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He is devoted.

Devoted to his family — a wife and five children, four in college or graduated, the fifth still in high school.

Devoted to his religion — he proudly brought up his Christianity five different times during an interview.

Devoted to St. Louis — as a soccer academy director, he has guided countless young people to become better players and better citizens.

And now, after all these decades of devotion, he can vote. After representing so many American ideals, Nando Hernandez is an American.

The 59-year-old former St. Louis Ambush player and South City resident was one of 21 people who officially became U.S. citizens Wednesday at a naturalization ceremony held before the St. Louis City SC game at Energizer Park downtown.

“Listen to how grateful I am,” Hernandez said, “not just to become a citizen, but it’s also an honor to be part of St. Louis, to be part of the community, to see my kids grow and my beautiful wife that has been my rock. And to be able to use soccer, the beautiful game, as a tool to ����ֱ�� so many kids. ...

“And see these generations of kids pursuing their dreams, going to college, playing the beautiful game, getting the scholarships? And now, many of them are married with kids. So just see the families? I’m grateful. God showed me his path — and I embraced that. And that path was St. Louis.”

Alex Langer, a City SC assistant ����ֱ��, is now an American, too. He also was part of the ceremony. Langer’s been an integral member of City SC since its inception. He is the goalkeeping ����ֱ�� and works closely with Major League Soccer star Roman Burki. And Langer, originally from Germany, is also ����ֱ�� in charge of City SC’s set pieces.

“I would say I have two emotions,” Langer shared. “First of all, thankful. I came to the United States in 2018 and played two years of college soccer, got my master’s degree. So the country provided me a great education and the opportunity to become a professional soccer ����ֱ��. I’m not sure if this would have been possible in other countries in the world.

“And the other emotion is pride. I’m proud to have made this journey and to come here and, now, to be a U.S. citizen.”

In a twist of fate, City SC employees had already begun planning the on-field naturalization ceremony when they discovered one of their own ����ֱ��es was in the process of becoming a citizen. And so Langer completed the process, filed the paperwork, finished studying and passed the tests in time.

“I’m actually quite interested in (world) history and American history,” he said. “So it was actually definitely beneficial for me to go through (the citizenship studies) and learn something new.”

So what do you find particularly interesting about American history?

“For me, it’s about just how a country developed itself and with a lot of diversity within that country,” Langer said. “And how you become, really, a place for other people. A lot of people really pursue to be in the United States. I think a lot of people want to live in the United States. So just the way that the country developed into that, I think, is pretty impressive.”

Hernandez was born in Bogota, Colombia. His father was a professional soccer goalie — and then went to law school. So Hernandez became a professional soccer player — and went to law school, while still playing. This was a thing that just didn’t happen in that era. His dedication was admired by his teammates, who elected him captain of Santa Fe, a team in Colombia’s top pro division.

In the mid-1990s, Hernandez was invited to America to try out for a Major League Soccer team. He ended up playing for a couple of lower-level U.S. teams and then, in 1998, got a call that changed his life. A friend invited him to a place called St. Louis. There was an indoor soccer team, the Ambush. Dr. Abraham Hawatmeh was one of the owners — he helped with Hernandez’s visa application at the time.

“That was a beautiful community,” Hernandez said. “And they embraced me like a brother.”

Hernandez is a people person. And he speaks numerous languages. In 2004, on his final road trip with the Ambush, Hernandez heard an unfamiliar language at the airport. So he happily introduced himself to learn more. It was a Bosnian family.

A man explained how many Bosnians in St. Louis “started from zero.” This helped inspire Hernandez to begin ����ֱ��ing international players. He eventually created the International Soccer Academy of St. Louis “for the Bosnian community, Latino community, African communities,” Hernandez said. “We had kids from the Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda. ... We have so many families coming from so many countries, and they all play one game. ...

“My whole vision was: Some of these families don’t have enough resources, but we do have families with resources. So every time that any kid was registering, at least a portion of that (money) is going to support one kid. ... (Many) went on to college. Their whole lives changed.”

Hernandez and his wife, a St. Louisan named Courtney Deeker, have lived in South City for decades now. Still do. But Hernandez now works in Eureka, where he founded the United St. Louis Academy, a soccer club “that we started from scratch,” he said. “And we went to up to 450 players.”

Recently, Hernandez’s wife and kids influenced him to officially become an American citizen. They told him he deserved it.

“It’s an honor,” Hernandez said. “An honor.”

During a chat at a downtown coffee shop this week, Hernandez discussed the U.S. national soccer team. Someone spoke negatively about the squad. Hernandez said: “You have some very good players!”

To which the person said: “We!”

“Yes!” Hernandez said. “We have some very good players!”