Christan Ramirez has spent two seasons playing in Major League Soccer, and has scored 23 goals during that time. It is a track record that has helped him establish himself as a quality striker in MLS, and one that has now earned him his first U.S. national team call-up.
And yet, Ramirez doesn't believe that track record has helped him shake off a label that doesn't do him justice, but one he wears with pride.
Of all the players in the current USMNT camp, Ramirez is the only one who didn't begin his career in an MLS, Mexican or European system.