Jonathan Orozco becomes new Xolos goalkeeper

Veteran Mexican international goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco will make the move to his third team after Tijuana´s Xolos announced that the keeper will join the team. The keeper is part of a trade of long-time Xolos starter, Gibran Lajud, who will join Santos and fight for a place along with Carlos Acevedo. This will be Orozco’s third team, after starting his career in Monterrey before going to Santos. Orozco has won Liga MX titles with both teams and will hope to make it three out of three in this new project, headed by new coach Pablo Guede.

A native of Monterrey, “Spider” started through the youth ranks of Rayados. With Rayados he became a starter and had a very successful run. Orozco won two Liga MX titles in the Apertura 2009 and Apertura 2010. He also won three Concacaf Champions Leagues with the team in the three consecutive editions, as Monterrey won in 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013.

Orozco also made the National Team and was part of the Gold Cup team in 2011, 2013 and 2015 edition. There he won two titles, although he only started in was the 2013 edition, which turned out to be the only one that Mexico didn’t win. Then in 2016, Orozco made the move to Santos. In Torreon Orozco became a starter, and although he wasn’t as successful as his time in Monterrey, he was able to win another Liga MX title in the Clausura 2018. While Orozco didn’t have as many callups to the National team, he once again returned to the team in the 2019 Gold Cup, where he won a third Gold Cup. Although once again he was the backup keeper, he did start the first round match against Martinique. Orozco returned to Santos and continued to be a solid starter. In 2020, he was involved in controversy when the news went out that he had a party in the middle of the COVID-19 emergency and would later be part of a huge group of Santos players who tested positive for COVID-19. A second test later confirmed Orozco was negative for the coronavirus. Orozco would not have a chance to return to the team after that as he leaves for Xolos.

Orozco should be the starter with Xolos, as new Xolos head coach Pablo Guede starts to set the base for his offensive play. Orozco is famous in Mexico for having great offensive distribution and being very quick on his feet. His footwork is superior to most goalkeepers, which all point that he will fit well with Guede’s plan in Xolos. With the addition from a couple of players of Queretaro, it seems Xolos might look as one of the best candidates to be the dark horse of the Apertura 2020.