Guillermo Ochoa

Guillermo Ochoa

Ochoa pictured in 2010
Personal information
Full name Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña
Date of birth July 13, 1985 (1985-07-13) (age 26)
Place of birth Guadalajara, Mexico
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Ajaccio[2]
Number 1
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2011 América 239 (0)
2011– Ajaccio 14 (0)
National team‡
2004–2008 Mexico U-23 6 (0)
2005– Mexico 47 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:56, 23 May 2011 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2011

Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña (born 13 July 1985) is a Mexican goalkeeper who currently plays for French Ligue 1 club Ajaccio. He also plays for the Mexican national football team.

Contents

Club career

América

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Ochoa made his debut with Club América during the 2004 Clausura tournament against C.F. Monterrey. Ochoa quickly demonstrated his skill and talent in goal, and the young goalkeeper was thrust into the spotlight to replace injured veteran Adolfo Ríos. He would then share the starting job with Rios after he recovered from his aforementioned injury.

When the 2004 Apertura season began, Ochoa was thought to be the heir apparent to Ríos, who had retired. However, new coach Oscar Ruggeri brought new goalkeepers with him, among them Argentine Sebastián Saja. Ruggeri's stay at the club was marred by controversy and unpopular decisions. He was fired after only six games into the season and Ochoa was soon reinstated by new coach Mario Carrillo. Since then, he has started every game for Club América barring incidents involving injuries or national team duty. Under Carrillo, Ochoa won his first championship with América following the 2005 Clausura season.

Ochoa would start 2008 in great form, helping América win the InterLiga tournament with excellent performances, most notably in the group match against Monarcas Morelia, were he saved a late penalty kick, and América's 1-0 lead. He was the subject of speculation for a transfer to Manchester United for the 2008-2009 Premier League Season, however it never came to fruition due to lack of support from Club America.

Guillermo Ochoa's last season with América was the 2011 Clausura, which ended with a quarter-final defeat to Monarcas Morelia.[3]

AC Ajaccio

On 4 July 2011 Ochoa signed a three year contract with a one year option[4] with the recently-promoted AC Ajaccio.[2] Ochoa played his first 2 friendlies in Ajaccio against FC Bordeaux losing 2-1 and against Real Sociedad losing 4-0. He made his club debut against Toulouse FC losing 2-0. On December 18th and 21st Ochoa won 2 games in a row with 2 cleansheets making it his 3rd cleansheet for the end of the 2011 year.

International career

At the age of 20 Guillermo Ochoa was called up by Mexico's former manager Ricardo Lavolpe for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as the third-choice goalkeeper. Newly appointed manager Hugo Sánchez called Ochoa into the national side as a deputy to Mexico's then-number one, Oswaldo Sánchez. In addition to the World Cup, Ochoa has participated in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2007 Copa América. He made his 2010 World Cup qualification debut on 28 March 2009 against Costa Rica. Ochoa made the final 23-man cut for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but was the back-up goalie behind Oscar Perez.

During the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Ochoa, and four other members of the Mexican National Team, tested positive for the banned substance of Clenbuterol and were withdrawn from the team's tournament squad.[5] All players were later acquitted by Mexican Football Federation and the results blamed on contamination of food with the ingestion of clenbuterol considered non-intentional.[6] However, World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to request a ban.[7] But on 12 October 2011 WADA withdrew this request after the full file was available for them.[8]

International appearances

Personal life

In 2006 Ochoa dated Mexican actress, singer, and songwriter Dulce Maria.[9] The pair split a year later.[10] He was featured on the North American cover of FIFA 08 and FIFA 09.

Honors

Club

Club América

International

Mexico

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña player profile" (in French). AC Ajaccio. http://www.ac-ajaccio.com/la-saison-l'effectif-le-groupe-saison-2011-2012-1.-guillermo-ochoa_3617.html. Retrieved 9 July 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "Ochoa to Ajaccio" (in French). AC Ajaccio. 3 July 2011. http://www.ac-ajaccio.com/l'actu-toutes-les-actus-guillermo-ochoa-sera-demain-a-l'entrainement-!_3611.html. 
  3. ^ "Morelia elimina al América de la Liguilla". Aol Latino (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2011
  4. ^ "Ajaccio’s Summer Transfer Coup – Guillermo Ochoa". Frenchfootballweekly. 8 July 2011. http://frenchfootballweekly.com/2011/07/08/ajaccio%e2%80%99s-summer-transfer-coup-%e2%80%93-guillermo-ochoa/. 
  5. ^ "Five Mexico Players Test Positive". ESPN Soccernet. June 9, 2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/927130/five-mexico-gold-cup-players-test-positive?cc=5901. 
  6. ^ "FMF absolvió a acusados de dopaje". ESPNDeportes Mexico. July 10, 2011. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1332588&s=mex&type=story. 
  7. ^ "FOOTBALL – THE CAS DISMISSES URGENT REQUEST FOR A STAY FILED BY OLYMPIAKOS VOLOU". The Court of Arbitration for Sport. 17 August 2011. http://www.tas-cas.org/en/infogenerales.asp/4-3-5134-1092-4-1-1/5-0-1092-15-1-1/. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
  8. ^ "WADA withdraws CAS appeal in case of Mexican footballers". World Anti-Doping Agency. 12 October 2011. http://www.wada-ama.org/en/News-Center/Articles/WADA-withdraws-CAS-appeal-in-case-of-Mexican-footballers/. Retrieved 23 October 2011. 
  9. ^ "Novio desconoce si Dulce María lo engañó con Memo Ochoa" (in Spanish). El Universal. Grupo Diarios América. 9 August 2009. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/616445.html. Retrieved June 29, 2011. 
  10. ^ "Pair splits" (in Spanish). Univision.com. http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=854594. Retrieved 9 July 2011. 

External links

AC Ajaccio – current squad