José Francisco Torres Mezzell (born October 29, 1987) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is popularly known by his nickname Gringo. He is usually deployed as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

but can also play as a full-back. Torres has played for the United States national team.

Early life

Torres was born in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

to a Mexican father and an American mother. He played two years for

Longview High School Longview High School (colloquially known as LHS) is a public high school located in the city of Longview, Texas, in Gregg County, United States and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Longview Independent School District ...

and was voted the team's MVP both seasons, with 31 goals and 39 assists in total. After his sophomore year, he was scouted and signed by Mexican club

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

Club career

Torres was recruited by Pachuca while he was still attending high school in Texas. He broke into the starting lineup during the 2008 Apertura season in central midfield. He appeared in all three matches at the

2008 FIFA Club World Cup The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth FIFA Club World Cup, a football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental c ...

for Pachuca, starting twice. In the

InterLiga 2009 The 2009 InterLiga was the 6th edition of the tournament that determined the last two Mexican spots in the 2009 Copa Libertadores. Venues Qualification The eight qualified teams were the eight best-positioned teams in the 2008 Apertura gene ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, Torres scored the clinching

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

that sent Pachuca through to the

Copa Libertadores 2009 The 2009 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. The ...

. In November 2012, he was transferred to

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Found ...

. On December 22, 2012, Torres made his debut with Tigres in a friendly match against

Pumas UNAM Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

in the Estadio Universitario. Tigres was the Apertura 2015 champion, and Torres played the second leg of the final. On November 25, 2020, after more than two years without playing a professional game, Torres joined

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

ahead of their 2021 season. On February 21, 2022, Torres signed with USL Championship side Rio Grande Valley FC.

International career

Torres was eligible to choose between representing

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 ...

, the nation of his father's heritage and where he played club soccer, or his native

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Both national federations had been tracking Torres' progress at Pachuca. Torres was invited by

Peter Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...

to play for the United States U-23 team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Torres declined the invitation when Pachuca promised a position in their starting lineup if he stayed with the club. However, only three months later, on October 2, 2008, Torres announced his intention to represent the United States at the international level, and was called in to the U.S. camp by

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...

within days. He made his U.S. debut against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

on October 11, 2008, coming on as a substitute for

Heath Pearce Heath Pearce (born August 13, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender for teams in Europe and North America. He represented his national team on 35 occasions. Pearce is currently the host of "The Mixer", ...

in the sixty-eighth minute. He made his first start against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

four days later. Torres was also included in the roster that played against Mexico in February 2009, but did not play. He was a member of the U.S. squad for the

2009 Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

but did not play in the tournament. He was selected to the 23-man roster to represent the United States at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and started a group stage game against Slovenia. Torres continued to be a part of the U.S. set up under Bradley's successor,

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

, and was part of the qualification cycle for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Despite being a part of the 2013 Gold Cup winning team, he ended falling outside of Klinsmann's plans, and ultimately was not part of the U.S. team that went to the World Cup in Brazil.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Pachuca * Primera División de México: Clausura 2007 * CONCACAF Champions League: 2007,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2009–10 * Copa Sudamericana: 2006 *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by C ...

: 2007 Tigres UANL * Liga MX: Apertura 2015, Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017 *

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

: Clausura 2014 *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Jose Francisco 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Longview, Texas Longview High School alumni American sportspeople of Mexican descent United States men's international soccer players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American men's soccer players Soccer players from Texas Liga MX players American expatriate men's soccer players C.F. Pachuca players Tigres UANL footballers Men's association football midfielders American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players