Mexico fails in bid to flip Torres

                                           Photo by ISIphotos.com

If you think that Jose Francisco Torres' decision to play for the U.S. national team instead of Mexico didn't have an impact south of the border, think again.

Not only did the Mexican national team actively recruit Torres at the same time as the United States, Mexico also attempted to convince Torres to change his mind even after Torres was named to the U.S. national team's 23-man roster for its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Cuba.

Sources with knowledge of the approaches told SBI that Mexican officials lobbied hard for Torres, before and after his decision was made, but Torres stuck by his original decision to play for the United States, his country of birth. The Texas-born Torres will become officially cap-tied to the United States if he appears in either of the U.S. team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.

What do you think of Torres' decision? Does knowing that Torres said no to Mexico twice make you a fan? Think Torres can be an impact player for the U.S. national team in the immediate future?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[William]

How good is this kid? He's a midfielder--attacking or holding?

[brett]

lol, well if we were wondering if Torres would see PT against Cuba, i think this just answered it.... no way would bob take a chance in not capping him if Mexico is so heavy on capping him....

his future will depend on his further development as a player, not b/c the mexican national side is hounding to get him....

and i applaud him for actually sticking to his country of birth... now if only Ferrari would develope further, and also the inclusion of Bernardo, we may in fact have the italian americans support :D

[Freddy]

I think he realized just like everyone is starting to realize that Mexico is no longer the king of CONCACAF. Good choice for him!

[Brian]

This is awesome news and hopefully opens the door for more Mexican-Americans to want to play for the US. I think this shows a lot of loyalty for a player the caliber of Torres, and its also good to see Orozco get another call up. If you are born here then you belong on the US team period.

[AndyinSeattle]

Should Torres find success for USMNT, he could change the landscape of how many perceive Mexicans here. Many if not most Americans see Mexican-Americans as 'Mexican-first' including Mexican-Americans themselves.

So here you have a Mexican-heritage Texan who gets his break for one of Mexico's mightiest teams, but chooses to represent his home country in the world's game.

This guy better break through, he'll be a celebrity!

[Freddy]

I seriously doubt that Mexico even wanted him. More than likely they just wanted to do what they could to keep a player away from the USMNT.

[Ives]

Freddy, why do you doubt Mexico wanted him? He's a 20-year-old playing regularly for one of Mexico's top teams.

[brett]

AndyinSeattle - " Many if not most Americans see Mexican-Americans as 'Mexican-first' including Mexican-Americans themselves"

agreed, but mostly based on the 2nd part of that quote, most mexican americans see themselves as more mexican then american...

[BlueWhiteLion]

I really don't know him as a player, but it is nice to have a report of a man who chooses to represent his country of birth--the good ol' US of A. Vamos!

[Fredua Koranteng]

"Great another guy that might take my spot. Go play in Mexico. Who cares where you were born."

[eric]

I'll jump aboard the "root for him twice as much" train - atta boy! Hopefully he brings along more Mexican-American fans with him.

[cbr]

Benny Feilhaber replacement?

[brett]

cbr - lol, you mean he's being scouted in the danish league as well :D

[Mike Kurowski]

Great to see this guy want to play for US. Just strengthens our national team.

[Mikeype]

I agree with everyone that this is a great sign for the future of US soccer. Look at all of our young talent coming through: Adu, Edu, Kljestan, Altidore, Torres, Rodgers, Bradley, Guzan, Orozco, Wynne, Cooper, Spector, etc.

[Erik Abarca]

Well, hes got a chance to crack our line up. With injury prone DMB, Convey, and Lewis not getting any youger, he can make a case for himself if he proves he can play. we aren't deep at left midfield if we gotta keep calling in Lewis in, when we trying to build a team for 2010. Dont get me wrong, if the world cup was today, i would have lewis on my bench, but in concacaf qualify, i would look to build. So, because our lack of depth at left mid, that is why Bob continues to call in Lewis. Torres has a legit chance to be in the mix.

[rocky]

great news. this kid has some serious talent and hes breath of fresh air compared to what we have. I would love to see him establish that left side of midfield for us. Suddenly our attack looks pretty good in the future with altidore, adu, donovan,torres, and dempsey. I cant wait to see him play. Now BB bring in marvell wynne he deserves to see time at RB

[andy]

Brett---many Mexican Americans go fight in Iraq only to come back home and get called spic----its not just Mexican Americans that deem themselves Mexican

[Christopher Davis]

im happy that the nats got a new young star in torres but i hope that he is not exiled from mexico for his decision. To me, this has to be a hard decision to make and hopefully the people down in mexico will respect it.

[nelson]

lolowned.

lolojowns'ed style.

[brett]

andy - i fully understand, i am simply making the observation that MANY of the mexican americans actually look at themselves as Mexicans first then americans...

i am not saying that makes them any less american, nor am i saying that they arent american... i am simply pointing out that a large population views themselves that way as well... personally id prefer to leave the hyphonated names at home... if they are born in america or naturalized then they are in fact americans, not some hyphonated breed...

[Frank]

I would like to see more proof of what you claim Ives. I have not read on anywhere on the Mexican soccer websites or on the forums that Mexico was even interested in Torres. He is a midfielder and Mexico is already talent rich at midfield. They need strikers and Torres saw this and chose the US for a chance to go the the World Cup. If Mexico tried to persuade him it was probably just to thwart the US' plans.

[Christian]

Ives;

I'm not sure who your sources are but Torres gave an interview yesterday and he CLEARLY stated that he wanted to play for Mexico but since they didn't call him he accepted Bradley's call.

The Mexican federation then scrambled to try to convince him to change his mind only after they realized he was going to play for the US.

here's a quote from the interview:

"Tenía la ilusión de ir a los Juegos Olímpicos pero la dejé pasar por esperar a que México me llamara y nunca sucedió. En cambio, Estados Unidos me siguió llamando desde hace varias semanas y ahora es mi decisión y la de mi familia irme a jugar con su Selección Mayor la Eliminatoria"

"I had a dream of playing in the Olympics but I passed it up because I was waiting for Mexico to call me and it never happened."

I won't translate the rest but you get the gist.

Good luck to the kid, he's a real good player.

[EDB]

i think it can only help the us team. He seems like a nice talent being that young and playing for pachuca.

[Don]

How often is Ives incorrect? Not often, if at all. Get off his back.

[Christian]

Don:

Get off his back?

You want me to send you the link to the interview or what?

[Chris]

Just curious, does everyone that says, "Torres should play for the U.S. because he was born here" think that Neven Subotic should play for Bosnia and Herzegovina?

I think it's up to the player to decide which country they represent.

I am glad Torres chose the U.S., and I hope Subotic does as well!

[Dan Karell]

Its nice to see Bradley tapping into the reservoir of young hispanic american talent that are eligible to play for the Nats. I have only heard good things about Torres and wouldnt it be great of our torres strike would win us a world cup vs spain!!! :)

[BJR]

I imagine many more Latinos (not just Mexicans) would identify more with being American if they didn't feel like a significant part of the US population looked at them as second class citizens.

Unfortunately, many Americans are arrogant and stupid.

Funny how there are 35 countries residing in The Americas but we are the ones that refer to ourselves as The Americans, meaning uniquely from the US. Maybe its a psychological extension of manifest destiny, or we just think we're the only ones that matter.

[Robert]

Frank: Actually, I heard plenty of talk about the Mexican nats trying to snatch up the youngster. I heard this on Andres Cantor's Futbol de Primera radio program yesterday.
BTW, I was born in Ecuador but consider myself American having grown up here.

[brett]

Christian - there was also an audio clip of torres claiming the reasons he passed on the olympics was for club reasons... both can be related as a few mexican posters in bigsoccer claimed that Pachuca stated encouraged him to wait for a mexican callup that was soon to arrive... but in the audio clip he also states that if the US were to call him up again, he'd probably take it....

blame the mexican fed on taking their sweet time to call him up... the US were persistent and now mexico scrambles to call him up.... odd looking at this situation from within and not looking at it on the outside O.o

[SonicDeathMonkey]

It will be intresting to see the Mexican fans reaction to Torres, now that he has chosen the US. I hope for his sake people there don't act like many here do about Rossi.

[Tony in Quakeland]

Can some one describe his style and strengths? I have not seen him play.

[RK]

BJR, I really just think it is a limitation of the language. I don't hear Latinos saying "estadounidense", either :)

[Christian]

People in Mexico are upset because the federation only tried to snatch up Torres after he had committed himself to playing for the US and it was well known around the Mexican media that Torres was going to play for whomever called first.

FMF dropped the ball on this one but the kid never really knew where he stood regarding the Mexican national team.

I say he made the right choice and hopefully he doesn't regret it and plays his heart out for the US.

[Jason]

If he gets capped, there needs to be a standing ovation for him at the game. Just something to appreciate his choice and that his tough decision was acknowledged and appreciated. I'm very excited about this move and the start of having more Latinos in the US system (like for the U-17 squad).

I'm actually quite surprised he stuck with his decision. It must have been tempting to back out of his choice and go with Mexico. But I like him more not because he chose USA or said no to Mexico twice but that he stood by his word. He pledged to play for us and he'll follow through with it. Very impressed.

[The Goat]

"View themselves as more Mexican than American?"
Where's your data? Get real.
Come to Los Angeles. I ll give you a tour of neighborhoods where you'll find some of the most patriotic Americans you'll find anywhere. Or you can be a Chivas USA fan and witness yourself.

Besides, is it too Mexican to prefer tortillas over bread and biscuits? Is it too Mexican to prefer futbol over the NFL? Is it too Mexican to prefer salsa over ketchup? Don't be so Jim Rome.

[Caldwell]

I don't often agree with livestock, but you got it right, The Goat:

Tortillas >> Bread
World's worst salsa >> World's best ketchup

[Don]

From Sideline View:

Now both teams want me, but I’ve chosen the U.S. Since I was little I wanted to play with the U.S. team. I played here in Mexico and developed and to tell the truth, I never thought the U.S. would call me. Now Mexico has called, but I’d made up my mind for the U.S. already.

Be cool Christian

[brett]

The Goat- you are blowing that simple comment out of proportion.... was not meant to downgrade the mexican-american who delves deep into their heritage, but rather pointing out that the most mexicans ive met follow the Mexican league over the MLS, they follow the Mexican national team over the US national team, etc. etc....

i am not saying that they are any less of an american for it...

[brett]

Caldwell - you can hardly compare salsa to ketchup... 2 totally different condiments

[Scott A]

Awesome, good luck Mr. Torres

[A.S.]

After Rossi and (probably) Subotic, it's nice for us to win one of these.

[Joe]

I am really excited to see Torres play. I am glad he chose the USA to play for. I am sure it will be very difficult when he returns to Pachuca. I applaud him for his choice and his guts.

[JJ]

Why should we be applauding and giving standing ovations for a guy who was born in this country and lived here growing up (and presumably somehow benefitted from living in this country) for "choosing" to play for the US? It's one thing for the guys who were born in a different country but moved here at 12 or something to pick the birth country - I can understand that. But to applaud an American who was born and bred here for giving us the honor to have him on our squad is extreme.

It says something about how many "Mexican-Americans" view this country. As someone who has attended a few US-Mexico matches in this country, I know what it says.

[thompson]

as a former pachuca employee, i can only say that the us team is now HEAD and SHOULDERS better than the mexican squad. this torres kid is a friggin' COUGAR. and i dont mean that in the sense of him being an older woman trapped in a young man's body hunting younger men. i mean that he's a real footballer. mexico f'ed up on this one. probably because the mexican fed are pretty dumb. SVEN MUST BE P'O'd.

[Jason]

JJ - You missed my point. You're right, to applaud a player who has given us the honor of being on our squad is extreme but that wasn't my point. My point was to let him feel appreciated. It's pretty evident that his spurning of Mexico was partly that very issue, he didn't feel appreciated. So why not welcome him with a standing o? It's not like the standing ovation is a medal of honor or some ordination of sorts. It is simply saying, "Hey, we're glad and excited to have you." The response from everyone here is a collective "Thank goodness he's with us rather than Mexico", so why not just show him that? It's not like he's reading Ives' blog and our comments so why not just do something (which he can see) that shows our excitement?

As I recall, Cristiano Ronaldo got a standing ovation and applause for just warming up on the sidelines before his first game back with Man U. I don't think the fans were applauding him because of the honor to have him on the team but just that they appreciate him and are excited that he's still on the team despite the past summer's drama.

[huricano]

!Qué bueno que vaya jugar para la selección de EEUU!

[ryan]

andy, i just read the overstatement of the year with "MANY mexicans go fight in Iraq only to be called a spic" we dont abuse our troops just the MANY illegals. If your an American soldier odds are you dont ask everyone to speak spanish instead of English, and we also know that you pay taxes. So please spare me on the "all hispanics even the good ones are attacked on a daily basis in the greatest country in the world"
Onto the topic @ hand- god bless this kid, I really hope he does well and its a great sign, hopefully there are more talented AMERICAN'S coming. He shouldn't even be known as a Mexican American if anything he is an American with mexican heritage like EVERY OTHER AMERICAN with another nationality somehwere in the family tree

[Alejandro Ruiz]

"BJR, I really just think it is a limitation of the language. I don't hear Latinos saying "estadounidense", either :)"

Dude...they use estadounidense all the time in Spanish media. Check out the news sometime or pick up a paper.

gj, ryan. You admitted to abusing illegal immigrants.

Keep up the good work, but who cares right? Hopefully their kids will forget when it's time to root for the US vs Mexico. *rollseyes*. I really hope you're just a terrible writer instead of a racist.

I mean...I love when people bring up the whole "illegal immigrants" don't pay taxes therefore they are leeches on society argument. Since you know, they're basically the lowest social group on the total pole.

Even though...they're massively underpaid for the most part and their work ethic is basically "Thank you! May I have another" when they get exploited.

Luckily, they're used to it. I mean why should the US be any different than Mexico. They're starting to look more and more alike everyday. A small group with all the wealth and everyone else scrambling to get by.

But anyway, I think he picked the US over Mexico for pragmatic reasons. I mean...he's good but is he better than Giovanni Dos Santos and Andres Guardado?

[toon]

Mexico didn't want him or else Sven would have called him up into camp for the recent friendly against Chile. Yes, he might be talented, but Sven isn't stupid enough to not call him up if he genuinely saw something in him.

I can't wait till he makes the squad against Mexico and hears all of the US fans yelling slurs at his people. lol

[christian]

Ryan:

Pardon my french but you're a tool.

It's well documented that some Army recruiters offer green card status to Illegal immigrants just to get them to sign up for the service knowing damn well that they can't offer these kids such things.

The kids sign up, go to Iraq, lose an arm and a leg and return home only to be called names by ignorant fools like you and subsequently be deported.

That makes sense, right?

Anyway, Torres has said in previous interviews that US scouts never looked at him twice which is why he went to Mexico in the first place, to develop. He's going to be a good player but it's not a coincidence that he made his choice after he wasn't picked for the Mexico - Chile friendly.

The interview he gave to Mexican media was after he had already accepted Bradley's call. I don't see why he had the need to say that he passed on the Olympics because he hoped Mexico would call.

Seems to me like the kid doesn't want to make enemies on either side.

For all the people who think that Pachuca is somehow going to demote him because he decided to play for the US, well, let me just tell you that some of you think a little too much of yourselves. Enrique Meza (Pachuca's coach) has been very supportive of the kid, no matter which shirt he wears. There are about 4 or 5 kids right behind Torres who will be pushing to displace him in the next few months so let's see how he handles it.

ciao

[El Steve]

let me echo what jason said earlier...

let's give him a BIG ovation on saturday

[Jackson]

Can we drop the political claptrap?

[Aquaman]

Whether he considers himself Mexican or American, I'm just glad to see another Texan out there (like Brede Hageland)...Texas, the greatest country on Earth

[ryan]

christian, i don t remember ever writing "we abuse all mexican illegel immigrants" and by abuse I meant verbally. However you guys managed to group all americans together saying when the spanish american soldiers come home, us "Arrogant Americans" call them spics, well I am here to tell you it has absolutely nothing to do with where your from, its in fact your legal status here in this country. I was not just speaking of people who are illegal in this country with spanish blood, I am talking about all nationalities. Im actually happy I got you to respond because judging by your earlier posts where you attacked Ives its very obvious you are a scorned Mexican who is upset that this kid chose us. Let me put it into simple terms, if you consider looking down on ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS thats Mexicans, Canadians, Germans and so on, then maybe I am a racist. I am African American and have experienced racism for myself so I dont need a lesson in what is and isn't racist, but regardless what I wrote was not intended to be racist. I agree with Jackson I dont come here for the political jargon, I come here as an apparent racist according to some to get the best soccer news on the web from another minority.

[Bobo]

Alejandro Ruiz --- I think we have a winner. Many players treat the international game as a shop window to obtain foreign interest and it's no secret that he'll have a much easier time breaking into the US squad than the Mexican squad (to the former Pachuca employee --- what are you smoking? On paper, Mexico is the stronger team). This decision is just as pragmatic as, for example, Fernando Amorebieta's desire to play for Venezuela. Amorebieta was born to Spanish parents in Venezuela and moved back to Spain when he was 2 years old. He kept on blustering about how he wanted to play for Venezuela because he felt Venezuelan (but most likely because he didn't have a chance in hell of playing for Spain) but when Spain finally came calling he jumped at the chance to represent his real country. Make of that what you will.

[Bobo]

Oh, and Ives, are you going to be doing a piece on Rossi's first senior cap for Italy? That ought to rouse a good debate...

[Hood_Rich]

Torres is an attacking outside (left) midfielder. He's very quick off the ball and
has great technical skill. Tactically he is as good as a soccer player can be, not an athlete but a real soccer player. He is similar to Dempsey in terms of showboating skills, but Torres plays more like a winger to provide crosses than make runs through the middle like Dempsey. How well would he do? He doesn't have straight line speed like Beasley or industry of Convey, and does not have experience of Lewis. I think he could start on the left side over Beasley and Convey if you are building for 2010, but for getting results right now, Lewis would get the start with Torres the
first option before Beasley and Convey.

[rick]

My parents are Mexican, but I was born here and would never consider supporting Mexico. Too many people see national teams as an ethnic teams, but they are not, they are NATIONAL teams. If you are American, you play for the US, regardless if you are white, black or brown-PERIOD.

IMO, too many people in the US call themselves Irish, Polish, Italian, etc, when they are really just Americans with ancestors from somewhere else. Many have never lived (or even visited) these other countries.

Anyway, please give the kid a standing ovation if you go to the game

[Scott C]

I agree the kid deserves a standing ovation, if only for his courage. His circumstances made it a tough decision, playing in Mexico, he will undoubtedly see some backlash. And, as he has said, he is grateful to Pachuca for discovering him and giving him a chance to develop, a chance he did not think he was going to get in the states. Also, hats off to Bob B. for pursuing this kid; let's hope this encourages more Hispanics to pursue their soccer dreams in this country.

And can we please drop the I'm more patriotic than you arguments? Lets' talk soccer.

[bryan]

this is great news for the USMNT. hopefully he proves himself on the field and earns the regular spot. i agree that BB will CAP him ASAP so he is set in stone. like they did with Adu...which brings me to my next point.

some on here saying "this is a no brainer, he was born in the USA, so he should play for the USA" are probably the same people who defend Adu playing for the USA over Ghana because he developed his game here. Well Torres clearly developed his there. So what is it? Where you were born or where you develop your game? The answer is both. Obviously nationalized players are a big issue with a lot of people, but look, that is just the way the world works. People move from place to place. It happens. Get over it. As long as it is not a COMPLETELY bogus loophole, then there should not be a problem.

Alejandro - I would say no. Santos and Guardado are better overall players right now. However, I think Torres has plenty of potential to become as good as them. If he continues well with a strong team like Pachuca, he could end up in a really good spot in Europe. From there, who knows...but the sky is the limit.

[bryan]

rick - btw, i agree 100% with that last comment of yours. my comments (just to clarify) are regarding people who have actually lived in the second country.