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.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Talavera and the second or maternal family name is Díaz.
Alfredo Talavera
Talavera playing with Mexico in 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]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Pumas 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 359 (1)
2020– UNAM 3 (0)
National team‡
2011– Mexico 28 (0)
2016 Mexico Olympic 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 05:12, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:54, 24 March 2019 (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 Chivas 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 football team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, leaving Talavera in goal.[2] Since then he has started six Clausura 2006 games for Chivas. 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, Chivas 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 Chivas, Michel was the starting keeper and Talavera the backup. After this, he didn't have any action with Chivas again, taking the decision to leave the club in order to have more minutes played.

Tigres UANL

Chivas loaned Talavera to Tigres on a one-year loan in 2008, 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 was transferred to Toluca as a substitute for first team goalie Hernan Cristante, since he was injured in the Apertura 2009, becoming starter in every game for Toluca and the team reached the semi-finals in both the Apertura 2009 against Monterrey and the Torneo Bicentenario 2010 against Pachuca. On 15 May 2010, Talavera made it to his first final as starter in which they defeated Pachuca 1–0 (3–2 on aggregate). On 23 May 2010, Talavera won his first major championship with Toluca, winning in a penalty shoot-out (4–3) after stopping Fernando Arce's shot. For the Apertura 2010 he received the number 1 jersey confirming his starting status with Toluca.[3] On 15 September 2013, Toluca was against Puebla, losing 1–0, but then in the 87th minute a handball inside the box penalty for Toluca and Talavera was up for the penalty which he scored in the 89th minute, giving him his first goal in the Liga MX.

UNAM

Talavera joined Club Universidad Nacional for the 2020–21 Liga MX season.[4]

International career

On 27 January 2011, Talavera was called up to the Mexico national team for a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made his international team debut on 26 March 2011 in a friendly against Paraguay which El Tri won 3–1. 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, Alfredo Talavera became Mexico's first-choice goalkeeper, despite having only one international cap. 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.

On 2 June 2014, Talavera was named in Mexico's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[5]

Since the arrival of former manager Juan Carlos Osorio in October 2015, Talavera became Mexico's first-choice goalkeeper for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification games.

On 7 July 2016, Talavera was named in Mexico's 21-man squad that would participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[6] He would be Mexico's starting goalkeeper in the tournament, failing to make it past the group stage.

In May 2018 he was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[7] 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.[8]

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.[9]

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."[10] 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."[11]

Career statistics

International
As of 27 June 2018[12]
Mexico national team
YearAppsGoals
201190
201210
201310
201450
201540
201650
201730
201800
Total270

Honours

Club
Guadalajara
Toluca
  • Primera División de México: Bicentenario 2010

International

Individual
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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. Alfredo Talavera – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (in Spanish)
  4. "Alfredo Talavera is the new goalkeeper for Pumas U.N.A.M."
  5. "Mexico World Cup squads". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  6. "Definida la convocatoria del Tri para Juegos Olímpicos". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  7. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/amp/news/revealed-every-world-cup-2018-squad-23-man-preliminary-lists/oa0atsduflsv1nsf6oqk576rb
  8. "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. 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.
  10. Moran, Nayib (28 May 2016). "Alfredo Talavera leading race to be Mexico's No. 1 as 'Memo' Ochoa waits". ESPN. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  11. Marshall, Tom (26 March 2018). "Oswaldo Sanchez talks goalkeepers, Juan Carlos Osorio and Mexico's golden generation". ESPN. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  12. "Alfredo Talavera". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
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