Jesús Andrés Padilla Cisneros (born March 3, 1987) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a striker.

Career

Padilla was born and raised in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

and moved to

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

with his parents when he was fourteen. He joined the youth academy of

in 2001 and, having been a part of the academy system for five years, made his professional debut on August 8, 2006 in a 1-0 loss to Deportivo Toluca. Padilla moved on loan to sister club

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

on August 17, 2009. He remained with Chivas USA until the club declined his contract option on March 11, 2011. In June 2011, he was loaned to CF La Piedad in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He scored eight goals in twenty-nine matches in

Liga de Ascenso Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

. Padilla remained with Guadalajara for the Apertura of the 2012-13 Liga MX season. He made seven appearances, five of them as a substitute, in addition to a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

appearance. He was loaned to Piedad again for the Clasura portion of the season.

Nationality issue

Although he was born in the United States, according to Article 30 of the

Mexican Constitution The current Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (), was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, Mexico, by a constituent convention during the Mexican Revolution. I ...

, he was born Mexican as he is the son of Mexicans born in a foreign country. Chivas owner Jorge Vergara's take on the nationality question is simple: "We go by the definition in the Constitution," Vergara says. "Mexican law says that you are a Mexican if you are born outside Mexico and both parents are Mexican."

Career statistics

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Jesus 1987 births Living people C.D. Guadalajara footballers Chivas USA players Dorados de Sinaloa footballers Major League Soccer players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican men's footballers American sportspeople of Mexican descent Liga MX players American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Soccer players from San Jose, California Men's association football forwards Nationality controversies 21st-century Mexican sportsmen