Top scoring powerhouse Danny Barrera signs with Atlanta Silverbacks of NASL

July 7, 2012 - PRLog -- Cal FC’s leading scorer and assist leader Danny Barrera has signed with Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League, (NASL) a professional men's league in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The NASL is sanctioned as a Division II Professional League by United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), placing it under Major League Soccer in the hierarchy. The announcement comes only hours after officially signing with Pangea Sports Management. He will be making his first appearance with the club later next week. Barrera boasts 4 goals and 2 assists over 3 games during CalFC’s historic Open Cup run, setting up a goal in Wilmington for a 4-0 victory and a goal in their 1-0 victory over Portland Timbers of MLS. He won Player of the Round twice in a row.

“I'm pleased to see Danny is given the opportunity to move on to a bigger platform to show his talent,” says his agent, Namjoo, of Pangea Sports Management. “He is a gifted soccer player and the fans in Atlanta will have plenty to cheer about."

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Barrera moved to the United States at the age of eight, growing up in Thousand Oaks, California. He developed his game in the United States with the US Soccer residency program, followed by playing at the NCAA level with UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, where he won the Big West Conference ‘Midfielder of the Year’ accolade his sophomore and junior years. When he was 17 he played as a member of the USA team at the 2007 Pan-American Games. He also represented the United States at U17 and U18 levels and was the #1 recruit in the country coming out of high school.

He signed with the newly formed Ventura County Fusion where he played along his brother Diego in the PDL. While playing with Ventura County Fusion, he become USL PDL Champion in 2009. With the Fusion, Danny played against English Premier League’s Manchester City and West Brom where he scored one goal, and scored in both friendlies against Chicago Fire and Montreal Impact during pre-season games in Los Angeles this year.

Barrera has always held ambitions to play professionally in Europe early in his career to develop as a player. When he was younger, Barrera trained in England with Sheffield United. After being named to the USL PDL All-League Team in 2011,  he made a definite move to Europe by signing with Serbian top league side FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda after a successful trial. He made his league debut for Spartak against Borac Čačak in Dec of 2011. He returned to the United States in 2012 to re-sign with Ventura County, and also with Cal FC in the USASA-affiliated La Gran Liga de Oxnard based in Oxnard, California under Head Coach and US Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda.

“I’m ready to move on and up in my career,” says Danny. “All I want to do is play and continue to get better. I can do that under Eric at Atlanta. This is just the beginning.”

“I’ve wanted Danny to play for me since I saw him in Santa Barbara in 2010,” says Atlanta Silverbacks head coach Eric Wynalda. “He’s a special talent with a lot to offer. This is a new beginning for him despite his many accomplishments thus far. I’m ecstatic to have him as part of this team.”