Oswaldo Sánchez

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Oswaldo Sánchez
Personal information
Full name	Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra
Date of birth	September 21, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Height	184 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Nickname	"San Oswaldo" (Saint Oswaldo)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Santos Laguna
Number	1
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1996 1996-1999 1999-2006 2007-	CF Atlas Club América Chivas de Guadalajara Santos Laguna	81 (0) 14 (0) 272 (1) 3 (0)
National team2
1998-	Mexico	74 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 December 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 19 August 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra (born September 21, 1973 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) is a Mexican football player, currently playing for Santos Laguna. Sánchez has become Mexico's top goalkeeper in recent years with a regular starting place in the Mexican national team, El Tri.

Contents 1 Career 2 European Team Offers 3 National Offers 4 References 5 External link

[edit] Career

Sánchez' first moment of glory was playing for the Mexican youth national team in 1993's international FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia Coached by Juan de Dios Castillo. Sánchez made his club debut with CF Atlas at the age of 20 on October 30, 1993 against CD Veracruz where the teams tied the game at 1-1. Two years after his debut, he was a starter on the team and led Atlas to the quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Veracruz. In the summer of 1996, Sánchez was transferred to Club América, one of the most successful clubs in Mexico. He was an immediate starter under Ricardo Lavolpe who coached the team then and since went on to coach the Mexican National {Team. Sánchez first season with América was a failure, as the club did not make it to playoffs and lost the Mexican "clasico" derby against Chivas with an incredible score of 5-0. The following season, Sánchez was benched for the older and more experienced goalkeeper Hugo Pineda. Sánchez only played three out of 19 games, including the quarterfinals where América was eliminated by Monarcas Morelia. The following season, Sánchez went back into the starting line-up and led América to a disappointing elimination in the semifinals against Club Leon. His last three seasons with the club were stable, though the team managed to reach the semifinals once again, only to get eliminated. In the summer of 1999, Sánchez left América for their main rival, Chivas de Guadalajara.

At Guadalajara, Sánchez consolidated himself as a mainstay in the team. Since 1999, he has helped qualify the team to the playoffs seven times, including one wild card, and the team has only been eliminated three times out of 11 seasons, increasing his reputation as a goalkeeper. Throughout his career at Guadalajara, he has stayed the preferred goalkeeper in the team under 10 different coaches. His most notable season was that of Clausura 2004 tournament where arguably he led the team to the finals all by himself. Despite the team's relative success during Sánchez's time at Guadalajara, the club didn't win a title until December 10, 2006 when they defeated Toluca 3-2 in the aggregate.

Sánchez has also constantly been called up to play for the Mexican national team since his debut in 1998, and he has become Lavolpe's favourite starting goalkeeper. He has been part of two FIFA World Cups, in 1998 and 2002, although both on the bench as backup goalkeeper. He stole the spotlight in the 2003 Gold Cup, holding every opponent scoreless, and he was named the tournament's MVP and top goalkeeper.

Lavolpe called up Sánchez once again on April 2, 2006, to be the starting goalkeeper for the Mexican National Team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. While Oswaldo was preparing for the 2006 World Cup, his father died of a heart attack on June 7, aged 56.^[1] Oswaldo flew home to Guadalajara, but returned to Germany in time for the team's first game against Iran, which they won by a score of 3-1.In 2007 he signed onto Santos Laguna and he has played against his Ex-team Chivas.

[edit] European Team Offers

Hannover 96 has openly requested for his services, as well as Getafe CF and Atlético Madrid, as a specific request of the Colchonero‘s new manager, Mexican Javier Aguirre .

[edit] National Offers

After Apertura 2006 finished being champion with Chivas, Oswaldo has received many offers from teams like Tigres and Santos Laguna. On December 18, 2006 he was transferred to Santos Laguna for 6 million US dollars on a three year contract with a salary of 1,800,000 US dollars a year, making him the highest paid Mexican soccer player.

[edit] References

1. ^ to attend the funeral, returned for Mexico's opening game at the World Cup on June 11 and tended goal in a 3-1 victory.8 Father of Mexico's Sanchez dies, FOX Sports, June 7, 2006,

[edit] External link

• Football Database.com provides Oswaldo Sánchez's profile and stats

Preceded by Claudio Suarez

Chivas de Guadalajara captain 2000-2006

Succeeded by Ramon Morales

	Mexico squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Campos | 2 Suárez | 3 J. Sánchez | 4 Villa | 5 Davino | 6 Bernal | 7 Ramírez | 8 García Aspe | 9 Peláez | 10 García | 11 Blanco | 12 O. Sánchez | 13 Pardo | 14 Lara | 15 Hernández | 16 Terrazas | 17 Palencia | 18 Carmona | 19 Luna | 20 Ordiales | 21 Arellano | 22 Pérez | Coach: Lapuente

	Mexico squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Pérez | 2 de Anda | 3 García | 4 Márquez | 5 Vidrio | 6 Torrado | 7 Morales | 8 García Aspe | 9 Borgetti | 10 Blanco | 11 Luna | 12 Sánchez | 13 Mercado | 14 Villa | 15 Hernández | 16 Carmona | 17 Palencia | 18 J. Rodríguez | 19 Caballero | 20 Brown | 21 Arellano | 22 A. Rodríguez | 23 Campos | Coach: Aguirre

	Mexico squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Sánchez | 2 Suárez | 3 Salcido | 4 Márquez | 5 Osorio | 6 Torrado | 7 Naelson | 8 Pardo | 9 Borgetti | 10 Franco | 11 Morales | 12 Corona | 13 Ochoa | 14 Pineda | 15 Castro | 16 Méndez | 17 Fonseca | 18 Guardado | 19 Bravo | 20 García | 21 Arellano | 22 Rodríguez | 23 Pérez | Coach: Lavolpe