As if the Jonathan Gonzalez Mexico debut wasn’t bad enough for U.S. fans, the California native completed his switch to El Tri on U.S. soil. Gonzalez came on as a 57th-minute substitute for Elias Hernandez and didn’t look out of place as Mexico played Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday evening at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
After weeks of speculation linking Mexican international Miguel Layun with La Liga side Real Betis — where international compatriot Andres Guardado currently plays — derby rival Sevilla has announced the capture of the 29-year-old right back on loan with an option to buy in the summer, pending a medical scheduled for Tuesday.
Jonathan Gonzalez, the 18-year-old wonderkind midfielder for Monterrey in Liga MX and the USMNT's next great midfield boss, has officially received clearance from FIFA to switch national teams and become Mexico's next great midfield boss.
When outgoing U.S.
On as a 64th minute substitute for West Ham in their Premier League match against Bournemouth on Saturday, Mexico international Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez scored the equalizer for the Hammers in a 1-1 draw at London Stadium.
Mexico’s pre-World Cup exhibitions will include at least three matches in the country El Tri helped keep out of the World Cup, highlighted by the Mexico vs Iceland friendly in Santa Clara, California, in March. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio will test his team against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Croatia this spring, with all three to be played in the United States.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Mexico on Jan. 31, three days after playing the United States. The USA match is in Carson, California, while the Mexico match will be in San Antonio.
In 29-year-old Mexican midfielder/right back Efrain Juarez, the Vancouver Whitecaps have acquired one of the greatest prospective films of all-time. Like any great movie, Juarez’s story starts at the beginning.
The native of Mexico City won the 2005 U-17 World Championship with El Tri (alongside the likes of Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela) while on the books at Pumas, facilitating an ill-fated stint with Barcelona’s B team. He then resurrected his young career by returning to Mexico to play for Pumas, helping his club to the 2009 Clausura championship.
After leading the Liga MX Femenil Apertura season with 15 goals in 14 matches, Club America striker Lucero Cuevas is picking up right where she left off in the Clausura. On Monday, America defeated Pachuca 3-2 with Cuevas scoring a brace, including the go-ahead goal in the 48th minute and what would prove to be the match-winner in the 51st.
The fallout from Jonathan Gonzalez’s switch from the United States national team to Mexico has been expectedly fierce, especially so when coupled with the current state of U.S. Soccer. Here was a California native who’d progressed through the U.S. youth system, including run-outs at the U-17, U-18 and U-20 levels, who joined Mexican club side C.F. Monterrey in 2014 “bleeding red, white and blue.”
Aged 31, Mexico international Andres Guardado recently told FIFA.com that he now prides himself more on bringing “balance to the team” rather than being the “box-to-box player” of old, so the Real Betis midfielder is probably less than pleased with the club’s defensive record this season — they’ve allowed 34 goals in 18 matches, third-worst in La Liga.