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Player spotlight

After playing himself onto the USMNT roster, Ferreira determined to seize the opportunity

After a breakthrough 2019, Jesus Ferreira had a nightmare 2020 season with FC Dallas and his once high career trajectory was thrown in limbo. Hard work and solid coaching put him back on track in 2021 and his impressive production saw him return to the USMNT. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta spoke with Ferreira on his career rebound and his emotional national team call-up.

BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
November 08, 2021
10:00 PM

EARLIER THIS YEAR, the United States national team opened its 2021 calendar year with a 7-0 rout over a poor Trinidad & Tobago team to conclude its January Camp. Jesus Ferreira, 20, dominated and was named the Man of the Match with two goals and three assists.  

While his performance was solid, the level of opposition was poor and it revealed little. Ferreira needed a strong season with FC Dallas to get his career back onto track and return to the level many hoped he would be at during the 2019 season when he was one of the top young players in MLS after scoring eight goals and assisting six times as an 18 year old.

The 2020 season was a massive disappointment for Ferreira. The pandemic shutdown halted his momentum and when play resumed, he struggled badly the remainder of the year – scoring and assisting just once while head coach Luchi Gonzalez played him at various positions, from wing to the deep-lying midfield, hoping something would stick.

“I think in 2020, not getting goals, not getting assists - I was getting frustrated and in the offseason, that was something that I told the coaching staff that I wanted to work on, because that could take my game to another level.”

 

The 2021 season has seen Ferreira take remarkable strides in his game. He was shifted to the No. 10 role at Dallas and finished with eight goals and nine assists. He points out that being able to be part of the team's playmaking, as opposed to just finishing, has helped his game take off.  

Ferreira succeeded but FC Dallas had a poor season - falling way short of the playoffs and Luchi Gonzalez lost his job. On the individual side, however, the team’s young players continued to develop well. Ferreira’s improvement put him on a path to being another success story in an organization which has been key to the development of many of the top players in the United States.

Unsurprisingly, Ferreira credits the team’s coaching staff for helping his turnaround and development.

“The main focus for me that made me improve my game was my mentality,” Ferreira said. “A lot of it was the coaching staff. When I was getting frustrated, they could tell. The coaches knew every player's mentality and their moods. When they noticed me getting frustrated and I wouldn't play this same when I was frustrated. I would zone out. I would not play the same game myself if I was mentally strong. “

 

Ferreira’s performances throughout 2021  has landed him a spot on the current U.S. national team roster. It is his third call-up but first outside of a January camp. Head coach Gregg Berhalter singled Ferreira out for both is form and his intelligent play and believes he can serve as a backup at a number of different positions.

While it remains to be seen how much he will play, Ferreira is simply a case of a player who forcecd himself onto a roster.

“When you look at Jesus' body of work with the national team, he's been playing a No. 9,” Berhalter said. “We think his performances - albeit against lesser opponents - we really liked what he did at the No. 9 position. We know he's a guy who can link play, we know he's a guy who can arrive in the penalty box, we know he's a guy who leads the line defensively to build pressure, and he's been in outstanding form in Dallas. We know he's been playing more of an attacking midfield role but Jesus has the type of intelligence, game intelligence, that makes him able to adapt to a position very easily."

Ferreira said he was honored to receive the call-up and it reflects the hard work he put in to over come 2020. He said it was tough watching rosters come out earlier in the year for either the Gold Cup or the first two rounds of qualifying and he was not on it.

While that was difficult, Ferreira said he wasn’t angry or disappointed, he was just more motivated to work harder.

“I've seen every game they've played,” Ferreira said of the U.S. team. “Every time they put out a roster for World Cup qualifying and my name wasn't there, it just showed me that I had to keep working. I can't stop and get upset because if I get upset, I'll lose a spot and then someone else is going to take advantage.”

As the U.S. national team assembles in Cincinnati ahead of Friday’s big game, it marks yet another milestone Ferreira is taking with Ricardo Pepi. Ferreira has been with the FC Dallas academy since he was 2009 and made his first team debut in 2017. Pepi joined Dallas in 2016 and made his debut in 2019. Pepi’s 13 goals this season saw him finish as the top American scorer in MLS. Ferreira and Pepi combined for 21 goals and 13 assists in 2021.

Off the field, the two are close friends and have celebrated each other’s accomplishments while helping each other through low points as well. Now, the two will attempt to carry their relationship over to the international stage.

“This is just another achievement we accomplished together,” Ferreira said of Pepi. “We've both been having a great season with FC Dallas, and it just shows that our chemistry is there. We have chemistry off the field, so I think that helps, that helps to just simplify the game. We have each other's back on the field and off the field. We're more than just teammates or we're friends and we care about each other. Getting called up together, we're both excited for each other, but it's more than just a game.”

 

Pepi agrees and is quick to point out the pair’s unique chemistry on the field – which he believes will be an asset to the national team if they’re on the field together.

“Jesus is always a player who can bring something to the table,” Pepi said. “He's played different positions. He can play as a No. 9 or play as a No. 10. He has that vision, he has that finishing. He's a special player with me on FC Dallas. We have some good chemistry, and now bringing that to the national team, I think it's very special for the both of us.”

 

Born in Colombia, Ferreira moved to the United States when his father, Colombian international David Ferreira, signed for FC Dallas (and would become the league’s MVP in 2011). The younger Ferreira missed out on key youth national team events with the United States because it wasn’t until December 2019 when he became a U.S. citizen. He received U-20 call-ups in 2019 in hopes he would get his citizenship ahead of that year’s U-20 World Cup, but it never happened.

Two years later, Ferreira has put himself in position to contribute to World Cup qualifying at a pivotal moment against archrival Mexico. Ferreira has been through a lot this year and he is determined seize the opportunity this window.

“It meant a lot,” Ferreira said of when he was told by Berhalter that he was called up. “It came at a moment where I'm doing things well. Having the coach call me and tell me you're going to be called up for a World Cup qualifier.”

“I've never experienced a game like this,” he added. “I'm very, very excited and honored to be called up for a game like this. We all know how important a game against Mexico is, and it is not just a friendly or anything, it's a World Cup qualifier. It means that they believe in me. They trusted me to take me and I'm going to do everything that I can to try and get in the field, because that will be an amazing feeling that I'll never forget.”

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