Guillermo Ochoa

Francisco Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa Magaña (born 13 July 1985) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Salernitana and captains the Mexico national team.

Ochoa made his senior level professional debut for Club América in 2004, winning the league title the following year and was the club's first-choice goalkeeper up until 2011, making over 200 appearances for América.

That summer Ochoa was transferred to Ajaccio in France.

He spent three seasons with the club until their relegation from Ligue 1.

Guillermo Ochoa made his debut with América during the Clausura 2004 tournament against Monterrey, being only 18 years old when called up by head coach Leo Beenhakker.

Ochoa quickly demonstrated his skill and talent in goal, and the young goalkeeper was Thrust into the spotlight to replace injured veteran Adolfo Ríos.

He would then share the starting job with Ríos after he recovered from his aforementioned injury.

At the conclusion of his first season, he won the Rookie of the Tournament award.

When the Apertura 2004 tournament began, Ochoa was thought to be the heir apparent to Ríos, who had retired.

However, new head coach Oscar Ruggeri brought new goalkeepers with him, among them Argentine Sebastián Saja.

Ruggeri's stay at the club was marred by controversy and unpopular decisions.

He was fired after only six games into the season and Ochoa was soon reinstated by new coach Mario Carrillo.

Thereafter, he started every game for Club América save for incidents involving injuries or national team duty.

A Mexican international since 2005, Ochoa received his first cap at age 20 in a friendly match against Hungary.

Under Carrillo, Ochoa won his first championship with América following the Clausura 2005 season.

He also won the 2005 Campeón de Campeones and the 2006 CONCACAF Champions' Cup with América.

Having been included in the squads for five FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022), Ochoa has gained international recognition for his consistency and big game performances in the competition over multiple iterations.

He won back-to-back Golden Glove awards for the 2006–07 season.

In October 2007, Ochoa was named in France Football's list of candidates for the Ballon d'Or, being one of only three players named to not play in Europe.

Ochoa would start 2008 in impressive form, helping América win the InterLiga tournament with excellent performances, most notably in the group match against Monarcas Morelia, where he saved a late penalty kick, and América's 1–0 lead.

In the winter of 2010, there was much speculation by various sources in England as to where Ochoa would move to for the 2011–12 season.

English newspaper Metro reported Manchester United were keen on signing Ochoa.

Ochoa's last season with América was the Clausura 2011, which ended with a quarter-final defeat to Monarcas Morelia.

On 4 July 2011, Ochoa signed a three-year contract, with an additional one-year option, with French club Ajaccio, recently promoted to Ligue 1.

He played in his first two friendlies with Ajaccio against Bordeaux and Real Sociedad, losing 1–2 and 0–4 respectively.

Ochoa made his official club debut on 5 August 2011 against Toulouse, losing 0–2.

On 18 and 21 December, Ajaccio won two games in a row, with Ochoa keeping two consecutive clean-sheets, his third clean-sheet in total of the season.

Ochoa also contributed in 3–0 victory against Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël in the Coupe de France.

On 14 January 2012, he helped Ajaccio with a 2–1 victory over Auxerre, and on 21 January, he played against Valenciennes in a 2–1 victory which put Ajaccio out of the relegation zone since the start of the season.

Ajaccio won its sixth game with Ochoa in a 2–1 home win against Dijon.

For the last game of the season, Ajaccio needed a win against Toulouse to escape the relegation zone.

Ochoa started and played 90 minutes against Toulouse and helped Ajaccio win 2–0 to stay in Ligue 1.

He has also appeared at two FIFA Confederations Cups (2013 and 2017), two Olympic tournaments (2004 and 2020), two Copas América (2007 and 2016), five CONCACAF Gold Cups (2007, 2009, 2015, 2019 and 2023), and was originally in the 2011 Gold Cup squad before being suspended from the competition due to false doping allegations.

With five Gold Cup titles, he is the most successful player in the history of the competition.

Ochoa is the most capped goalkeeper in the history of the national side, and currently third on the all-time list with 148 appearances.

In 2014, Ochoa joined Málaga but failed to establish himself in the team.

In July 2016, he joined Granada on a season-long loan.

In July 2017, he joined Standard Liège, winning the 2017–18 Belgian Cup.

He returned to Club América in August 2019.

Three years later, he returned to Europe, this time with Italian club Salernitana.