Richard Ledezma (born September 6, 2000) is an American 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

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club New York City FC, on loan from

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

Club career

Ledezma grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, where he played youth soccer for Valparaiso United FC. He made his professional debut for

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 ...

side Real Monarchs on April 11, 2018, as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–1 win over

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington (state), Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the Unit ...

. On June 4, he scored his first career goal for Real Monarchs, as part of a performance for which he was named to the USL Team of the Week. On July 7, Ledezma was named the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

Western Conference Player of the Year for the U-18/19 age group. On December 21, Ledezma left Salt Lake to sign for Dutch club

on a one-and-a-half year deal. On October 27, 2019, after his strong play for

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

, Ledezma made PSV's senior squad for the first time for an

match with AZ Alkmaar. On November 1, 2020, Ledezma made his PSV debut in the 74th minute and recorded an assist in a 4–0 win over

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

. On March 19, 2023, PSV announced that Ledezma had signed a contract extension with the club and would subsequently be loaned out. On March 23, Ledezma was seen training with MLS club New York City FC following months of rumors connecting him with the club.

International career

Ledezma received his first international call-up from the United States under-19s in January 2018 and quickly advanced to the

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

side. He earned his first start for the United States under-20 side against the French under-21s, helping the United States to a 1–0 victory. On May 17, 2019, Ledezma revealed he was contacted by the Mexican Football Federation regarding switching to represent his ancestral Mexico. Ledezma did not close the door to representing either federation, but remained aligned with the United States for the time being. On June 4, 2019, in the

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...

, Ledezma recorded an assist in the United States's 3–2 victory over France in the Round of 16, as his through-ball in the 25th minute split

Boubacar Kamara Boubacar Bernard Kamara (born 23 November 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and the France national team. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also play as a centre ...

and

Dan-Axel Zagadou Dan-Axel Zagadou (born 3 June 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. He has represented France from under-16 to under-21 levels. Club career Early career Zagadou began his caree ...

setting up

Sebastian Soto Sebastian Guerra Soto (born July 28, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Austrian Bundesliga club Austria Klagenfurt and the United States national team. Youth career Soto began his youth career wit ...

for the finish. He received his first call-up to the senior

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 ...

squad for matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

in November 2020. On November 16, Ledezma made his senior national team debut against Panama when he came on as a substitute in the 68th minute and created two assists for goals by

Personal life

Born in the United States, Ledezma is of Mexican descent.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

PSV *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2021–22 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

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

References

External links

Profile
at the PSV Eindhoven website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledezma, Richard 2000 births Living people Association football midfielders American soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Real Monarchs players Jong PSV players Soccer players from Arizona USL Championship players Eerste Divisie players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands New York City FC players Major League Soccer players