Photo by ISIphotos.com
Alejandro Guido is the latest American heading to Club Tijuana.
The U.S. Under-20 attacking midfielder will join the contingent of Americans at the top-flight Mexican club after signing his first professional contract on Wednesday. According to Yanks Abroad, the 18-year-old Guido signed a three-year deal with Xolos, where he'll team with Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo and Greg Garza.
Guido, who was reportedly on trial with Dutch side Vitesse over the summer, is one of the rising stars in the U.S. Under-20 player pool, and he starred for the United States in last summer's FIFA U-17 World Cup. He started every match in the tournament, scoring in the opening win over the Czech Republic. He was part of the most-recent U.S. U-20 training camp held in Florida, his first appearance at that level after advancing from the U-17s.
What do you think of the signing?
Share your thoughts below.
If the downtown LA football stadium goes in… with the fact that they have already said it will be specifically designed to accommodate soccer… and that Lieweke is involved with the development group… I’d say it is a pretty good bet that the Galaxy would move there. Chivas may well have Home Depot to them selves in a few years and may be banking on it.
I do think and have said before that San Diego is a better home for them. As a Sandiegan, I can say without doubt, there is a huge, neglected fan base there. They had the largest viewership the last 2 WCs and would definitely support a team. Pretty foolish to let a Mexican League team lay claim to it. I’ll be going to some Xolo games. BTW: If Chivas were to move there… they ought to change their name. No one likes to be anyones stepchild.
There are two San Diego teams playing in the NPSL, San Diego Flash and San Diego BOCA FC. Waron Barton is the Head Coach and Eric Wynalda is part of the management team of the Flash. The San Diego Sockers PASL who are San Diego’s most successful sports franchise just won their 12th indoor championship. 14th championship total if you count the two they won in the NASL.
I would love to see the owners of these three clubs combine their efforts into ONE team and bring the SOCKERS back out doors where they belong. They have the history and if marketed the right way I feel they could fill a 18,000 seat venue. Having a MLS team with true roots here would foster a great rivalry between SD and LA and SJ. It would have the possibility to look a lot like the great rivalries in the Northwest.
To those that say this can’t be done I say it can and here is how. Check out this link
http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/San-Diego-Magazine/March-2012/Politics/
It would be nice if the new fox san diego channel could televise Xolos games. Instead we get a crappy Chivas team, Xolos are more of a San Diego team than chivas. Both Guido and Corona are products of South Bay soccer.
Great move for him. Guido is a talented kid, and Xolos are quickly becoming every US soccer fan’s favorite Mexican team.ÂÂ
Xolos develop Mexican-American talent, those players earn more money and play in a higher quality league, the US national team benefits from that, Xolos get the benefit of having those talented kids play for them, Xolos attract more fans from across the border, it’s a win-win-win-win.
dude, its an effing joke. everyone gets it. now laugh.
There’s a limit of 5 international slots on every team. If we counted naturalized citizens and dual citizenship, teams like Pachuca, Tigres and Xolos would have more than 8 non-Mexican born players on their roster.
Guido is a good one. I heard an interview on the radio with the Xolos sporting director mentioning the kid used to live in Tijuana and go to school in SD every day. I hope he makes it (and never switches for MEX).
Xolos has money. They have their foreigner spots covered with south americans, that’s why they haven’t gotten a non-mexican american player yet. Might be a good bet for the future and would push the “SoCal’s team” goal further.
They could try and get Boca to strengthen that D as well. He’s got mexican grandparents, so a passport shouldn’t be hard to come by.
Xolos is pronounced sholos, not cholos…
obviously the biggest argument for this would be the geographical one. FMF on the whole is not accustomed to 3 or 4 hour flights. Hell, dont many teams travel by way of bus anyway? Another factor that would help would be to make it a bi-national team- half the games in TJ, the other half in SD. Of course, the question is would Mexicans respect play in MLS?I doubt it. They can easily sell out their 33k stadium for FMF games, but against yankees? me no think so
They are doing a great job with Bornstein.
I wouldn’t say that they do their share — this is a recent change.
sold. Xolos has become my favorite Mexican team. after reading the story on TIAS about the team and their connections to San Diego, i liked them. and in the fact they keep signing Americans, SOLD.
I agree. I also think they HAVE to get rid of the Chivas USA title. They can talk all they want about moving stadiums, or having LAG move out, but that isn’t going to change anything. The Mexican-Americans in LA aren’t ALL Chivas fans. And its become painfully obvious that their business plan is failing. They need to re-brand (CD Los Angeles, for example) and move out of LA. Whether that is to San Diego, Orlando, NY, Atlanta, St. Louis…I don’t care.
OR, if they truly want to stay in LA, then they have to start building and investing a team like LAG. Go out and fight for Ronaldinho, Drogba, etc. The players who want to play in LA or NY but can’t get on LAG because they already have 3 DPs. Otherwise, they will always be the second rate LA team.
Funny you mention that because TIAS (one the DPs) did a great article on the history of Tijuana and the Xolos. It’s an outstanding read, but keep it mind it was written before they got promoted (the season before). Anyway, even at that point soccer fans in San Diego were going to Xolos games and making it their home team. Unless Chivas USA moves to San Diego, I expect that trend to continue. Tijuana is a easy trip from San Diego and there are some groups that organize buses to games. Anyway, check out the article if you have time.
Yea but instead of developing mexican talent in the USA they develop out talent in the MFL. I’m totally ok with that.
I’m thinking an El Monte location would even attract Valley gente not wanting to deal w/405, like Pacoima. How about the TJ Cholos play half the year w/FMF and the other half in San Diego w/MLS. Of course, MLS would have to divide yr into 2 like rest of Latin America (and yes, SD, LA, San Anton, Hou, Mia are all part Latin America). Hell, the Xolos (pronounced Cholos) probably have more Americans then several MLS teams.
Its not like it hasnt paid off for them too, isnt Tijuana midtable or higher? Thats pretty impressive for a promoted team (2nd yr). The Americans have helped them immensely. So I was in one of my stores yesterday, and almost bought a Chivas usa shirt. I support all Cali teams, but cant bring myself to wear something w/Amway or Herbalife on the front. I think I’ve finally found my shirt, as long as they show up at Ross (broke student, not really WB). And that dog is pretty bad-*** looking too. They should finally play some game in San Diego now that they have so many chicanos.
You’re right about San Diego; half of the financial crisis is related to the city’s support for the new baseball field, and there’s no money anywhere for a soccer specific stadium.
I received a survey last year, asking whether I’d see Chivas if they moved. The options they mentioned then were downtown L.A., near the Staples Center and Pomona CA (30 miles or so east of L.A. Both of those locations would be good choices, I think, but Pomona would allow Chivas to draw more support from Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
erm, i thought that was chivas de Guadalajara, not the whole league. Club America is the Anti-Chivas, having been loaded w/ south american talent for years.
Who knows? Maybe they would. There’s Swansea as well, but I don’t really know their story of how they ended up in the premier league.
This is great. Follow our Xolo fan club on Twitter @XoloSd
It’s an interesting idea but not necessarily one FIFA will go for. Every so often Scottish or English teams talk up a UK or European superleague and FIFA makes grumpy noises about cross-border leagues. I think MLS gets away with Canada because nothing there could be considered a real first division competitor. But generally speaking the Cardiffs and Derry Cities and such are anomalies permitted for historical or political reasons.
That being said, New Zealand has a league that routinely provides a semi-pro Oceania representative for the World Club Championship each year, and yet Wellington plays in the Aussie A-League, which advances into Asian competition. It wouldn’t be completely unprecedented even today.
Xolos; what chivas usa is suppost to be!
My caveat being that Puebla spent its way into poverty and a lost coach (if DmB on paper should make more money but the check never arrives, does he actually do so?), the Mexican alternative should only be as attractive as the paychecks are regular in showing up. One reason MLS might be attractive abroad would be “any port in a storm,” presumably our teams because of the salary cap and such present a reliable, if lower, paycheck.
One irony could be that San Diego might economically prop up a Tijuana team. In which case they’d have an intriguing interest in claiming the territory which MLS might or might not want to contest….do I want a relocated Chivas USA fighting a FMF team for fans, will that really stabilize them? Do I concede the market and chase someplace else where I’m not an insurgent in an established market?
Here is an idea: If Xolos are relegated, why not approach them about joining MLS? In the long run, MLS may be more financially stable than bouncing between FMF I and II. They could play the majority of their games in the Pacific Time Zone. The only downside is that they may have to move the team out of a stadium where they have sunk a fair investment. On the other hand, if they were made whole, and had a good stadium deal and longer term financial prospects that were favourable, then it may make sense. A lot of ifs, but as someone whose started a multinational business, I can tell you it’s much easier to buy a something than build it.
99 – As someone born & raised in San Diego (now a NorCal resident), I’m in total agreeance with you. San Diego needs an MLS team something fierce. I think the Xolos/Chivas game preseason match sold out, and the Chivas brand would actually mean something there.
That said, there’s no way it’s gonna happen, for a couple reasons.
1) No public funding available for a soccer-specific stadium. Unless the club foots the entire bill for a SSS, they’ll be forced to play at a college campus stadium or at Qualcomm Stadium, which is too big (no way they’d fill it weekly) and falling apart. SD city government is in shambles down there and they’re currently battling with the SD Chargers for a new stadium anyway.
2) The Chivas USA owner is an idiot. He’s gone on record as saying that “this is a Los Angeles club”. With that kind of fervor, he can’t see the forest for the trees and realize that LA is Galaxy country.
Mexico has a strict limit on foreigners playing in a team so they can only get players with Mexican heritage.
Castillo is the oldest off the list at a grey-haired 25. While the players on the Xolos are not the greatest ever, they are all people in the national pipeline with a pedigree to be taken seriously. This should raise obvious questions about the effectiveness of MLS’ efforts to secure young talent, which were the subject of plentiful discussion and rules changes last year. Don’t seem to have worked….
I don’t think “diversity” will help them gain a following in San Diego, I think staying up will.
I love that they are signing players from SoCal–or any Americans at all–but the big draw has to be the ability to safely and conveniently attend games and follow a local Primera team.
i curious to see when they are going to start signing Anglo Americans if this team is to truly going to be the team of southern california. Like they want to claim we are going to have to see more diversity on their team.
and yes they can pay more they were rumored in the running during the beckham saga of the off season.
they had a security plan end even what neighborhoods in San diego becks could have lived in.
^ T H I S ^
Good move for him, and hopefully he’ll get time because I’ve been wanting to watch him play some games after looking so good in the U-17 World Cup.
I’m not sure if it is about the salary or the fact that MLS doesn’t want to undermine its homegrown development priority set out over the last couple seasons. They seem to only sign U18 players outside of MLS Draft rarely, last example Gill. Chivas complained how they had Rodriguez was in their development but had yet to fulfill the time restraints to sign him and that their were frustrated with the system because they lost a player.
when are chivas moving to san diego? it seems foolish not to at this point. stadium…blah, blah…
outside of the 10 people who attended their game this weekend, LA doesn’t want them.
san diego is a hotbed that is being wasted.
Yeah, and his parents are from Tijuana I believe. 18 yr old playing pro ball and being able to live at home where your mom can do your laundry and make you dinner…nice gig.
As much as some people hate Mexico (their team) we must admit they do their share to help develop American talent.
He’s from the San Diego area (Chula Vista) right? So that’s gotta be a nice transition to the pro game. I wonder how much Xolos pay compared to what MLS offered.