Thursday, September 4, 2008

Pondering Padilla

It seems like Jesus Padilla keeps modifying his history. First he was born in Mexico, but raised almost entirely in the U.S., then he accepted that he was born in the U.S., but maintained that it was only for a little while, saying he was basically raised in Mexico. Now it's a combination. Try to keep track of it all.

Luis Arroyave talked to Jesus about his reaction to Luis Bueno and I revealing the truth (Arroyave doesn't specifically mention it, but it was us who broke that story) about Jesus' birthplace and American heritage.

I thought about this recently in the context of the Olympic games, given the controversy over the real ages of some of the Chinese gymnasts. Basically, I'm somewhat fascinated at how indignant people can be about the truth coming to light.

We worked on that story without ever having met Padilla - we were basically following a hunch and tracking down documentation. That's unusual for me, because almost everything I write is based on talking to the players involved. We tried more than once to set up an interview with Padilla, but Guadalajara put us off repeatedly.

Perhaps the acceptance of Padilla - acceptance Gerardo Mascerano didn't get in his time - signals a broader move on the part of Mexico and the fans of their national team as well. After all, they have a European coach now and more foreign-born players on the squad than before.




15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Padilla is a PR nightmare for chivas de guad if plays for his mother country.

Oh well, he needs to follow his dream like G. Rossi. Even if its not his dream.

What would the US look like with Altidore-Rossi-Padilla front line in a 4-3-3?

Exactly.

Anonymous said...

dose anyone known if the usa give padilla a look before he because known or just like he she sitter tryout with odp and was told she was not good enough to play with the usa u17 so she play with the mexican u17 and as luck is the usa play mexico and the usa score in the 93 min for a 1-0 so i can see why the padilla family is not to happy with the US because the us is try to take credit for them and just like them there all more players that the us overlook because color,height and speed but the US is quick to said that there american so why dosen't the US pick some of this player before not after . players need to follow there dreams and if the US dosen't give these players there shot our countrys will !!!!!!!!!!!

A.C. said...

Carmen Padilla went to college on a soccer scholarship and played for the Mexico's women's national team. I don't know all the details about Marisela's situation, but it's likely she can either also earn a scholarship or play in the new WPL one day.
I'm all for talented players taking the opportunities that come their way, but I guess I don't understand why anyone would object to being called American if that's what they are.
The point about other countries taking U.S. players if the U.S. doesn't is very valid, of course.

Anonymous said...

why anyone would object to being called American if that's what they are what I am said is that the US dosen't talk about these kid before hand they talk about them after there known culture soccer have something about the hernandez siding going to odp and noting make it and mexico calling both of them the girl is u15 and with Marisela and was part of the u17 that the us win in the 93 min my point is why the US are letting this players play for other countries The only thing more incredible than the fact that brother and sister Alexis and Amber Hernandez both play for youth national teams is the fact that both represent Mexico. The Hernandez siblings have lived their entire lives in California, but in the past year both have worn Mexico’s famous tricolor. Children of a Mexican-born mother and second-generation Mexican-American father, Alexis and Amber are among the latest in the growing number of American-born players returning to their ancestral homeland to play their soccer.

A.C. said...

Honestly, the U.S. also has a Brazilian born girl playing for Brazil's youth system. She's American, though. She was born in Brazil when her dad was there on business.
The truth is that women's soccer is more competitive in the U.S. than just about anywhere else. It's very possible to come up through the U.S. club system and be good enough to play for the national teams of other countries, but not the U.S.
Have you checked out that U17 list for Bradenton? Read over those names and then tell me again that Latino players aren't getting a chance. Yes, some do slip by, but the only Mexican playing in the Olympics this year was American, Michael Orozco.

Moroco said...

the mexican constitution clearly states that if you are born in a different country but either one of your parents is mexican you are mexican by default. So, case closed, the guy has been mexican since the day he was born. Not naturalized, Mexican.

I am sure the guy could have used some PR help but he is Mexican.

A.C. said...

No one ever said he wasn't Mexican. Gerardo Mascereno was also Mexican. The historic standard for Chivas used to be Mexican by birth, which is different than being born to a Mexican parent.

A.C. said...

Or to clarify even more, the expectation to play for Chivas was that one had to be born on Mexican soil.

Moroco said...

but to make my point, there is no difference between being mexican while born abroad or a mexican born within the soil.

I am mexican, born in mexico and having followed the mexican game for a while now. I think the expectation is that chivas only plays with mexican players and the position of the club in mexican interviews that surely you can find online is that who are they to argue with the mexican forefathers.

if he were naturalized it would be a different story.

A.C. said...

You may not care about the distinction, but there is a difference to many Chivas fans, or they wouldn't have given Mascareno such a hard time.

Moroco said...

read the chivas website, it says the policy is to only have mexican players not players born on mexican soil.

we dont all see the world the same way. What is certain is that strictly speaking, no policies or traditions have been broken.

A.C. said...

Vergara must have changed it, because the policy back in the days of Ignacio Lopez Hernandez, who implemented the policy when he was president of the club, was specifically, that no one would play for Guadalajara who wasn't BORN in Mexico.
I'm not saying it's not a good thing to change it - Vergara said when we broke the Padilla story that he had decided to go by the Constitution's definition of what a Mexican is. The thing is, though, he's only going by one definition in the Constitution, because not only does it say one is Mexican if born to one Mexican parent, but also if one is naturalized. The COnstitution doesn't recognize a difference.

Anonymous said...

california is mexico anyway... padilla's mexican, can we drop this non-story? it's only a story on this blog. what a way to make controversy out of nothing.

A.C. said...

If it was such a non-story, the Chicago Tribune wouldn't have interviewed Jesus about it months after we broke the news.

L.B. said...

'mexicanos nacidos en Mexico' I believe was the mantra, although unofficial, set forth by a team president in the 1940s.