Paul Arriola

Early life

Arriola was born in Chula Vista, California, a suburb of San Diego. He is an American of Mexican descent as his great grandparents immigrated to the United States from Mexico. His parents are Dawn and Art Arriola. Arriola attended Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista, CA.

Youth

Arriola spent years with U.S. Soccer Development Academy club Arsenal FC based in Temecula, California, a club that has produced several successful players including Carlos Bocanegra and Hector Jiménez, before joining the academy of the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2013.

Professional

In December 2012, Arriola was invited to train with Tijuana, after having previously trialed with the club. Following the 2012 season and despite being offered a professional contract by the Galaxy, Arriola opted to sign for Club Tijuana of Liga MX, the highest level of soccer in Mexico. Arriola was part of a string of American-born players to join the Xolos including Edgar Castillo, Herculez Gomez, Joe Corona, and Greg Garza. The Galaxy listed Tijuana's proximity to Arriola's hometown of San Diego, 18 miles, as one factor contributing to his decision to opt for Tijuana over the Galaxy. About his decision, Arriola himself stated, "“I felt that Xolos was the place for me. I love the club, it's my home team and the people down there are wonderful.” The decision allowed Arriola to live on the United States side of the border with his family but cross it for training and matches.

Arriola made his debut for the club in a preseason friendly against Club América at Petco Park in San Diego on July 6, 2013. In the 54th minute, Arriola scored to make the score 5–0 in an eventual 5–2 victory for Tijuana. On July 19, 2013 Arriola made his professional league debut in a 3–3 draw with Club Atlas to open the 2013-14 Liga MX season. Arriola was a second-half substitute and assisted on Darío Benedetto's goal only four minutes after entering the match. Just a few days later, Arriola scored his second professional goal in CONCACAF Champions League against C.D. Victoria.

On August 9, 2017, Arriola signed for Major League Soccer side D.C. United for a club record fee of $3,000,000 plus allocation money for his rights to LA Galaxy.

International

Arriola has been part of the United States youth national team set ups and was part of the squad for the 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship but did not appear in any matches because of an injury. The United States went on to win the tournament. He made three starts in four matches at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. In 2013, Arriola joined the United States U18 squad for a trip to Europe for friendlies against France and Uruquay. Despite playing for the youth teams of the United States, Arriola applied for Mexican citizenship which would allow him to play as a domestic player in Liga MX rather than occupying one of the five foreign player spots.

Arriola made the United States U20 squad at the 2014 Dallas Cup and 2014 NTC Invitational. Arriola made the United States U20 squad for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, appearing in four of the team's five matches and scoring a goal in a 4–0 rout of hosts New Zealand in the group stage.

Arriola made the United States U23 squad for the Olympic Qualifiers versus Colombia U23 team. After not playing the first match on March 25, he started and played 45 minutes in the second leg at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The United States U23 lost series 3–2 on aggregrate.

Arriola made his senior team debut on May 22, 2016 against Puerto Rico, scoring his first international goal and notching an assist for a Bobby Wood goal.

International goals

International

United States