Diego Fagundez is well on his way towards an international career, but it won't be with the United States.
The New England Revolution forward started for Uruguay in the South American Under-20 Championship in a dramatic 1-0 win over Colombia on Thursday night, permanently cap-tying the Boston-raised attacker to the country of his birth.
Fagundez went 65 minutes, playing mostly on the right wing, before being subbed off with the score still knotted at zero. Uruguay, who are hosting the tournament, would go on to find a stoppage-time winner off a corner kick to start the tournament off on a winning note. They will now face Brazil (Jan. 17), Chile (Jan. 21) and Venezuela (Jan. 23), with the top three teams in the group of five moving on to the final round, where qualification for the 2015 U-20 World Cup and 2016 Olympics will be at stake.
Because Fagundez is not yet a US citizen, his appearance for Uruguay in an official tournament means that even though he has not appeared at the senior international level, he can no longer file a one-time switch of international allegiance should he later obtain US citizenship.
The 19-year-old is one of the most successful MLS Homegrown players to date, with 22 goals and 18 assists in 88 appearances since debuting in 2011. The Revs re-signed him to a multi-year contract extension on March 13, 2013.
