I was away for the weekend and didn't discover this till reading about it on SA's website and was surprised to not find a thread on it here. (Or if there was, I missed it,) It appears a Sacramento-born player in the youth system of Chivas (the Guadalajara one) debuted for the first team this weekend. http://www.socceramerica.com/article/37803/sacramento-born-defender-debuts-for-guadalajara.html It appears he only played because of nat call-ups, but it's still impressive to start in the Mexican first division and for a prestigious team. Also once again shows the whole "Mexicans only" facade at Chivas is a thing of the past. Oh, and to add to the intrigue about this kid, he's a left back! That'll make for some fun angst for US fans. Here's a link to his Spanish-language Wiki page (I know, or, Yo se!) but it appears he turned 21 last month, at least according to that. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Ángel_Ponce
Yeah, but one thing is definitely true. No Chivas player is going to play for the USMNT or any USYNT.
It's funny how whoever wrote the Wiki article had to put this in: un futbolista méxico-americano nacido en los estados unidos pero de padres mexicanos por lo tanto es considerado mexicano Basically saying that he was born in the U.S. but has Mexican parents so he's definitely considered Mexican... seems like a huge assumption to make, who knows which country this kid would want to represent.
First of all, one start at age 21 does not a national team player make, either for Mexico or the US. Having said that, if he does develop into having that potential, I'm sure El Tri will have the inside track for obvious reasons. But, I'm not gonna write him off as a potential US player down the line because he's playing for Chivas. There was a time when simply being born in the US would have kept him off the roster. Now Chivas has has a couple of American-born kids play for them and has several more in their youth ranks. Things change. And as they do, things that once seemed unlikely can become possible. I'm not sayin Chivas won't gripe if one of their own plays for the US, nor am I saying it's likely right now. But once Chivas made the decision to sign multiple American kids, it became a matter of when, not if, one of their players would ever play for the US.
Oh, I definitely agree with 99% of what you're saying here. It's important that we keep track of these kids, becuase.......like Padilla.......if they leave Chivas.....they're fair game. Remeber what Vargera has said about the Padilla issue: Although he was born in the United States, according to Article 30 of the Mexican Constitution, he was born Mexican as he is the son of Mexicans born in a foreign country. Chivas owner Jorge Vergara's take on the nationality question is simple: "We go by the definition in the Constitution," Vergara says. "Mexican law says that you are a Mexican if you are born outside Mexico and both parents are Mexican." http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/07/sports/sp-chivas-guadalajara7 And hell, it's his team. He can make the rules up as he goes along. What do I care? All I know is that a kid being at Chivas and playing for the US on any level....may be a bridge to far.........for the immediate future. Let's keep an eye on Ponce, like we did with Padilla...........because you never know what will happen.
jajaja! if he plays for chivas he will never play for the usmnt don't even get your hopes up because if the us calls him and he goes for the usa believe me he will get kicked out of chivas faster than usa losing the advantage vs brazil, and chivas is only mexicans to that [poster] that says that the chivas policy is going down you must not know that a player born in mexico from german ancestry played there already as long as you are born in mexico or you are mexican in any way like one of your parents or both of them like in ponce's case you are eligible to play with chivas look on wikipedia for this name and you'll see Hans "El Güerito" Friessen Wutteke
Not to bring up Hermann Göring's name twice in a day but, when he was informed that his second in command of the Luftwaffe (Field Marshall Erhard Milch) was half-Jewish, Göring replied, "I'll decide who the Jew is". So, they fudged the documents by having Milch's German mother write a fictitious report that her son was conceived outside of the marriage and was thus 100% Aryan. And some of us think Ghana's paper trail can be easily doctored.
Some of you guys need to do your homework before you start assuming things about a club you have no idea about. First: According to the Constitution you are Mexican born if your parents are Mexican nationals. Thus making you Mexican with all the rights that come with it. Second: Chivas has fielded Mexicans born on Foreign soil before Vergara bought the team. As far as Ponce, he seems to be a very good left back. He played the full 90 last night against Velez Sarsfield in Copa Libertadores and played pretty good. He's very technical and IMO reminds me of a young Salcido.
relax bud I think most of us know the rules involving chivas, btw I saw him play yesterday, he a nice young player with a hard shot, but hes far from either national team. heres some highlights for those who missed it hes the one with the hard volley at 1:20 mark [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSIZwYHmX8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSIZwYHmX8[/ame]
I gotta say, guys, I'm a little disapointed it took this long for the first ponce quip. I expect a little better out of you people.
Yeah, he looks promasing. It seems Chivas has a very good eye for left backs. Slacido, Magallon and now Ponce.
no kidding. I felt it was my duty to make the lame obvious joke since no one else seemed to want the job.
I just heard this morning (on ESPN Deportes SportsCenter) that Ponce was on his way to Chivas USA as soon as the FMF season is over. Looks like he's taking "the Gringo Padilla route" back to the fatherland. I can see him playing a lot of LB when and IF Johnny B leaves for South Africa. Gotta love that Mexican Constitution bullsh*t. Good thing his last name ain't Rossi.
I think what hes saying is that despite being a mexican national that he could play for the usa and chivas could potentially have a us international on their team.
Anyway.......this issue is nonsense. Chivas can do whatever the hell they want.......it's their team. And before Padilla and Ponce, there have been other American-born players at the club. Gerardo Mascareño was born in Maryland. Eduardo Fernández de la Garza was born in Texas. Etc. etc. An American-born guy playing for Chivas has been a non-story for quite some time now. They have bunch of American kids in their academy. Our Yanks Abroad list compiled by Dave M-N indicates that there are 4 Americans at Chivas at various levels (Ponce, Ayala, Navarro, Ledezma). And that doesn't count Padilla, who's just on loan to ChivasUSA. And that also doesn't count Carlos Borja, who was born in California. He was recently at Chivas' academy and Tapatio, but just moved to ChivasUSA. So what are we making a big deal of here? A USMNT player suiting up for Chivas is a completely different issue. That would be an enormous deal, and would probably require a complete philosophy shift at Chivas. It could happen some day, but I just don't see it happening any time soon. [Oh, and according to Dave...........we currently have 64 Americans playing in Mexico........that we know of.]
Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. If the player chose to play for the US Im certain that he would leave Chivas. Chivas would never allow a player to represent another country, after all Chivas has been the most Mexican club in the history of Mexican soccer.
Having a Chivas proper player choose to play for the US is a matter of when, not if. The interesting thing will be what they choose to do with him when the decision is made.......especially if he's a highly regarded player. I look forward to that day, not because of any ill will toward El Tri, but because I want to see how Chivas react.