The Orlando City and Colombian-American midfielder is now eligible to play for the USA.
CHICAGO (AP) — Orlando midfielder Andrés Perea has been given approval by FIFA to switch his affiliation to the United States from Colombia.
The 20-year-old trained with the U.S. national team in December and is with the U.S. under-23 team this week in Bradenton, Florida.
Perea, who turned 20 on Nov. 14, started for Colombia at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup, including a 3-1 group-stage win over the U.S. and a quarterfinal loss to Germany. He started all five matches for Colombia at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup.
The U.S. Soccer Federation made the announcement Tuesday and said it was informed of FIFA’s approval on Friday.