Padilla video

Announcer: Jesus Padilla, of Chivas Guadalajara, was born in California, and that provoked controversy because of the team’s tradition to play with only Mexicans. Padilla declared that he is 100 percent Mexican, that he was born in California due to familial necessity, but returned to Jalisco within ten days. The information was first published by Sports Illustrated. Chivas considers Padilla 100 percent Mexican, and the case closed.

Jesus: “Within ten days I came to San Jose de Reynoso, with my parents, who were over there working, but I’ve lived the rest of my life here in Mexico. I couldn’t be born there in the living room, I had to go to the hospital, so that’s why there’s a birth certificate (in California). But I’m Mexican, I feel Mexican, and that’s the truth.

Voice over: Jesus Padilla is the fifth U.S. player in Chivas history to play for the team. The first was Wintilio Lozano, who was born in Gerome, Arizona and played eight seasons with the club. The most recent was Gerardo Mascareno, who played 10 games with the club in the summer of 1998.

(ESPNDeportes had the original Padilla story, where he said his mother was American and that the family moved to San Jose, California when he was two years old. He also mentioned all his little sisters were born in San Jose)