🇩🇴 Is a soccer revolution underway in the Dominican Republic?
Ahead of WCQs + the Olympics, senior national team manager Marcelo Neveleff says it's worth dreaming of unprecedented success.
There are so many differences, and yet Marcelo Neveleff can’t help but see the parallels.
A country with a young generation in love with soccer, even when it’s far from the most famous sport in the nation. Youth development strategies getting sorted out between the clubs and the federation. More and more eligible players formed abroad wanting to join the national team.
Believe it or not, Neveleff says, soccer in the Dominican Republic now feels a lot like soccer in the United States did 15 or 20 years ago. And he would recognize the parallels better than most.
Now the manager of the DR’s senior national team, the Argentina native worked at youth clubs in the U.S., with MLS academies, with U.S. Soccer and saw nearly every part of the setup.
“We have the raw materials because there are a ton of kids playing soccer,” he said in a phone interview yesterday. “When you see that the population is so interested in soccer - when you go to Santiago in the north, to Moca, to places like Jarabacoa, places where you don’t think you’ll see soccer - there are soccer fields.
“This is a path that we’re just starting, and that we’ve been able to go to the U-20 World Cup is important, going to the Olympics is very important. Hopefully, we’ll have good qualifiers, good Nations League and you also have to note that the professional league has to be one of the best, if not the best, in the Caribbean.”
Whether or not that leads to the DR, a country with a population of 11 million that has 108 Major League Baseball players, becoming a ‘soccer nation’ will depend on the work Neveleff is doing. In addition to his role as national team manager, Neveleff also is the Coordinator of Youth National Teams, a job that became critically important when the DR earned qualification to the 2023 U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics with a wild run to the final of the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship.
Knowing there was talent in their youth ranks but also realizing it needed to take several steps forward to actually compete there, the Dominican federation set out to find someone with experience bringing through and forming young players in big numbers. Neveleff looked like the perfect fit and was convinced to leave Orlando City, where he was the Academy Director.
“That’s what drew my attention to the project. They’re looking to the future - it’s not just that you have to win tomorrow,” Neveleff said.
Still, winning tomorrow would be nice. The manager is pleased by the progression he’s seen from the DR since he took over, with a pair of losses to Nicaragua the only thing that stood between the team and its goal of promotion to League A in the 2023-24 Nations League.
Now, the DR goes into the second round of World Cup qualification as the third-ranked team in a group that also includes Jamaica, Guatemala, Dominica and the British Virgin Islands. The top two teams move into the third round and continue seeking the three guaranteed places for Concacaf teams at the 2026 World Cup or one of two spots in the inter-continental playoff.
That timeline may seem too advanced for a Dominican squad that had never qualified for a FIFA tournament at any level before last year’s U-20 appearance, but Neveleff says it’s worth envisioning the team fighting for a spot in 2026.
“When they presented the project to me, it was for the 2030 World Cup,” Neveleff said. “Of course, they know my work developing players and they saw in me a person who could take that path, but I also said that 2026 wasn’t something that could never happen - on the contrary, I told them the talent is there, and we have to try to give everything for this World Cup qualification cycle.
“Our first game against Jamaica is key but it’s not definitive. I told the directors we can dream. Why not try to have a good showing in qualification?”
That match against Jamaica on June 5 and a home match against the British Virgin Islands on June 10 are fast approaching, but the timing is a bit awkward for Neveleff and his staff.
The European club season ended this past weekend for most teams, meaning players are not only ready for rest but in many cases need it. The official FIFA window opens June 3, meaning the DR will train once, travel and play the Reggae Boyz.
That tight schedule also complicated the potential arrival of more recruits who are eligible for the Dominican Republic but haven’t been interested in being part of the national team setup in the past. Notably, Spain-based forward Mariano Diaz played one match for the DR in 2013, scoring in a friendly against Haiti. After, he decided to decline future call-ups, opting to focus on earning a call with Spain that never came.
While Junior Firpo, the Leeds United defender who is a veteran of La Liga, is committed to the national team and will play in the upcoming qualifiers, fans were hoping to see Mariano and additional recruits arrive. The Dominican federation published an article on its website about successful conversations between Neveleff and Mariano but when the squad came out, it still didn’t feature the Real Madrid product.
Neveleff called Mariano’s situation “special” since he’s struggled with knee, foot and hamstring injuries and hasn’t been getting many minutes otherwise, with 2017-18 the last time he played more than 500 league minutes. With his club situation unclear, the 30-year-old hopes to settle his plans for the 2024-25 season before committing to frequent trips across the Atlantic for club games.
“That’s what he’s looking for first, that’s what he wants. I can respect that,” Neveleff said. “But he gave me his word that he’s going to play for the Dominican national team - we even talked a lot about the goal of moving up to League A in the games in September, October and November, and I think that - God willing - we’ll be able to call on him.”
The other player he spoke with in Spain, Peter Gonzalez, spent the season with Valencia on loan from Real Madrid. Neveleff said the 21-year-old will represent the DR at the Olympics before starting his integration with the senior team.
“Things are on the right path, but everything takes time,” the manager said. “If Mariano hasn’t come before, it’s for a reason and if Peter hasn’t wanted to come until now, it’s for something too, so it’s the work of convincing them and not just talking but in action too. They want to see the national team playing well, too, and do it in a way where they identify with it. So, we’re on the path.”
Patience is needed when the path is as long as the one the DR would need to take from 150 in the FIFA rankings (between Lesotho and Afghanistan) to reaching anything near the United States’ consistency. But he has patience. He has players. And he hopes he has what he needs for another manager in 20 years’ time to use the DR as its own success story to be emulated.
and with the Dominican qualifying for their first major tournament on the women's side, too, it's a great time for the sport in the country! I can't wait to see more dual nationals help them out in the future