Llamosa impressed at an MLS tryout and was offered a contract, which he rejected. He was married and had a child on its way.
"A lot of the decisions you have to make for the best of the family," he said. "They didn't tell me, 'OK, you're going to play for a New York team.' In the draft you might go to LA. The money isn't enough to be in LA with a family. If you're lucky you might go to a less expensive city."
In 1996, Llamosa performed with the New York Fever, formerly Centaurs, enhancing his reputation. He won team MVP, was named to the A-League Best XI and runner-up for defender of the year. He got a better offer from D.C. United, which had the last pick in the 1997 supplemental draft and traded up to selected him.
"They had Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos at center back, who were National Team players," Llamosa said. "My agent asked me: 'Do you think it's a good idea going to D.C.? They already have two center backs who were National Team players. It's going to be tough for you to play.' I said, no, I want to be on the best team. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward. I don't want to be on a team where I would probably be a starter but not on a strong team. I want to be on a team that will compete for the cup.
"I knew I had a big challenge because most of the guys played for national teams. Every day I had to compete to get minutes on the field. I pushed myself to work hard, be disciplined, and get a starting position."
On a team that won two MLS Cup championships in 1997 and 1999 and lost in the 1998 final.
WATCH: Carlos Llamosa Highlights with D.C. United
Llamosa's talents did not go unnoticed by Steve Sampson, who coached the U.S. squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and United coach Bruce Arena, who became USMNT coach later that year.
The 5-11. 166-lb. defender already had applied for U.S. citizenship. Had the stars aligned and his paperwork not been delayed by governmental red tape and incompetence, Llamosa might have been a member of the France '98 squad. In March 1998, Sampson asked Llamosa if he wanted to play for the United States. Llamosa’s citizenship papers needed to be rushed because Sampson wanted to see how he fit into the squad by the final warm-up game against Kuwait on May 24.
Llamosa got a world-class run-around by the U.S. government. He missed United training to fly up to an Immigration and Naturalization Office in New York City. MLS, based in Los Angeles at the time, had a lawyer advising Llamosa. At 8 a.m., he was told he needed to talk to his attorney, but it was 5 a.m. in LA.
"That was a waste of time because everything was far away from each other," Llamosa said. "They said, 'Since you live in Virginia, your file must be in Virginia.' I went to a federal building there. 'No, your file is not here. It must be in New York.' I said, 'I went to New York to Federal Plaza in Manhattan. 'No, it’s the Federal Plaza on Long Island.' Time started going, going, going. I was so anxious. I was thinking that this was my only chance to play for the National Team and have an opportunity compete in a World Cup. The Kuwait game came. No citizenship, no World Cup."
Llamosa was advised by an INS official to restart the process with a new picture, fingerprints and paperwork.
Only 14 days after becoming a citizen, Llamosa made his USMNT debut at the "ancient" age of 29, in Arena's first game as coach. He lined up alongside D.C. teammates Pope and Agoos in an international friendly against Australia in San Jose, Calif. on Nov. 6, 1998.
