On Sunday, April 19, 2020, Inter Miami defender A.J. DeLaGarza made an important announcement regarding his professional career: his retirement from international football. In his international career, he played for both the national teams of the United States and Guam. DeLaGarza was born in Bryans Road, Maryland to a Mexican-Guamanian father and a Native American mother, with his father’s heritage making him eligible to play for Guam’s national team.
“Every young soccer player dreams of representing their country on an international level, at the World Cup. I’ve been lucky to be able to represent both the USMNT & GUAM. A few months ago I decided that my international playing career was up though, I’ve been able to travel all over Asia and play in AFC World Cup qualifiers. Memories and trips I will never forget. Never perfect, but I wanted to inspire the next generation of athletes growing up in Guam. Thanks to all the Mateo boys for the memories, can’t wait to see what is in store in the future for the island!” DeLaGarza said in a post on his Instagram account.
The 32-year-old versatile defender finished with two caps for the United States to his name, both coming in 2012. Since he was not officially cap-tied with the United States, on August 27, 2013, he made the commitment to switch and play for the Guam national team, which is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) region.
Overall, he racked up 12 appearances for the team before announcing his retirement from international football, including 8 AFC World Cup Qualifying matches; starting in all of them and enjoying a total of 1,080 minutes of action. DeLaGarza played an important role in Guam’s first-ever World Cup Qualifiers wins in 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in both matches, first winning 1-0 against Turkmenistan on June 11 and later defeating India 2-1 on June 16.
