Sunday, March 2, 2008

Borja debuts

Carlos Borja made his debut for Chivas' Primera A side as he played the final 16 minutes in Sunday's 3-2 win over Queretaro.

A native of Anaheim, Calif., Borja was a former Chivas USA developmental player but is now property of Guadalajara. From what I've heard, he's pretty close to making the first team.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you gonna do some more of your award winning journalism and expose Borja the gringo?

L.B. said...

Mural ran a big story on Carlos Borja the day after the Padilla news came out down there. Also, Borja didn't lie about his upbringing.

Anonymous said...

so is this yet another Rossi situation where the kid will grow up and train in the US and decide to play for someone else despite being born and raised in America? How good is he? He must have some talent if he's looking at getting 1st team minutes at Chivas d. G.

Anonymous said...

Luis, has Borja indicated which national team he would play for, the US or Mexico, if given the option?

L.B. said...

Actually, I don't know if anyone (media that is) has talked to him since he's been down there. I know of one reporter who tried to get access to him the day the Padilla story broke down there and the Chivas people told him they'd put them in touch and then they refused to make Borja available and did not give him an explanation.

I would think, though, that it'd be a difficult situation for him to play for the US while a member of Chivas Guadalajara.

Anonymous said...

MLS has got to come up with a better way of bringing in all this talent then resorting to gimmicks like Sueno MLS(sp). Mexican teams raiding US soccer beds for Mexican American talent is in full bloom before it was just in partial bloom.

Ironic that Chivas USA usually taps its Chivas G parent team for talent but Borja is the other way around. LB do you know how he came to play for Chivas de
Guad. and not for Chivas USA?

L.B. said...

The story I've been told is that he was released here and then made his way down there, but I'm going to do some digging to see if that's what actually happened.

You'll see more of this story in the coming weeks for one of my outlets, if not a pair of them. it's backwards, really. The talent should be flowing north, not south, at least where Chivas USA and Guadalajara are concerned.

Anonymous said...

Will Borja be able to play first team? I ask becuase of Chivas' rule of only natural born Mexican players. Wasn't Borja born here?

L.B. said...

The rule of Mexican-born players, or "Mexicanos nacidos en Mexico," went out the window with Jesus Padilla. Club officials now say they follow the guidelines of the Mexican constitution, which recognizes people like Borja and Padilla - foreign-born children of Mexican nationals - as Mexican citizens. So yes, Borja is free to play for Chivas.

Anonymous said...

Denis Te Klose was scouting director for Chivas Guad nad lleft there to start the Chivas USA youth academies.
Something tells me he does more than that. He could a be link in the Borja case.

Anonymous said...

I think its very Pathetic, that a Mexican-American team like Chivas USA, who is lead by Chivas de Guadalajara has no hispanics playing there anymore. Carlos had no other choice other than to leave that team and go down south. Ever since Preki began coaching there you don't see that many hispanics there. Preki is converting this team into a European team. Which lead alot of the hispanic players to leave or reconsider their contracts with Chivas USA.

Anonymous said...

This makes me mad, but I think we are blaming the wrong people. Talent like Borja, Padilla and Rossi gets away because our "minor" leagues are still in development. Sueno MLS is a great start, but it pales in comparison to the machine that are the youth programs in Mexico and Italy. Part of this is also due to certain legal rules. For example, i can't imagine that the MLS offers free room, board, and tuition to kids in the Sueno MLS program. This is often offered in Mexico and Italy (from what I understand, Rossi's parents were even helped to move to Italy).

Additionally, there's the huge influence parents have with kids. many immigrant parents would love for their childrent to become soccer gods in their home countries. So, there's an added incentive that we can't quite quantify.

Anonymous said...

Layla, with all due respect, what the hell are you talking about?

Borja left the team, for reasons we don't know yet, but that doesn't mean that Chivas USA doesn't have plenty of hispanic players.

Panchito Mendoza
Claudio Suarez
Maykel Galindo
Bornstein (half Mexican)
Jorge Flores
Paulo Nagamura

with others on trial.

Throw in some American players, some Carribbean players and some European players and you have a typical MLS team, if not one that is more hispanic than most MLS teams.

So if you have a real point, please clarify what you're talking about.

Anonymous said...

Just a FYI to people, although I think you might have mentioned it already Luis, but Borja has played for US youth teams

Anonymous said...

Borja left the team becuause he wasn't getting a chance that he deserved. Thats the main reason he left Chivas USA. The same reason why some other players have left aswell. He had to look out for his future and knew that he would get a better chance in Mexico. Since he had been playing with Cruz Azul years before. I understand that this Chivas USA team has quite a few hispanics. My point is this, if this team was made for only hispanics in the first place, then why are they leaving this team?