How Brandon Vazquez chose U.S. over Mexico - ESPN

Long before becoming an MLS star with FC Cincinnati and playing for the United States men's national team, Brandon Vazquez was just another bordertown kid, regularly straddling daily life and a passion for soccer between two countries.

Raised in Chula Vista, California, Vazquez was discovered by scouts from Club Tijuana, a Liga MX team located a few miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. American by birth, but with a Mexican heritage, the forward occupied both worlds, crossing the border every time he trained and played with the Tijuana youth academy.

For the teenager, it was an early lesson in perseverance and patience. «It was pretty crazy,» Vazquez told ESPN ahead of the USMNT's Gold Cup opener on Saturday. «I think back to it now and it's like damn, I don't know if I could do that now.»

When Vazquez was 13 or 14 years old, the future U.S. international needed to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to get to training in Tijuana by 7:00, and have his Mexico City-born father accompany him on his initial journeys. With training finished and back at the border by 10:00, he would often wait two to three hours to return to the United States. On bad days, it was a four- or five-hour wait for a teenager who still had to do his schooling online — and train again from home.

«Very long days,» Vazquez said. «Our lives were revolving around my soccer, so my parents definitely sacrificed a lot for me in those years.»

— Gold Cup schedule, results, bracket — Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

That sacrifice has since been rewarded through his eventual success and move to MLS. At just 24 years of age and so much potential, the forward has already amassed an MLS Cup title, a U.S. Open Cup championship, an appearance in last year's MLS