Luca de la Torre

Lucas Daniel de la Torre (born May 23, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Celta Vigo and the United States national team.

Having begun his professional career with Fulham in the EFL Championship, he later played for Heracles in the Eredivisie and Celta Vigo in La Liga. A full international for the United States since 2018, he was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Early career
De la Torre was born and raised in San Diego, California, and began playing soccer at Nomads and San Diego Surf, before moving to England to play with Fulham in 2013. De la Torre made his debut for Fulham on August 9, 2016, in the EFL Cup first round against Leyton Orient, starting the match and played 88 minutes at Brisbane Road as Fulham won 3–2. His first league appearance was a Championship match against Bolton Wanderers on October 28, 2017, as a last-minute substitute for Tomáš Kalas in a 1–1 home tie.

He scored his only goal for Fulham in an EFL Cup tie against Millwall on September 25, 2018.

Heracles
On August 6, 2020, de la Torre signed a two-year deal with Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo. He provided an assist in his Eredivisie debut on September 13, 2020, in a 2–0 win over ADO Den Haag. He was named to the Eredivisie Team of the Month for March 2021, having scored his first goal on March 7 as a late winner in a 2–1 home victory over PEC Zwolle. He was again named to the Eredivisie Team of the Month for January 2022.

Celta de Vigo
On July 7, 2022, de la Torre signed a four-year deal with Celta de Vigo of La Liga. He was the second player of American nationality to play for the club, after Italy international Giuseppe Rossi. He made his debut on August 20 in a 4–1 home loss to Real Madrid, playing the final three minutes in place of Renato Tapia.

Having only made brief substitute appearances under manager Eduardo Coudet, de la Torre played a larger role in the team after Carlos Carvalhal arrived. On December 22, he came off the bench away to Gernika in the second round of the Copa del Rey and scored his first goal within ten minutes to conclude a 3–0 victory. In the next round on January 3, 2023, he made his first start, though the team lost 3–1 at fellow top-flight team Espanyol in extra time.

He scored his first La Liga goal, following an assist one minute earlier, against Osasuna on February 4, 2024.

Youth
De la Torre was part of the United States under-17 team for the 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship and 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

He was also part of the United States under-20 team that won the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, scoring the game-winner in a 4–1 group stage win against Haiti and netting a penalty kick during the penalty shootout in the final against Honduras. He was also a member of the United States squad that reached the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinals, scoring a goal in a group stage draw against Ecuador and assisting on both Josh Sargent's game-winner in a group stage match against Senegal as well as Lagos Kunga's goal in a 6–0 Round of 16 win over New Zealand.

Senior
On June 2, 2018, de la Torre made his senior team debut for the United States, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Republic of Ireland. On February 2, 2022, he made his first start for the United States against Honduras in a 3–0 victory in World Cup Qualifying.

De la Torre recovered from a muscular injury suffered in October 2022 in time to be chosen for the World Cup in Qatar the following month. He did not feature in any games as the United States reached the last 16.

Personal life
Both of de la Torre's parents are scientists at research institutes in the San Diego area. His father is Spanish, which allowed him to receive a Spanish passport and leave the U.S. at 15 years old. He did not learn Spanish until he arrived at Celta Vigo, but is now comfortable giving interviews and communicating with his teammates.

Dubbed "El Pulpeto" by the club, de la Torre has a superstition to eat Galician octopus ("pulpo") after every Celta Vigo victory.

Honors
United States U20
 * CONCACAF U-20 Championship: 2017

United States
 * CONCACAF Nations League: 2022–23

Individual
 * Eredivisie Team of the Month: January 2022,