Who Is Luis Gil?

2019-06-26
Soccer

Or the better question might be, who’s going to be the next Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, or Landon Donovan? Eric Wynalda has given high praise to Luis Gil, and I’d take praise from Wynalda as very high praise indeed because he’s not one to say someone’s good unless they’re pretty damn good.

As he told SI:

“I really like Amobi Okugo — I’ve seen his games at UCLA — and we’ve all heard about Luis Gil, and you can get carried away with that, but I’ll tell you, he’s maybe the most talented player I’ve seen in a long time.”

I’m not sure what other young players Wynalda thinks are going to have an impact for future U.S. national teams, in Europe or in the MLS, but he’s now an assistant with the U-20 U.S. national team, so he’ll have a hand in helping these players grow and develop. He’s an excellent choice for the team, as he’s played in Germany, the MLS and in a number of World Cups.

Soccer By Ives has said that Gil is set to sign with the MLS, instead of going to Europe, where some of the biggest clubs in the world wanted to sign him. Luis Gil was on the radar screen for Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Gil was a part of the U.S. residency program and formerly played for Pateadores Soccer Club in California.