CARSON, Calif. – Just a few years ago, Dennis Flores was entertaining thoughts that his soccer career may be fading away.
Playing in Sunday leagues and indoor with his friends in Southern California, his big break came in a trial organized by Alianza de Futbol Hispano – a US-based network that provides Latino players the ability to perform in front of scouts – that resulted in an opportunity with Liga MX club Leon. Two years later, he was getting a shot with the Leon first team, and now he’s fresh off his first call-up to the US national team to their January camp.
Naturally, the opportunity with the USMNT meant the world to the 21-year-old midfielder from Pasadena, Calif., as he pushes for a spot with the US U-21 side that will undergo qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games and continues to climb the ladder with his club. Flores was among a handful of potential Olympians brought into the January camp and was sent back to his club ahead of the USMNT’s trip to Chile for Wednesday’s friendly.
“Obviously, [the Olympics] are in the back of my mind. The qualifiers are coming up sometime soon, so that's obviously in the back of my mind,” Flores told MLSsoccer.com. “I want to make that list to be in the qualifiers and just try to represent my country in the best way possible.
“But, obviously, with Leon, I'm trying to get more caps with them. ... Leon is the real job. Leon is my No. 1 priority. And what I do with my club [will determine whether] they'll be calling me up.”
Flores, an attacking midfielder, slipped unnoticed past US scouts and was finally discovered at 20 years old. Leon, in the midst of back-to-back Liga MX championships, liked what they saw, invited him for a two-week trial, then signed him and had him training with its first team by November 2013.
He's made three first-team appearances and was on the roster for last year's Copa Libertadores, but he primarily plays for Leon's under-20 team.
“I feel like there's a big opportunity for me to rise up [at Leon],” said Flores, whose parents are from Puebla state. “I have great players that are in my position, like [Carlos] 'Gullit' Peña and 'Gallo' [Jose Juan Vazquez], who play with the [Mexican national team] Seleccion, but I'm hanging in there. They help me a lot.
“[Mexican national-teamer Luis] 'Chapito' Montes mentors me a lot, tells me what's right and what's wrong. He's helped me out since day one. It's a learning process. I, obviously, learn from the big guys, and I try to see what they do, and I just try to do it, but my way.”
Flores, who had his first US call-up last August for a U-23 camp, used the January camp at StubHub Center similarly.
“It's been amazing,” he said. “Just like in Leon, I look up to these players. I learn from players like [Clint] Dempsey, [Jozy] Altidore, [Michael] Bradley. You just try to learn from them and try to put in on your own way and try to make the best of it.”
Klinsmann said it was “hugely beneficial” for Flores to take part in the camp.
“Because, obviously, physically, he's not the strongest player, but now he kind of learns to how to kind of protect himself,” US head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “He's technically very gifted, very smart player, sees the game really well, but now he needs to learn to go one-against-one against the Jermaine Joneses of the world. So this is a process.”
Now Flores wants to continue the process with Leon, which is winless and at the bottom of the Liga MX table after three games in the Clausura.
“I just want to get in that 18[-man] roster,” he said. “Regardless of whether I'm a sub or not, I just want to make it to the top, try to be the best that I can be, try to help my team out, try to get more wins and try to be in that roster. More minutes, more caps with the first team – I want to get more so I can get more experience.”
