Few are the United States footballers who have played in the first division of Argentine football. The first was Renato Corsi, who played with the legendary Argentinos Juniors side that won the 1985 Copa Libertadores.

Later Michael Hoyos (Estudiantes) and Bryan Gerzicich (Arsenal de Sarandí) followed in the footsteps of Corsi. Now, former U.S. Under-20 player Joel Soñora is looking to become the fourth with Talleres de Córdoba, who currently sit fifth in the Superliga de Argentina table.

Born in Dallas, Texas, Soñora is a 21-year-old midfielder and son of Diego "Chiche" Soñora, a former Boca Juniors defender from the 1980s and 1990s who in 1996 became the first ever Argentine player in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Son Joel spent almost his entire life in Argentina and formed part of the Boca youth system before making the leap to Germany in 2016, where he played 56 matches in two years with Stuttgart II.

His goal was always to reach the first team of the German outfit, but everything changed during the winter when an offer appeared from Talleres, and Soñora did not hesitate to accept it.

"I made the decision to leave Stuttgart for the option to come to Talleres," said Soñora to MARCA and added, "I knew that it was a unique opportunity and more so in the big club that it is. My desire is to play in the first team of this club."

Nevertheless, Soñora had attracted the attention of MLS and was on the radar of several teams, but in the end the chance to fulfill the dream of playing at the highest level of Argentine football and possibly play a Copa Libertadores was decisive.

"When I thought about leaving Stuttgart, teams from MLS appeared and it was really interesting until the option to play with Talleres came up, and then everything totally changed for the sheer fact of being able to play in the Argentine league. It is a competitive league with great players on all the teams, and of course because it is my own pending dream," concluded Soñora.