Not too surprisingly, quite a few American-born Hispanic players have headed south to pursue their dreams. Here is a list of youngsters who are actively registered with the Mexican Fed (meaning that they've joined clubs in Mexico), along with their birthplace, year of birth, and date of initial registration. Enrique Regalado Rodriguez, Riverside (CA), 83, Mar 22, 01 Steve Ramirez, Los Ang., 84, Feb 15, 02 Santiago Lopez Hernandez, CA, 85, Aug 14, 02 Jose Trinidad Rodriguez Enriquez, CA, 84, Aug 15, 02 Richard Rivera Rodriguez, CA, 86, Aug 15, 02 Josue Edward Rodriguez Michel, OK, 87, Aug 16, 02 Joseph Everardo Rodriguez Michel, OK, 87, Aug 16, 02 Daniel Hernandez Magan~a, CA, 84, Jan 10, 03 Eddy Hernandez Loza, 85, Los Ang., Feb 4, 03 Hector Torres Castillo, 89, El Paso, Aug 4, 03 Gary Cano Garcia, 84, Los Ang., Aug 5, 03 Ivan De Jesus Gomez, 84, CA, Aug 15, 03 Juan Leonel Cruz Bolton, 87, Hammond IN, Aug 27, 03 Marco Antonio Vidal Amaro, 86, Dallas, Aug 27, 03 Roy Ascacio Torres(?), 85, Aug 28, 03 Unfortunately, I don't have any information about what clubs they're at -- Cruz and Vidal may have gone to Morelia, but I'm not even sure about that. Some of these kids are almost certainly worth following ... current MLS players Herculez Gomez, Orlando Perez, and Jesus Ochoa were all once in Mexican clubs' youth teams. [Note that the Daniel Hernandez above is not the former MLS player.]
I found the clubs for two of the players on beineke's list. http://www.femexfut.org.mx/SegundaDivision/Jugadores.php?id=54479 http://www.femexfut.org.mx/PrimeraDivisionA/Jugadores.php?id=50161 GK Steve Ramirez CLUB MAZORQUEROS DE ZAPOTLAN (Segunda Division) D Enrique Rodriquez CLUB TLAXCALA FUTBOL CLUB (Primera A) Do you have the actual birthdate for Juan Leonel Cruz Bolton? There is a player in the '87 National pool named Leonel Cruz (DOB 6/13/87).
Re: Re: Playing in Mexico ... Exacto ... http://www.femexfut.org.mx/PrimeraDivision/Jugadores.php?id=61796 That's a big kid -- listed at 1.84 m (6-foot-1-and-1/2) and he's only 16. In Mexico, most goalies aren't even that size. BTW, isn't Tlaxcala the reserve team for one of the big clubs? EDITED to note that I did a bit of web search and couldn't find any info on Tlaxcala being affiliated with a bigger club.
Re: Re: Re: Playing in Mexico ... Midfielder Marco Vidal has 15 goals and 29 assists as a sophmore at Molina HS in Dallas. http://www.dallasnews.com/img/01-03/0102hsbsocplayers.pdf Yeah, Cruz is a central defender. He must grown quite a bit in the last year, because the USSF listed him at 5'10" 155 in 2002.
damnnn.. did you click at every team and every name??? yikes... it shows that they all have Mexican citizenship
Enrique Rodriguez's Tlaxcala was ranked 19 of 20 in the Primera "A" (Second Level) after the first 5 rounds. http://gruporeforma.mural.com/futbolencifras1a/TablaGeneral.asp?Flag=0&Menu=2&Flecha=1 It appears that Tlaxcala is the team formerly known as Oaxaca. Anyone know for sure?
Does Mexico allow dual citizenship? Maybe by birth, but I my brother-in-law's wife is from Mexico and her mother had some problems with dual cit. when she tried to get US citizenship so she could get her social security benefits.