FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Shortly after Spain won the World Cup this summer, U.S. goalkeeping prospect Diego Kochen reached for his phone to message old friends celebrating at the Meadowlands.
One happened to be Lamine Yamal, the electrifying winger who has rapidly reached global superstardom. The other was center back Pau Cubarsí, who received the FIFA Young Player Award for Spain’s almost-immaculate defensive work during the tournament.
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The trio had risen together at La Masia, FC Barcelona‘s fabled youth academy that produced Lionel Messi, among many others.
“I let them know I was super happy for them and they deserve it 100 percent,” Kochen said in an interview with Yahoo Sports on Tuesday at U.S. national team camp near Atlanta. “I grew up with [them]. They started [climbing the Barcelona ladder] pretty quickly.”
At 20, a year older than his famous friends, Kochen has taken his Barcelona experiences on a quieter pathway for both club and country.
After two seasons manning the net for Barcelona’s B team in the third and fourth tiers — and often sitting the bench for the decorated senior squad — the Miami native is finally playing first-division soccer, on loan at Danish club Lyngby.
Diego Kochen, 20, is in USMNT camp outside Atlanta seeking his first senior team cap after nine straight starts on loan at Danish club Lyngby.
(John Dorton/USSF via Getty Images)
Such minutes have been essential to establishing himself in the U.S. goalkeeping pool leading to the 2028 Olympics and 2030 World Cup. A youth national team figure for years, Kochen was first invited to senior camp two years ago before returning in May as a non-roster participant at World Cup training camp.
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He has yet to receive his first senior cap, which could come over this 16-day camp featuring friendlies against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada.
“Honestly, I was a little surprised” to get called up, Kochen said. “It was a very happy feeling, right? As soon as I got the email, I was super excited to be able to come and represent my country. I’m just so grateful and very, very thankful.”
He is among four keepers here. Only World Cup starter Matt Freese arrived with significant international experience – and that has come over only 16 months and included a horrible gaffe that led to Belgium’s third goal in the 4-1 Round-of-16 defeat in Seattle.
The other invitees are Chris Brady, the third-choice keeper at the World Cup who has played once, and Brian Schwake, who’s in his first camp.
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“I’ve come here with one mentality, and it’s just to learn from the people beside me,” Kochen said. “Basically just learning as much as possible and competing, and showing what I’ve got.”
Kochen will try to show his Barcelona pedigree and Lyngby experience have elevated his game to senior international caliber. He has started all nine league matches for Lyngby, which returned to the Danish top division this season. The club holds a transfer option for the permanent acquisition of Kochen next summer.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “And I’m grateful for the opportunity I’m having to get minutes and be playing in a first division.”
Kochen’s journey to Europe began not because of soccer but because his mother, Arlet, a DHL executive, agreed to a transfer to the shipping company’s Barcelona office. The youngest of four sons, Diego was 12 when he moved abroad.
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He comes from a smart family: Two brothers are doctors and the other is a sophomore midfielder at Washington University in St. Louis studying applied mathematics with pre-med plans.
“I think I will need to become a doctor” someday, Kochen said with a smile.
Upon arriving in Spain, he played at an independent soccer school before entering the Barcelona system – one of the world’s finest in molding young players.
Kochen signed his first contract at 16, joined the B squad for regular playing time and was in uniform for many A matches in La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and Spain’s Copa del Rey.
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His first time in a Barcelona jersey at the famed Camp Nou, “I couldn’t process it because there’s no better feeling being in that stadium with the fans and those players,” he said. “It was absolutely insane.”
Though he appeared in two friendlies for the A team, Kochen’s hopes of playing in competitive matches were all but out of reach.
Lyngby approached Kochen and Barcelona earlier this year about filling its starting job. Lyngby is soccer light years from Barcelona, but the opportunity to play regularly was too much to pass up.
“To be able to grow up in [Barcelona’s] system and experience the things I’ve experienced with the first team, with the second team, with climbing up the ranks, has been absolutely a dream come true,” he said. “They’re a big part of the goalkeeper I am today. I couldn’t be more grateful to have been with them since I was very young.”
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Aside from Kochen, Lyngby has another U.S. tie: The Philadelphia Union owns a 10 percent stake in the club and has loaned young players there, including Neil Pierre, an 18-year-old center back who spent the last five months of the 2025-26 Danish season with Lyngby. Pierre was also invited to this U.S. camp, his first with the senior squad.
Located in a Copenhagen suburb, Lyngby is seeking its first league trophy since 1992. It’s off to a rough start: a 1-4-4 record for 10th place on the 12-club circuit.
Kochen, though, is getting what he needs: playing time, which has improved his U.S. standing. Coach Mauricio Pochettino started the four-year World Cup cycle by inviting many young players to camp.
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The Olympics are also on the U.S. Soccer Federation’s radar, and getting age-eligible players senior experience this fall was emphasized. (Olympic men’s soccer is restricted to players 23 and under, with three exceptions.) U.S. Olympic Coach Steve Cherundolo is with the senior squad this week.
Kochen is among several U.S. prospects eligible to play for multiple countries. He could play for Venezuela (through his father’s ancestry) and Peru (through his mother’s).
Both of those countries reached out to him when he was younger, but he has played exclusively for U.S. youth teams, starting with the under-16s.
“Right now, I see myself in the U.S.,” he said. “I’m here right now in this camp. I’m representing this country, and honestly, I couldn’t be more grateful for that opportunity. So right now, my full focus is on the USA.”
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Kochen and Pochettino have Barcelona, the city, in common. The latter is a former player and coach for Espanyol, the other La Liga club in the Catalan capital. Pochettino still has a home there.
“We all joke around because he was Espanyol and I am Barcelona,” Kochen said. “But he’s a wonderful coach, and I’m super happy to be here. There’s no place I’d rather be right now.”
USMNT camp notes
Two of the 28 invited players remained absent Tuesday. Center back Chris Richards was given time off for personal reasons and center back Auston Trusty encountered flight issues traveling from Scotland. Both are expected to train Wednesday, a team spokesman said. …
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Striker Ricardo Pepi, who withdrew from the squad after suffering an injury Sunday playing for PSV Eindhoven, said on the Dutch club’s website that he suffered a “minor setback” and has “already started my recovery.”
Without specifying the injury, PSV said Pepi will miss the “coming matches.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
