José Adolfo Ríos García (born 11 December 1966) is a Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He won the 1999 U.S. Cup with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Club career

Ríos García made his debut for UNAM in 1985 and remained there until 1990, when he went to play for Veracruz. He was a starter for Veracruz, playing 7 years, making over 230 appearances for the team. In 1997, he went on to play for Necaxa. In the winter of 1998, he became won the Mexican Primera División for the first time, defeating Chivas de Guadalajara on an aggregate score of 0–2. He continued to play with the club for one more season, making 72 appearances with the club in total. In the summer of 1999, he transferred to Club America, and became an instant starter. In the summer of 2002, he was the starting goalkeeper for America in their victory against Necaxa in the Championship Final, which allowed him to win the second Mexican Primera División title of his career, and Club America's ninth overall. In the Clausura 2004, Ríos suffered an injury, which ruled him out for several weeks. He was replaced in goal by

Guillermo Ochoa Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña (; born 13 July 1985), commonly referred to as Memo, is a Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Serie A club U.S. Salernitana 191 ...

. Later, both Ríos and Ochoa shared the starting spot, and after the quarter final, in which America was eliminated, Ríos announces his retirement from professional football at 37 years of age, following a career spanning about two decades.

International career

At international level, Ríos played for Mexico as starter at two

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments, in 1997 and 1999. At both editions of the competition, he helped Mexico reach the semi-finals and obtain third place medals. He was starter at the 1999 Nike US Cup, which Mexico won.

Personal life

In 2012, Ríos was presented as the new president of Club Querétaro. He resigned at the end of 2014, after 2 years in service. Rios was known as "El Arquero De Cristo".

Honours

Necaxa *

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

: Invierno 1998 América *

: Verano 2002

References

* * 1966 births Living people Mexico international footballers 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players Club América footballers Club Universidad Nacional footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Liga MX players People from Uruapan Footballers from Michoacán Mexican footballers Association football goalkeepers {{Mexico-footy-goalkeeper-stub