Mayra Madrigal
Mexico is not the only country that has added naturalized players to its national team, as throughout history many have made use of this resource.
Several soccer players have had to resort to dual nationality not only to be able to participate in international tournaments, but also because the same leagues in which they play have a limit of foreigners and in order not to have to deal with this problem they prefer to take the citizenship of the country where they live.
In Europe, an EU passport is required as there are few places for non-EU citizens, but the process is a little more complex depending on the country.
But returning to the subject of Mexico, although there have been many who have adopted this nation as their second home, there are 15 soccer players who, despite not being born in Aztec territory, have been called up to the Mexican National Team.
Where do Mexican Naturalized Players that Played for “El Tri” Come From?
Argentina
Argentina is known for being a soccer-loving country, and its promising young players often emigrate early to European clubs. However, many players of that nationality arrive year after year to Mexican clubs to try their luck, and some of them become stars of those teams. Eight naturalized Mexican players from Argentina have played for the Mexican national team. The first was Carlos Lara, who played with Zacatepec and was part of the World Cup process for the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
After 2000, Gabriel Caballero, Guillermo Franco, Matías Vuoso, Lucas Ayala, Damián Álvarez and Christian Giménez continued on the list, and currently the striker Rogelio Funes Mori is the one who wears green despite being born in Argentinean territory.
Spain
There are also Europeans who have taken advantage of their naturalization to play with the “Tricolor”, since Spain is the second country that has provided more players to this national team. Lorenzo Camarena, Antonio López Herranz and Carlos Blanco played for Mexico. Camarena played in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1935, Herranz played in the same tournament but in the 1938 edition. Finally, Blanco was part of two World Cup processes, Switzerland 1954 and Sweden 1958, making his debut in the latter.
Brazil
Two of the 15 naturalized players who have played for the Mexican National Team are Brazilian. They are Antonio Naelson Sinha and Leandro Augusto.
Sinha dazzled with his performance at Toluca and made his debut with El Tri in 2004. He played a total of 59 games, being part of the group that participated in the 2005 Confederations Cup, the Copa de Oro, and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He registered six goals with the green jersey.
Augusto became a reference in Pumas and that led him to be on the radar of the Mexican National Team. In 2008, Sven Goran Erickson called him up, and he was part of the World Cup process for South Africa 2010, although he did not make it to the final squad.
Peru
Julio Lores was born in Huaral, Peru, but arrived in Mexico in 1929 to play for Club Necaxa, where he would become an idol after wearing that shirt for 11 years and winning five championships. He was goal scoring champion in the 1931 and 1932 seasons and that led him to be in the eye of the Mexican National Team, so in 1935 he was part of the team that played in the 1935 Central American and Caribbean Games and became the first naturalized player to play in this team.
Cuba
Strangely enough, Cuba also appears on this list, as defender Jorge Romo was born in Havana, but became a naturalized Mexican citizen because in addition to playing in Mexico with Asturias, Marte and Toluca, he was son of Mexican parents. He was called up for the World Cups of Brazil 1950, Switzerland 1954 and Sweden 1958.
