The battle to secure the best players of the future between the United States and Mexico is still at a fever pitch with 16-year-old Davian Kimbrough, born in Woodland, California, but eligible for El Tri as he is the son of a Mexican-American mother and African-American father.
The Sacramento Republic forward, who made history in 2023 when he became the youngest player to debut in the USL Championship at just 13 years, 7 months and 13 days, is still pondering his international future. In April, he played first for the Mexico U16 national team and then for USMNT, with a difference of just two weeks. It is a curious situation that keeps both federations on tenterhooks. He has played 20 games for Mexico and scored 13 goals, while he has only two games and one goal for the United States.
Everything indicates for now that his preference is closer to the Mexican national team, but it is up to his discoverer, Andres Lillini, to ensure the promising striker, who is even rumored for the youth ranks of Real Madrid. “We did something very aggressive to go to MLS, we put three scouts, we made a pattern because we have a center forward 2009 that the surname is Kimbrough and if we did not know that the mother is from Guadalajara, we would never know. The boy is an impressive talent from Sacramento,” he recalled in an interview with TUDN at the end of 2024.
“We made a selection of 10 cities on the coast of California and 10 in Texas; in the first half of 2024 we did scouting, we went as a team, we made a selection of 15 years with recruited players, a selection of 13 and from Texas the same, male and female,” he explained.
Once again, this is the case of Obed Vargas, for whom USMNT and Mexico fought until the player finally chose to be part of El Tri. It is expected that Javier Aguirre will take him to the next World Cup.
Vargas’ great projection has led him to Atletico Madrid at just 20 years of age. Now it is the eternal rival of the rojiblancos who is keeping an eye on the evolution of Kimbrough, a striker with a privileged physique, with power, ability to get into space and a goal-scoring instinct. He could be Mexico’s striker for the next decade… if he finally decides not to represent USA.
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