Since joining D.C. United in January on a season-long loan from Argentine club Boca Juniors, defender Leonardo Jara has played a significant role in the Black-and-Red’s ascent in the Eastern Conference this season. In the 21 regular season matches he’s featured for the club, Jara has scored one goal and contributed five assists, second only to forward Wayne Rooney who has seven assists.
While he admits he is still getting used to an unfamiliar environment, he has been able to do so with the help of a familiar face at the club in midfielder Luciano Acosta. Jara claims Acosta played a major role in bringing him to the Black-and-Red this season.
“Luciano Acosta called me as soon as he heard about my situation and asked me if I was interested in coming to play in MLS,” said Jara. “In the 10 years I’ve played professionally, I was always in the first division of Argentine soccer, but I was looking for a new opportunity and this one came up. It was the most concrete situation available to me, so I made the decision to come here, knowing there were big players coming to play in this league.”
The relationship between Jara and Acosta stems from their time together at Club Estudiantes de la Plata in 2015, a year before Jara made his move to Boca Juniors and the year Acosta was loaned out by the Xeneize club. Acosta isn’t the only player on the roster that Jara recognized before moving to the District as midfielder Lucas “Titi” Rodríguez was also at Estudiantes in 2015.
Having lived in his home country of Argentina his entire life, having these familiar faces, along with other Spanish-speaking players on the team has helped the defender make a smoother transition to the United States.
“I’m very fortunate to share a locker room with a lot of people who speak Spanish like Lucho and Júnior Moreno,” said Jara. “They’ve all helped me so much in getting settled, getting close with them and getting help with anything I need.”
Before making his way to the U.S., Jara began his youth career with Estudiantes at 14-years-old after being handed a tryout and eventually making the team. He began playing at the U-15 level in the Argentine youth soccer system, before working his way up to the U-18’s then being called up to the senior squad. At just 18-years-old, Jara made his professional debut for Estudiantes on November 25, 2009 against Club Atlético Colón. Unfortunately, Jara suffered an injury which forced him to return to Estudiantes’ reserve teams in order to recover and regain his form. It would take a year-and-a-half for Jara to feature for the first team once more, as he returned to the lineup on June 6, 2011 against Argentinos Juniors.
Jara accredits his coaches, such as former Argentina national team coach Alejandro Sabella and former Boca Juniors coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto, for helping him progress throughout his career. The 28-year-old defender pointed out current Estudiantes coach and former Argentina defender Gabriel Milito as someone who was instrumental to his development as a player.
“The coach who left his mark on me was Milito,” said Jara. “He helped me improve my game at a moment when I probably needed that boost.”
It is that boost that helped Jara earn a move to Boca Juniors in 2016, where he went on to make 71 appearances for the Xeneizes. Now with D.C. United, Jara aims to leave his own mark by contributing to the team’s overall goal of winning MLS Cup, which starts with making the playoffs.
“It’s what we’re aiming for,” said Jara. “We’ll go game by game, trying to win our games at home and hopefully build from there.”
