Notes from the Western Frontera - June 30

Preseason

Preseason workouts continue before Xolos have a friendly against Cruz Azul scheduled for today in Irvine, California at 11:30 AM Pacific at Great Park. They’ll play another friendly on Tuesday, July 3 against Pumas at Estadio Caliente at 8:00 PM Pacific as well as two more the following week; hosting Costa Rica’s Herediano on July 7 and heading to Raley Field in Sacramento, California to face Monarcas on July 11. They’ll end the preseason with a July 14 match against Dorados de Sinaloa.

Moves

While as of yet unconfirmed by Xolos, Barcelona SC of Ecuador confirmed that Erick Castillo would play three more games with them before heading to Tijuana.

Also unconfirmed by Xolos is Gustavo “Pantera” Bou returning to Racing Club in Argentina. This was however confirmed yesterday by Racing Club’s President Víctor Blanco in a radio interview with FOX Sports Argentina. Bou was injured during the latter portion of the 2018 Clausura, but he still managed to score 10 goals in 29 career Liga MX matches for Tijuana.

Blanco also indicated that former current Racing and former Santos Laguna central midfielder Diego “Pulpo” González would be heading to Tijuana as well. Pulpo was with Santos from the beginning of 2015 until his departure in July of 2016.

Rumors

The Damián Musto to Racing rumors are seemingly dead, with Musto apparently contacting Racing and thanking them for their interest but indicating he wasn’t interested, Racing not willing to pay the reported $2.5 million fee for Musto, or a combination of both.

Xolos Femenil

The Liga MX Femenil schedule was released on Tuesday, and Xolos Femenil fans can start penciling in some dates on their calendars. The matches of note (to me at least) were the opener on July 16 against Pumas, their first ever matches against Puebla (August 5 in Puebla) and Lobos BUAP (August 18 in Puebla), facing América (October 22) and Cruz Azul (December 10) in Estadio Azteca, and bye weeks in Week 9 (September 11-13) and Week 18 (November 16-19).

Xolos Femenil goalkeeper Itzel González was profiled in a video by our friends at Copa90 US.

Xolos Youth

Stateside, the Xolos Academy in Brainerd, Minnesota finished up their U9, U11, and U13 seasons and are registering players for the upcoming 2018 fall season.

The Xolos Academy in New Jersey have selected six players to head to Tijuana to train with the Academy, and more may be joining the group.

The Xolos Academy in North Carolina was invited to participate in the Liverpool FC vs. Borussia Dortmund International Champions Cup match in Charlotte, NC on July 22nd. Players will assist as ball kids, flag bearers, and escorting the players onto the pitch.