Diego Chavarri is a household name in his own household, which happens to be in Lima, Peru. His English may be spotty, but his soccer is solid. Perhaps most important of all, Chavarri owns a cherished document: a United States passport.
”I was born in Queens, don’t know exactly where, and moved back when I was 2 months old,” Chavarri, 22, said in a telephone interview from Lima, where he plays for Sporting Cristal in the top Peruvian league. ”I don’t know if I could help, but I would love to play in and for the U.S.”
Chavarri, a skillful midfielder who is comfortable playing either wide on the right or wide on the left, joins a growing list of hidden gems who have been unearthed playing on foreign soil. They have grown up abroad, some speak little English, and would probably not in the past have given a thought to playing internationally for the United States.
The current pool of national team players includes Timmy Chandler, Jermaine Jones and David Yelldell, all the sons of American servicemen and German women; Benny Feilhaber, who was born in Brazil; Juan Agudelo, who was born in Colombia and grew up in New Jersey, and Mixx Diskerud, who was born in Norway. It is a constant ebb and flow, where players like Giuseppe Rossi, born in New Jersey, chose to play for Italy; and Neven Subotic, who was born in Serbia but moved to the United States as a youngster, spurned his adopted country to play for his ancestral home.
Officials at U.S. Soccer are aware of Chavarri, but have yet to see him play in person. He came to the attention of Brian Sciaretta, a writer for the Yanks Abroad Web site, when an American living in Peru read a newspaper interview with Chavarri in which he said he had been born in New York City. Sciaretta followed up and has since written several articles about Chavarri.
The Premier Division in Peru is not among the strongest leagues in South America and Chavarri, whose contract (paying him about $40,000 a year) expires in December, said he had heard from representatives of the Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem.
”They came to look at another player and saw me as well,” he said. ”They saw me score a goal and asked the club about me. Every player here is wanting to go to Europe, or to play somewhere else. Also, I’ve always wanted to play in M.L.S., to help my English, but I don’t have any contacts.”
Chavarri started strongly this season, scoring two goals in Cristal’s first two games (one with his right foot, one with his left). But he injured his ankle March 20, returned to play two games, but has not played for his new coach Juan Reynoso since April 24 as his club has slipped down the standings.
He realizes landing a coveted spot on the United States national team may be a long shot, but perhaps Chavarri could impress enough to play for the American team, should it qualify, for the 2012 London Olympics. Beyond that, who knows?
”Right now, I would prefer to play for the U.S.,” he said. ”The soccer is different, but the U.S. is progressing. All I want to do now is play good and have opportunities in the U.S. and Europe.”
