ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Defender Aaron Herrera of The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team has done anything but rest during the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons as a Lobo. Herrera recently concluded competition in the prestigious FIFA U-20 World Cup with Team USA in South Korea wherehe started three of Team USA’s contests during its outstanding run to the quarterfinals. The squad fell in its final match against Venezuela, which advanced to the title game and lost to England (1-0) on Sunday.
Herrera started for Team USA in the squad’s World Cup Opener vs Ecuador in Korea Republic in front of nearly 4,000 fans at Incheon Football Stadium on Monday, May 22. He helped lead the team to a 3-3 comeback draw in Group F play.
The U.S. competed again on Thursday, May 25, taking on Senegal in their second game of Group F play. Once again, Herrera started and played the full match as the U.S. earned a 1-0 victory over Senegal.
UNM’s Aaron Herrera at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World CupU.S. game-winner description vs Senegal: “A relentless U.S. attack found the game’s first goal just after the half-hour mark. Aaron Herrera played a ball forward that Tyler Adams deftly touched through traffic with the outside of his right boot. Luca de la Torre then ran on to the ball and centered for Josh Sargent, whose touch turned him away from his defender and simultaneously set him up to fire his third goal of the tournament past Mouhamed Mbaye. USA 1, SEN 0 Final.”
The win propelled Team USA to the top of the Group F standings with four points, putting the squad in position to clinch the group with a win against Saudi Arabia the following Sunday.
Herrera saw all 90 minutes on the field in Team USA’s 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia Sunday, May 28 to clinch the top Group F spot, resulting in the squad advancing to the Round of 16 for a second-straight tournament.
Team USA faced off against Group E runner up New Zealand on Thursday, June 1 where it claimed a 6-0 victory to advance to the quarterfinals against Venezuela. Herrera was not available to play in the match due to yellow card accumulation.
The team’s story ended in the quarterfinals with a narrow, 2-1 extra-time defeat to Venezuela on June 4, marking the second consecutive tournament that USA reached the quarterfinal stage. Venezuela went on to compete in the final match, where the team lost 1-0 to England.
U-20 World Cup – Team USA Results:
May 22 – vs Ecuador – 3-3 D
May 25 – vs. Senegal – 1-0 W
May 28 – vs. Saudi Arabia – 1-1 D
June 1 – vs. New Zealand – 6-0 W
June 4 – vs. Venezuela – 1-2 L
Herrera returns to the Lobos for his junior season in 2017 where he looks to continue to anchor the UNM defense. As a sophomore, Herrera started all 22 games, totaling 2050 minutes, while posting six points on two goals and two assists. He was also named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week in August.