Copa America Stars: Alejandro Bedoya (USA)

Born in the New York suburb of Englewood, Alejandro Bedoya's winding road to Ligue 1 Uber Eats saw him become a cult hero at FC Nantes in the truest sense of the word, known for his dramatic goal, wearing his heart on his sleeve, and popularity with fans of Les Canaris. While Bedoya is now retired from international football at age 37, he still lends a veteran presence to Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union, and ahead of the Copa America later this month, we're shining the spotlight on the talented midfielder, one of the top players to have made the jump from the United States to France.

Bedoya's path to professional football was a somewhat unorthodox one. After a successful career at Boston College that saw him be named all-American in his final season, rather than declaring for the MLS SuperDraft, he moved abroad, joining Swedish club Orebro. Working hard as a box-to-box player, his displays there would earn him a move to Scotland's Rangers, where a half-season stint was unimpressive. A return to Sweden that summer, in 2012, saw his star rise even further, though. Playing now for Helsingborgs, he featured in Europe and helped the team challenge for the top spots in both of his seasons before he was snapped up by Nantes in the summer of 2013.

Arriving in France was a big step up for Bedoya, but he was determined to show the quality of American football, telling Le Beau Jeu in 2020, "I still think there's that stereotype that Americans aren't known for soccer, they're not the most technical players, so you really have to go out there and prove that. I was really representing America, I was the only American here at the time." Indeed, while Carlos Bocanegra had been at Saint-Étienne for a solitary season, the idea of an American, particularly an outfield player, succeeding in France, would have seen far-fetched.

But Bedoya was impressed by the passion on show at Nantes, and famously led the always-raucous Stade de la Beaujoire in a chant associated with the USMNT, for whom he was fast becoming a regular. He connected with the fans in the stands, and with his teammates on the pitch. After scoring five goals in his debut season, he was used less frequently in the two subsequent campaigns, often off the bench as he missed a large chunk of his final season (2015/16) but still looks back at his time in France fondly.

Speaking to Fox Soccer in 2016 after his move to MLS, he reflected, "(It was my favorite), playing three full years at Nantes and being a starter for most of the time there. Every time we would score a goal the fans would all run down to the bottom of that section. It was mayhem." In making 87 appearances in three seasons, he was an ever-present for Michel der Zakarian, scoring scored 11 goals in that spell, a figure surpassed only recently, by Folarin Balogun, among Americans.

With his country, he made 66 appearances, and won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in both 2013 and 2017, as well as helping his country reach the knockout rounds of the 2014 World Cup. Whenever Bedoya does hang up his boots, he will be remembered fondly in France as a legend of the game.