Salvadoran Star Coaching U.S. Youth
By Mike Woitalla, Executive Editor
Soccer America Magazine
Former MLS star Raul Diaz Arce brings his experience to U.S. U-17 residents.
Raul Diaz Arce played his first soccer barefoot on dirt roads in San Miguel, El Salvador.
ôKids in my neighborhood had one pair of shoes,ö he says. ôYou needed those for school, so you didnÆt want to ruin them playing soccer.ö
Besides the perils of stubbing toes on the gravelly playing ôfield,ö there were the cars.
ôMy father saw us playing,ö Diaz Arce says, ôand said if we kept playing on the street, we could get hit by a car. So he decided to start a team.ö
Raul Sr. bought his son a pair of soccer cleats and the season started.
ôI was the youngest kid on the team,ö Diaz Arce says. ôSo I didnÆt get to play in the games. But I loved my new shoes, wearing a uniform, with a number on it, and sitting on the bench next to my father.ö
Diaz Arce kept playing pickup games, mindful of his fatherÆs warnings to halt play when cars approached, and soon he saw playing time in the real games. At age 15, he won a spot on the roster of a Salvadoran Second Division team.
After a playing career that spanned nearly two decades, including six seasons in MLS, where he became one of the leagueÆs all-time leading scorers while lifting two titles, Diaz Arce works with players who are at the age he was when he became a pro.
Diaz Arce is one of Coach John HackworthÆs four assistant coaches at the U.S. U-17 residency camp in Bradenton, Fla.
ôWhen I was a young boy playing on a professional team,ö he said, ôthe older players gave me a lot of advice û advice that helped me through my entire career. They taught me how to handle different situations. They supported me.ö
Now Diaz Arce enjoys helping the 40 young players who are in Bradenton trying to make the transition from youth soccer to the higher levels.
ôYou can see from the kids faces that they just soak in anything he has to say,ö says Brian Maisonneuve, another former MLS star serving as a U-17 program assistant coach. ôThey know where heÆs been. They know what heÆs done. They know he knows the game.ö
Diaz Arce earned 70 caps with El Salvador. He won two Salvadoran titles before arriving in MLS for its inaugural season and becoming part of the stellar D.C. United team that won the leagueÆs first two titles. He also played for four other MLS teams and finished his MLS career with 90 goals.
ôHe was a good player,ö Maisonneuve says. ôHe read the game so well. Was a great finisher. And I tell you what, he can still play when he jumps in with the kids. You can tell by the way the kids watch they learn quite a bit just from the way he plays.ö
Because Diaz ArceÆs two children, 15-year-old Angel and 10-year-old Raul Jr., have grown up in the United States and consider it home, he did not see returning to El Salvador as an option. After stints in the A-League, he looked for coaching opportunities last year.
ôHis playing experience speaks for itself,ö says Hackworth, who used Diaz Arce as a scout during U-17 World Championship in Peru where the U.S. finished fifth. ôAnd like Brian, heÆs a quality individual off the field.
ôWe have a diverse culture in the United States with a huge Hispanic community and I felt it was important for our coaching staff to have diversity as well. He took a different path to professional soccer than players in America, and I believe young players can learn from his experience.ö
This article originally appeared in the October 17, 2005 issue of Soccer America Magazine.