Israel Castro Macías (born 20 December 1980) 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, rugb ...

who played as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

Club career

Pumas UNAM

He joined the Pumas youth system and worked his way through the ranks to debut in 2002; he was a regular starter and played a very important role in the 2004 campaign of the team, when Pumas won consecutive league championships. Fans also call him the "Asesino de galácticos" or "Galactic Assassin". Since he was the lone scorer in the game when Pumas defeated

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

for the Santiago Bernabeu trophy in 2004. After becoming champion with Pumas Unam he was drafted by

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. He left the team as a captain.

Honours

UNAM * Mexico Primera División: Clausura 2004, Apertura 2004, Clausura 2009, Clausura 2011 *

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 ...

: 2004 Cruz Azul *

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 2013 Guadalajara *

: Apertura 2015 Mexico *

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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

Individual *

Primera División de México 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 ...

Best Defensive Midfielder : Clausura 2011

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.''

References

External links

Israel Castro Profile
at FootballDatabase * * 1980 births Living people Footballers from Mexico City Men's association football midfielders Mexico men's international footballers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2007 Copa América players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Club Universidad Nacional footballers Cruz Azul footballers C.D. Guadalajara footballers CD Toledo players Liga MX players Segunda División B players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Mexican men's footballers {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-stub