José Antonio Castro González (born 11 August 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, rugby ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He gained notoriety for his performances with Club América and at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

for Mexico. He is often referred to by his nickname "El Gringo", given to him in his childhood because his parents are both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, and his blue eyes.

Club career

Known for his speed and solid defensive work rate, Castro was a good marker and counter-attacker who was trained in the Club América youth system. He made his debut in the Mexican Championship against

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

in the 2000–2001 season. After receiving little playing time in his first two seasons with the senior team, Castro became a vital player for the club in the Verano 2002 season, displaying fine form which helped Club América win the Mexican league championships in 2002 and the

Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

title in 2005. The talented wingback was a key player and is one of the two players (the other being

Guillermo Ochoa Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña (; born 13 July 1985), commonly referred to as Memo, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Salernitana and the Mexico national team. Ochoa made his senior-level prof ...

) to have started every game of the 2004-2005 season. For the Clausura 2008, ''El Gringo'' had the responsibility of being the

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

of ''Las Águilas'' since Duilio Davino left the club and Germán Villa was given the job of being the team's captain. After a poor season with Club América, ''El Gringo'' was put on the transfer list. On December 5, 2008, Castro was loaned 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 ...

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Castro made his international debut for the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

in Los Angeles in a friendly match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on February 4, 2003.

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

played him as a

right winger 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 ...

as usual, but as a midfielder instead of defender. He played his first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in Germany, a game which the Mexicans lost 2-1. Despite the team losing the match, Castro helped his country reach the Round of 16 where they played against Argentina. Since then, he has been called up to play friendly matches. He was even called up to play the 2007 editions of the Gold Cup and Copa América for

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 ...

. Recently, he was called up by

coach

Javier Aguirre Javier Aguirre Onaindía (; born 1 December 1958), nicknamed ''El Vasco'' (The Basque), is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager who is currently in charge of Spanish team RCD Mallorca. Aguirre played for Mexico at the 1986 Wo ...

for the 2009 Gold Cup. He scored his only international goal against the United States in the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final was a soccer match that took place on July 26, 2009, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, to determine the winner of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Mexico won their 5th. Gold Cup (and 8t ...

Honours

América * Mexican Primera División: Verano 2002, Clausura 2005 *

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 ...

: 2005 * CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2006 *

CONCACAF Giants Cup The CONCACAF Giants Cup was an international association football club competition held in 2001 to replace CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup. The cup was for CONCACAF teams with the highest attendance in their national league, and was won by Mexico's Club ...

: 2001 Tigres UANL *

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 ...

: 2009 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 Individual * Mexican Primera División Best Defensive Wing Back: Apertura 2005

Career statistics

International

International goals

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

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Jose Antonio 1980 births Living people Footballers from Mexico City Mexican people of Spanish descent Association football defenders Mexican footballers Mexico international footballers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Halcones de Querétaro footballers Club América footballers Tigres UANL footballers Club Necaxa footballers Tecos F.C. footballers San Luis F.C. players Atlante F.C. footballers Atlético San Luis footballers Liga MX players Querétaro F.C. non-playing staff Cruz Azul non-playing staff