DC United Signs 17-Year-Old Honduran Andy Najar from Youth System

Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2010) —D.C. United announced that they have signed Academy midfielder/forward Andy Najar to a Generation Adidas contract to join the first team.

Born on March 16, 1993, Andy was born in Santa Cruz, Choluteca, Honduras. As a native Honduran, Andy is a green card holder and has every right to play in the United States as a domestic player. 

As the second player to sign with the first team directly from United’s Academy, Andy joins goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who signed with the first team in September of last year.

“We are very excited about Andy’s rapid ascent from our U-16 Academy team to our first team,” said United President and CEO Kevin Payne. “This is a great story about the importance of our Academy teams, and the ability those teams give us to find young players who in the past we might never have met.

"We expect Andy's story with D.C. United to help attract even more great young talent to our program, and I can't wait to see him take the field for our first team.”

“We are thrilled to have developed and signed our second home-grown player from our youth Academy,” added United General Manager Dave Kasper. “Andy is a very talented player who possesses excellent technical and tactical abilities. Andy has shown us that he is ready to contribute first team minutes and we are excited about his future.”

Najar has spent the majority of the preseason training with Curt Onalfo’s side and appeared in a total of five preseason matches. He started in the midfield and went the full distance in the first three games against Columbus (Feb. 13), Toronto FC (Feb. 17), and the New York Red Bulls (Feb. 20) while the Black-and-Red were in Bradenton, Florida.

He made his fourth appearance against Real Salt Lake in the Carolina Challenge Cup, entering at halftime. Additionally, Najar started at right back against the Charleston Battery in the Cup finale Saturday night, helping United capture its first Challenge Cup with a 2-0 win over the USL side.

Najar is a versatile player who enjoyed a decorated youth career with United’s U-16 and U-18 Academy teams. In 2009, he played right back with the U-16 team and tallied four goals before moving up to the U-18 side and scoring nine goals as a forward. 

During his time with the Academy program, Najar has received numerous awards and honors for his outstanding play. He was named to the United States Soccer Federation Development Academy Starting XI in 2009 and he was the leading scorer in the US Developmental Academy Finals in Los Angeles in 2009. 

Last year, Najar was named a Washington Post All-Met First Team selection at Edison High School in Alexandria. He was a then a sophmore who scored a team-leading 22-goals.

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