Paul Aguilar

Paul Nicolás Aguilar Rojas (born 6 March 1986) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a right-back and captains Liga MX club América.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Aguilar and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.
Paul Aguilar
Aguilar lining up for Mexico in 2015
Personal information
Full name Paul Nicolás Aguilar Rojas
Date of birth (1986-03-06) 6 March 1986
Place of birth Concordia, Sinaloa, Mexico
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Right-back
Club information
Current team
 América
Number 22
Youth career
2002–2004 Pachuca
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2011 Pachuca 136 (11)
2004–2005 → Indios (loan) 37 (2)
2011– América 351 (13)
National team‡
2009–2016 Mexico 56 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:18, 29 September 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 July 2015

Aguilar has represented Mexico at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2011 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the Copa América Centenario.

Club career

Pachuca

Paul Aguilar began his career with Pachuca Club de Fútbol in 2002. He started off in Pachuca's affiliate (second division) team, Pachuca Juniors. In 2004, he was loaned to Indios de Ciudad Juárez for two seasons in order to gain more experience. After returning to Pachuca in 2005 and making 27 appearances with the "B team" (Pachuca Juniors), Aguilar made his first-team debut in the 2006 Apertura tournament on 6 August in a match against Cruz Azul, with the match ending in a 2–3 defeat. Paul Aguilar played the entire ninety minutes and scored a goal in the 56th minute of the game. Pachuca won the 2007 Clausura championship after defeating América in the final. Paul Aguilar became a mainstay within the squad and won the confidence of manager Enrique Meza. Aguilar would barely miss a game since earning a starting position at right-back during the 2008 Clausura. Paul Aguilar also participated in the 2008 and 2010 FIFA Club World Cups with Pachuca. His performance with the club earned him a spot in the final 23-man national team squad who would play the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After five years and ten seasons with Pachuca, Paul Aguilar was sold to América for the 2011 Apertura in exchange for Juan Carlos Silva and Enrique Esqueda.[2]

América
Aguilar in 2016

On 23 May 2011, Aguilar officially joined Club América for the Apertura tournament.[3] Aguilar made his debut with América on 31 July in a league match against Toluca, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[4] Upon his arrival Aguilar became a popular player with the club's fans.[5] He scored his first goal with América in the 90th minute against arch-rivals Guadalajara in the Súper Clásico.

On 26 May 2013, Paul Aguilar won his first title with América after defeating Cruz Azul in the Clausura final, playing in both legs.[6]

On 26 March 2014, Aguilar signed a two-year contract extension with América, which will keep him at the club until 2016.[7] Aguilar had previously stated publicly that he would like to end his career at América.[8] Aguilar made his 100th league appearance for América on 30 May in the 4–0 win over Guadalajara.[9][10] Prior to the first-leg of the 2014 Apertura semifinal series against Monterrey, it was reported that Aguilar was separated from the squad by manager Antonio Mohamed due to an alleged dressing-room confrontation between the two.[11]

International career
Aguilar with Mexico in 2010

In October 2007, Paul Aguilar received his first call-up by coach Hugo Sánchez to play a friendly match against Nigeria, however he did no see playing time. In 2009, Aguilar was called-up again, this time by coach Javier Aguirre, and made his debut with the national team on 30 September in a friendly match against Colombia. The match ended in a 1–2 defeat, with Aguilar played the entire 90 minutes and scoring Mexico's only goal.

In early 2010, Aguirre called-up Aguilar for a series of international friendlies in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Mexico's first game of 2010 was a 5–0 win over Bolivia, in which Paul scored his second goal for Mexico in only his second appearance. He eventually made the final 23-player roster for the World Cup.[12] He started in the tournament's inaugural match against hosts South Africa, but was substituted out for Andrés Guardado in the 55th minute. He did not participate in any of the next three matches.

Aguilar was a part of the winning squad at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, however he only saw playing time in the semi-final match against Honduras. Aguilar also participated in the 2011 Copa America held in Argentina, playing in all three group matches as a right-back. In 2012, he saw no activity with the national team.

Aguilar would not receive another call-up until late 2013, this time by new coach Miguel Herrera for the two World Cup intercontinental playoff matches against New Zealand. Aguilar would go on to score Mexico's first goal in the 5–1 win over New Zealand at the Estadio Azteca on 13 November. The playoff ended in a combined 9-3 win for Mexico, thus qualifying them to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Aguilar would be included in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup. During the 2014 World Cup, he started at right-back for Mexico in all four matches.

During the 2015 CONCACAF Cup, a one-off tournament meant to serve a qualifier to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, Aguilar scored a game-winning volley in overtime for Mexico in the 3–2 result.[13]

In the run-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, national coach Juan Carlos Osorio decided not to call-up Aguilar following alleged criticism from the player towards Osorio’s tactics.[14]

International goals
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.[15]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 September 2009Cotton Bowl, Dallas, United States Colombia1–21–2Friendly
2.24 February 2010Candlestick Park, San Francisco, United States Bolivia5–05–0Friendly
3.13 November 2013Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico New Zealand1–05–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.15 July 2015Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, United States Trinidad and Tobago1–04–42015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
5.10 October 2015Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States United States3–23–22015 CONCACAF Cup

Honours

Club
Pachuca
América

International
Mexico

Individual
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References
  1. "Paul Aguilar profile". clubamerica.com. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  2. "Paul Aguilar reforzará al América" [Paul Aguilar will reinforce América] (in Spanish). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  3. "Paul Aguilar llega al América" [Paul Aguilar arrives to America] (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  4. Kevin McCauley (31 July 2011). "Club America Vs. Toluca: Final Score, Super Aguilas Disappoint In 1-1 Draw". SB Nation. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  5. "Las 'travesuras' de Paul Aguilar en el entrenamiento" (in Spanish). 15 October 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  6. "¡América es Campéon de la Liga MX!" [América is the champion of Liga MX!]. Club América. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  7. "Paul Aguilar firma por dos años man con el América" (in Spanish). Radio Fórmula. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  8. "Paul Aguilar quiere retirarse en el América" (in Spanish). Diario Récord. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  9. "Paul Aguilar por el centenario en el clásico". Club América. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  10. "Crónica: Chivas 0-4 América" (in Spanish). Club América. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  11. "America coach Mohamed separates Aguilar from squad". Goal.com. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  12. https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/players/player=289195/index.html
  13. Kevin McCauley (11 October 2015). "Paul Aguilar scores incredible 118th-minute winning goal for Mexico against USMNT". SB Nation. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  14. Jose Antonio Castro (21 March 2018). "Paul Aguilar criticó los métodos de Osorio en el Tri" [Paul Aguilar criticized the methods of Osorio in El Tri] (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  15. "Paul Aguilar". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
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