Meet Jorge Flores. He’s Chivas USA’s Dream Come True.

The New York Times rocked a story about Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores today. He’s an 18 year old on the squad who is known as “Sueño” (which means dream) to his teammates and friends. He goes by this nickname because his story is one contrived by something Disney will eventually by the rights for and make into a movie. Unfortunately, “Goal” was already made, but whateva.

That came in February 2007, when his uncle signed him up for “Sueño MLS,” in which the winner would receive a tryout with Chivas USA. For several weeks, the contestants were followed in 10-minute segments on Univision’s “Republica Deportiva,” a sports program on the Spanish-language channel.

Flores did not gain one of the 2,000 original spots, but after seeking permission from his stepfather — for whom he worked on weekends doing maintenance work at a church — Flores showed up hoping to be selected from among the 4,000 applicants who were put on a waiting list. He was.
“I went because my uncle wanted to take me there,” Flores, speaking through an interpreter, said with a laugh. “I missed that day of work, but my reward has come. I tried my best to see if something would happen. If it wasn’t for Sueño, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Orale. It’s totally like that time last year when we received a ping from some guy named Daniel Mauser asking us if we were interesting in a sports blog for Latinos. We left the monastery and bam, we eat Raman everyday. Good thing Flores has a little more excitement going on.

Still, Flores does not seem the least bit overwhelmed by his journey. Teammates and coaches say he is fearless on the field, and they use words like shy, polite and innocent to describe him away from it. It is easy to be grounded when you are living at home and have a salary of $17,700. Flores is often reminded by teammates of his good fortune.
“I told him to buy lottery tickets,” Ante Razov, the veteran forward, said Saturday night after Flores’s latest goal.

1) We’re now convinced that Razov is officially a Chivas/Latino through and through 2) We miss the lottery. If you’ve never seen the youngster play, check out his volley below. Pure sweetness.

From TV to M.L.S., One Mexican Teen’s Soccer Dream [NY Times]
Image [Getty]
Video [YouTube]