Carlos Llamosa: Finding the American Dream

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

USA

African American Players, German Americans/American Germans
Hispanic/Latino American Players

USA 2010
NY Cosmos, LA Galaxy, DC United,

    Throughout time, people moves to the United States to find their "American Dream".  The story of Carlos Llamosa is about finding that Dream.  He was a native of Colombia who gave up a dream of playing professional soccer in 1991 so that he could join his family in Queens, New York.  He had played for Atletico Huila in Colombia previously.  In 1991, there was no professional soccer in the United States.  The Major League Soccer did not start until 1996.  He worked as a janitor at the World Trade Centre and was present at the building during the 1993 terrorist attack.  In 1995, he started playing again by joining New York Centaurs of the A-League.  Bruce Arena liked what he saw and brought him to DC United in 1997.  From an unknown player from the minor, he made it to the starting lineup of DC United.  In 1998, he earned his first cap for the USA after becoming a citizen and would make the World Cup team in 2002 where he made two appearances.  Colombia did not qualify for the World Cup Finals that year, making Carlos Llamosa, perhaps the only Colombian-born player at the Finals.

Some of the best posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.

Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.

Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.

*** Both Volume One and Volume Two are available now on Amazon. ***