American Exports: Paul Arriola, Club Tijuana bag road draw in CONCACAF Champions League debut August 7, 2013 Tom Marshall "...Club Tijuana played Luis Ángel Firpo of El Salvador to a scoreless road draw in their CONCACAF Champions League debut on Tuesday night, and four Americans helped grab the point at Estadio Custcatlán. Former LA Galaxy Academy forward Paul Arriola made his first start for Xolos, switching between the left and right flanks during the 90 minutes. Arriola (above) regularly looked threatening for Tijuana and had a decent opportunity in the 39th minute, when the 19-year-old cut the ball inside from the left wing and fired at shot straight into the arms of El Salvador national team No. 1 Dagoberto Portillo...." http://www.mlssoccer.com/ccl/news/a...tarts-club-tijuanas-concacaf-champions-league
I watched the last 15-20 minutes of that game. It was really exciting and its especially cool to see Arriola, Garza, and Castillo (and soon Gomez hopefully) playing in tough fast games like that. How was there not a gameday thread for this one?!
This kid looks classy and has a lot of poise for someone so young. Quick on and off the ball, great vision. Future looks really bright for him
I like how in the replay you can see that after heads the ball down to his teammate he changes his run, expecting to receive the ball back. That tells you so much about what type of player he is. Kudos to his teammate for knowing that the play was on playing a great back heel.
noshortcorners.com writes he is trying to get his Mexican citizenship, presumably to play for their national team. Why does everyone think he is solidly in the US camp?
He explicitly said he was very much pro-US in an interview a few weeks ago and that US Soccer is a big reason where he is now. In that same interview he said he doesn't speak a ton of Spanish. The only reason he's obtaining Mexican citizenship is so he doesn't take up a foreign roster spot in Liga MX (only 5 foreign players per team). People need to stop worrying if this kid will switch over.
This guy looks more like what we all thought Joe Corona was going to be. I like Corona, but IMO Paul already looks 10x better as an outside mid/ winger. Hope he keeps it up.
I thought the same thing whilst watching the game last night. Thought about starting one, but was too lazy.
lol...don't be silly...he's most likely getting his citizenship to not take up a foreigner spot on Xolos.
American Exports: Paul Arriola scores, but Club Tijuana undone late in Monterrey August 18, 2013 Tom Marshall MexSport "...Paul Arriola made an immediate impact for Club Tijuana on Saturday, netting his first goal for the club just three minutes after coming off the bench, although a late goal handed Monterrey a 2-1 victory at Estadio Tecnológico in Liga MX play. Arriola charged to the edge of the area in the 88th minute, where fellow American Edgar Castillo stepped over the ball, taking the defender away and sending the 18-year-old through to bury it into the corner of the net." It was a short but busy appearance from Arriola, who was also yellow-carded for a late tackle in the 87th. The former LA Galaxy Academy product replaced Joe Corona, who started on the right wing for Xolos...." http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ola-scores-club-tijuana-undone-late-monterrey