Before Andy Najar, another player who tore up the U.S. youth ranks also chose to represent his native Honduras. Ramon Nunez, who grew up in Dallas and played for SMU before turning pro, was once one of the top young prospects in MLS, dubbed El Principito ("the Little Prince").

Now he is struggling in England, where his first game on loan at second-level Scunthorpe United lasted all of 32 minutes when he was brought off after teammate Paul Reid's red card. The game ended in a 6-0 mauling at Norwich City.

Nunez, 25, spent five seasons in MLS and also played in Mexico before moving to England after the 2010 World Cup, where he played all three games for Honduras. But he only played two games for Leeds before joining Scunthorpe United.

"There is a lot riding on this move," admitted Nunez. "First of all, I feel I am doing it for myself, I need to get games in. Second of all, I want to help Scunthorpe stay up. By doing that I can impress anyone else. It was a little bit of a gamble coming over to England to continue my playing career. I have had to start over again, obviously not from scratch, but it was a little bit of a gamble which I was willing to take and I am still willing to take. I am just waiting for that opportunity to come by and hopefully that will come at Scunthorpe."