Alfredo Talavera

Alfredo Talavera Díaz (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfɾeðo talaˈβeɾa]; born 18 September 1982) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Pumas U.N.A.M and the Mexico national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Talavera and the second or maternal family name is Díaz.
Alfredo Talavera
Talavera with Mexico at the
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup
Personal information
Full name Alfredo Talavera Díaz
Date of birth (1982-09-18) 18 September 1982
Place of birth La Barca, Jalisco, Mexico
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 UNAM
Number 1
Youth career
2000–2003 Guadalajara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2009 Guadalajara 21 (0)
2008–2009 → UANL (loan) 2 (0)
2009–2020 Toluca 366 (1)
2020– UNAM 20 (0)
National team‡
2011– Mexico 29 (0)
2016 Mexico Olympic 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 October 2020 (UTC)

Starting his career with Guadalajara in 2003, it was during his final years with the team that he would be loaned out to UANL and Toluca, with the latter deciding to purchase him in 2010.

He made his debut with the national team in March 2011. Originally Mexico's third-choice goalkeeper for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he became the team's starting goalkeeper following issues with the first and second-choice goalkeepers, in which Mexico would ultimately win. He would go on to be called up for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, the Copa América Centenario, and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Guadalajara

With Oswaldo Sánchez out during the first part of the Clausura 2005 with a shoulder injury, Talavera entered the Guadalajara team as a starter against teams from the Primera División de México, and also coming through against South American teams in the Copa Libertadores.

On 2 April 2006, Sanchez left temporarily to play with the Mexico national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, leaving Talavera in goal.[2] Since then he has started six Clausura 2006 games for Guadalajara. In the first game he started the club posted a 2–0 loss against Monarcas Morelia. This was followed by a loss to Atlas in the Clásico Tapatío. In the final game of the season, Guadalajara lost to Toluca, 2–0, but after a terrible performance in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Jaguares when he made a big mistake in injury time that caused the winning goal for Jaguares, coach José Manuel de la Torre dropped him as the starter and was replaced by Luis Ernesto Michel and Guadalajara fought back and advanced to the semifinals. The next season, when Oswaldo Sánchez returned, Talavera saw himself as the third goalkeeper of Guadalajara, with Michel as the second keeper, after Oswaldo left Guadalajara, Michel was the starting keeper and Talavera the backup. After this, he didn't have any action with Guadalajara again, taking the decision to leave the club in order to have more minutes played.

Tigres UANL

Guadalajara loaned Talavera to Tigres UANL on a one-year loan in 2008,[3] in which he rarely saw action with the team, as he was competing with Óscar Pérez for the spot. Nevertheless, bad luck came for Talavera, as Talavera injured himself in training, making Enrique Palos the next in the line. After he had fully recovered, Alfredo was released from Tigres.

Toluca
Talavera with Toluca in 2012

Talavera was transferred to Toluca as a substitute for first team goalkeeper Hernan Cristante, since he was injured for the Apertura 2009.[4][5] On 26 July 2009, he made his league debut with Toluca playing against his former club Guadalajara in a 4–3 victory. He played as a starter in every game of the season as the team reached the championship semi-finals, losing to eventual championship winners Monterrey.

On 15 May 2010, Talavera made it to his first final as starter after defeating Pachuca 1–0 in the second leg of the 2010 Bicentenario championship semi-final (3–2 on aggregate). On 23 May, Talavera helped Toluca win the championship, defeating Santos Laguna in a penalty shoot-out 4–3 after stopping Fernando Arce's shot.[6][5] His performances led him to win the tournament's Golden Glove award.[7]

On 15 September 2013, in a league match against Puebla, Talavera scored a last-minute penalty, helping his team tie the match at 1–1, thus giving him his first goal in the Liga MX.[8]

Despite losing the 2014 CONCACAF Champions League Final against Cruz Azul,[9] Talavera won the Golden Glove award.[10] His performances led him to be nominated to the 2014 CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Year.[11]

UNAM

Prior to the start of the 2020–21 season, Talavera joined Club Universidad Nacional in an exchange that saw Alfredo Saldívar join Toluca.[12][13] On 26 July 2020, he made his league debut for Pumas U.N.A.M. in a 3–2 victory over Querétaro.[14]

International career

In January 2011, Talavera received his first call-up to the Mexico national team by José Manuel de la Torre for a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.[15] He made his international team debut on 26 March 2011 in a friendly against Paraguay which El Tri won 3–1.[16] He was called for the team's 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad as a third choice goalkeeper after José de Jesús Corona and Guillermo Ochoa. Following Corona's Liguilla scandal with Cruz Azul and Ochoa's clenbuterol issue, Talavera became Mexico's first-choice goalkeeper, despite having only one international cap.[17][18] Overall, he saw action in five matches of that tournament and was a starter in the final against United States, where Mexico would go on to win 4–2.[19]

Talavera was named in the 23-man squad participating in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup held in Brazil,[20] but did not appear in any of the group stage matches as Mexico failed to progress from the group stage.[21] Following the conclusion of the tournament, Talavera was called up again to participate at the Gold Cup to replace injured goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo.[22]

On 2 June 2014, Talavera was included by Miguel Herrera to be in Mexico's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil,[23] but did not appear.

Talavera was included in the final roster that would participate at the 2015 Copa América,[24] but made no appearances. With the arrival of then-manager Juan Carlos Osorio in October 2015, Talavera became Mexico's first-choice goalkeeper in various instances.[25][26]

In May 2016, Talavera was included in the final roster to participate at the Copa América Centenario,[27] making a single appearance in the opening group stage match against Uruguay, where Mexico won 3–1.[28][29] On 7 July, Talavera was named in Mexico's 18-man squad that would participate in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, being one of the three over-aged players.[30] Playing as Mexico's starting goalkeeper in the tournament, he was named captain following Oribe Peralta's injury. Mexico failed to make it past the group stage.[31]

Talavera was included in the roster for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia,[32] where he participated in the group stage 2–1 victory against New Zealand.[33]

In May 2018 he was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[34] and in June 2018, he was named in Mexico's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but did not receive any minutes on the field during the tournament.[35]

Style of play

Spanish newspaper Marca described Talavera as the best out of the other 2018 FIFA World Cup Mexico goalkeepers in aerial game, someone who knows how to play with his feet (following an injury that left him out for various months), knows how to block penalties, and is able to block shots with stable hands, avoiding rebounded balls that could end up in the opposition.[36]

Former Mexico national team coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, has said about Talavera that he has "an extraordinary aerial game. So we have a great goalkeeper for this particular style of game against teams who are direct and are excellent on set-pieces."[37] In an interview with ESPN, former Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez spoke of Talavera as "I think that the most complete of [Talavera, Ochoa, and Corona] is Talavera, because he is a guy that has strong legs, is good in the air, plays well with his feet and has good reactions."[38]

Career statistics

International
As of 7 October 2020[39]
Mexico national team
YearAppsGoals
201190
201210
201310
201450
201540
201650
201730
201800
201900
202010
Total290

Honours

Club
Guadalajara
Toluca

International

Individual

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Soccer-Guadalajara's run ends as six players depart". ESPN. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  3. "Es oficial llegada de Talavera a Tigres". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). 7 June 2008.
  4. "Toluca's Cristante Out Eight Weeks With Torn Ligament". Goal.com. 16 September 2009.
  5. "Toluca's Alfredo Talavera Outperforms Former Teammate Oswaldo Sanchez". Goal.com. 24 May 2010.
  6. "De la mano de Alfredo Talavera, Toluca es campeón del Futbol Mexicano". Expansión (in Spanish). 23 May 2010.
  7. "Este reconocimiento llega después de siete años: Talavera". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). 31 August 2010.
  8. "Talavera anotó y salvó al Toluca". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 15 September 2013.
  9. "Cruz Azul se Corona en Concacaf". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 23 April 2014.
  10. "Golden Glove". CONCACAF.com. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  11. "Talavera nominado portero del año". 12 December 2014.
  12. "Alfredo Talavera goes to Pumas from Toluca in exchange for keeper Alfredo Saldivar". FMF State of Mind. 1 July 2020.
  13. "Alfredo Talavera is the new goalkeeper for Pumas U.N.A.M."
  14. "Pumas vs Querétaro: Afición alaba actuación de Alfredo Talavera en su debut". SoyFutbol (in Spanish). 26 July 2020.
  15. "Toluca, base de la selección del Chepo de la Torre; regresa Sinha". La Jornada (in Spanish). 28 January 2011.
  16. "Alfredo Talavera salió feliz por su debut con el Tri". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). 27 March 2011.
  17. Carlisle, Jeff (10 June 2011). "How will Mexico cope after scandal?". ESPN.
  18. Orozco, Ivan (18 June 2011). "CONCACAF Gold Cup: Talavera getting accustomed to Mexico goal". Box Score News.
  19. "Mexico claim Gold Cup glory". ESPN Soccernet. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  20. "Convocatoria de la Selección Mayor" (in Spanish). Femexfut. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  21. "Mexico – Statistics". FIFA. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  22. Corona Zurita, Andrés (28 June 2013). "Cirilo Saucedo es baja por lesión en la Copa Oro; Alfredo Talavera al quite". Goal.com (in Spanish).
  23. "Mexico World Cup squads". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  24. "Mexico names competitive, but not first-choice roster for Copa America". Sports Illustrated. 11 May 2015.
  25. "Talavera esperó cinco años para por fin ser titular por delante de Ochoa y Corona". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish).
  26. "Alfredo Talavera, el portero 'favorito' de Juan Carlos Osorio". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish).
  27. "Mexico announces team for Copa America Centenario and it looks scary good". Fox Sports. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  28. "Alfredo Talavera, portero titular para enfrentar a Uruguay". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 5 June 2016.
  29. "Rafa Marquez nets late winner for Mexico in Group C win vs. Uruguay". ESPN. 5 June 2016.
  30. "Definida la convocatoria del Tri para Juegos Olímpicos". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  31. Rivas, Cristian (11 August 2016). "Murió el campeón; México, fuera de los Juegos Olímpicos". Mexico.as.com (in Spanish). AS. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  32. "México definió a los 23 convocados que irán a la Copa Confederaciones de Rusia". TUDN (in Spanish). 8 June 2017.
  33. Acedo, Diego (21 June 2017). "Talavera fue una estrella: "Para eso está el portero"". Marca (in Spanish).
  34. "Los 28 elegidos por Juan Carlos Osorio para el Mundial, a detalle". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish).
  35. "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  36. Maldonado, Adriana (28 May 2018). "Razones por las que A. Talavera debería de ser el portero titular de México en Rusia". Marca. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  37. Moran, Nayib (28 May 2016). "Alfredo Talavera leading race to be Mexico's No. 1 as 'Memo' Ochoa waits". ESPN. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  38. Marshall, Tom (26 March 2018). "Oswaldo Sanchez talks goalkeepers, Juan Carlos Osorio and Mexico's golden generation". ESPN. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  39. "Alfredo Talavera". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  40. "Best 10 Saves Gold Cup 2011". YouTube. CONCACAF. 29 June 2011.
  41. De la Cruz, Luis (16 December 2020). "Liga MX: León, Pumas y Cruz Azul se 'roban' el 11 ideal del Guardianes 2020". SoyFutbol.com (in Spanish).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.