

. Silva made his debut for Toronto FC on March 7, 2012, scoring a goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Silva scored his first league goal against Vancouver Whitecaps 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 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 The 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was the 100th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. The match featured Major League Soccer (MLS) teams D.C. United and Real Salt Lake. It was played on ...

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 ...

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 wi ...

against the Montreal Impact at Saputo Stadium 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. 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 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. Fou ...

. 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 Veikka ...

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 MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at Lumen Field, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The association football, socc ...

. He was released by Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Toronto FC *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

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 The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

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 ...

Tigres UANL * Liga MX: 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