Mexico National Team

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.

FC Porto defeated Moreirense 2-1 in the Taca de Portugal (the country’s premier knockout competition) with Mexico internationals Hector Herrera and Miguel Layun providing the goals. Porto haven’t won the Cup since 2011, but they’ll now play fierce rivals Sporting CP in a Dragões vs Leões semifinal. 

Herrera scored the game’s opening goal in the eighth minute after a fine run from Tiquinho. The midfielder applied the finish with a lovely dink over the keeper. 

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.

As first reported by Univision and subsequently confirmed by ESPN FC and the Washington Post’s Steven Goff, 18-year-old Monterrey midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez, having represented the United States at the U-17, U-18 and U-20 levels, will request a one-time switch of allegiance from FI

UEFA, you may be a bit late to the party. The European soccer governing body released a list of 50 players to watch in 2018 on Friday, an index of rising stars who could become household names in the coming calendar year. By naming Mexico’s Hirving Lozano one to watch, UEFA is basically admitting it didn’t pay attention to the last half of 2017, when Chucky tore up the Eredivisie with first-place PSV Eindhoven.