With Chivas looking all but set to happen, and their intentions of trying to give their roster a "Chivas flair" as Garber put it, who exactly are the Mexicans and Mexican Americans who play in MLS. I'll list a few I know who are, but I was hoping others could list other players: Carlos Bocanegra Alberto Rizo Memo Gonzalez Chivas Martinez Jesus Ochoa I believe Herculez Gomez is as well. Who else?
Not really the issue. Just wondering who is Mexican. Bocanegra's not going to play for Chivas anyway.
Perhaps CUS is just pointing that out since it's been said that the Chivas guy wants Spanish to be "the" language of the team. True, not speaking Spanish doesn't make Bocanegra not Mexican-American but it might limit his theoretical availability.
Someone that follows along. And yes, he won't be available for MLS clubs soon. Where's Orlando Perez (or his parents) from?
I wonder if ex-Mutiny player Martin Vasquez will be considered for coach of Chivas. He lives in the San Diego area, and played for the US after being naturalized from Mexico.(he might have had a cap or two for Mexico in meaningless games) He cares for both US and Mexican soccer (I remember in a World Cup 2002 preview article in the Union-Tribune, he was asked about whether he would root for US or Mexico, and he said he was going for both teams), I think he would be the perfect ambassador for the team, the only thing that's left to wonder is if he can coach.
There is no such thing as a Mexican-American. You have Americans of Mexican descent. If you have decided to become a citizen of the US of A, then you have become an American.
Here's a list of US-raised players of Mexican origin by year or birth 76: D. Hernandez 77: A. Martinez, R. Corrales 78: 79: F. Gomez, N. Garcia, N.Rimando, C. Bocanegra 80: A. Torres 81: J. Ochoa, J. Burciaga 82: H. Gomez 83: 84: 85: 86: G. Gonzalez Notice that this is a young group of players. Mexican-Americans are only starting to arrive in MLS, and it's a safe bet that they'll make continued progress in the years ahead. Also, notice that there aren't many four-year, major college players on this list. Mexican-Americans appear to be much more willing to jump to the pros. Finally, it's worth mentioning that there are currently about a dozen US-born players on the youth teams of Mexican pro clubs. That's also a new phenomenon. MLS needs to do its best to keep that talent here and develop it under our own umbrella. IMO, Chivas USA is a great starting point for doing that.
It also seems hardly coincidental that 5 of the 11 are currently playing for the Galaxy. So if Chivas USA were to start up in 2004 (they're not), they could reasonably get: Daniel Hernandez, Chivas Martinez, Ramiro Corrales, Francisco Gomez, Arturo Torres, Javier Ochoa and Herculez Gomez. The others would be difficult (but not impossible other than Bocanegra) to get. They could also get Alberto Rizo, but I'm guessing they'd probably want someone else for their SI spots. That doesn't look like the best of rosters, but it is possible that a change in playing styles might help a few of the players. Then again any group of any Nationality who would be available in an expansion draft wouldn't be particularly great.
As you're probably suggesting, this ties in with the fact that all the Mexican-American players are from Texas, California, or Vegas.