Edson Álvarez

Edson Omar Álvarez Velázquez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈeθson ˈalβaɾesʃ], born 24 October 1997) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a defender for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Mexico national team. Mainly a centre-back, he is also capable of playing as a right back, or as a defensive midfielder.[3]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Álvarez and the second or maternal family name is Velázquez.
Edson Álvarez
Álvarez with Mexico at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Edson Omar Álvarez Velázquez[1]
Date of birth (1997-10-24) 24 October 1997
Place of birth Tlalnepantla de Baz,
State of Mexico, Mexico
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Defender
Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Ajax
Number 4
Youth career
2014–2016 América
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 América 86 (5)
2019– Ajax 12 (0)
National team‡
2017 Mexico U20 10 (1)
2017– Mexico 31 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 7 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 January 2020

Early life

Álvarez was born in Tlalnepantla de Baz, a municipality just north of Mexico City, to Adriana Velázquez and Evaristo Álvarez.[4] As a child he would work for his family's business of manufacturing football jerseys for local teams, which he cites as his first foray into the sport.[5] At age 14, Álvarez tried out for the youth team of Pachuca, though Álvarez did not make the team due to his short stature.[5] Contemplating quitting football, to the resistance of his parents who believed he had the talent to pursue his dream of playing professionally, Álvarez decided to try out for Club América's youth team, eventually making the team after a three-month tryout. He would make it to the daily team practices by way of a three-to-four-hour round trip commute from his home in Tlalnepantla and the club's training ground in Coapa. According to Álvarez, he would spend almost 70 percent of his monthly salary toward transportation.[5]

Club career

América

In 2014, at age 16, Álvarez joined Club América's youth system, playing for the under-17 team.[4] The following year, while still playing for the under-17 squad, Álvarez was promoted to América's second division team.[6]

In August 2016, first team coach Ignacio Ambríz gave Álvarez his first call-up, sitting on the bench in América's week 5 league match against Monarcas Morelia, using the jersey number 282.[5] On 29 October, newly appointed coach Ricardo La Volpe gave 19 year-old Álvarez his Liga MX debut in the team's win over Santos Laguna; he played all 90 minutes and was voted third in a Man of the Match online poll by club fans.[7] On 25 December, he scored his first career goal in the Apertura final against Tigres UANL.[8]

Prior to the start of the 2017–18 season, Álvarez was handed the number 4 shirt, which was vacated following the departure of Erik Pimentel.[9]

On 16 December 2018, Álvarez was given the start for the return leg of the Apertura final against Cruz Azul, playing in midfield in place of the injured Mateus Uribe, and scored twice as América won its 13th league title following a 2–0 aggregate score.[10] On 23 February 2019, Álvarez made his 100th competitive appearance for América in the team's 3–0 victory over Lobos BUAP.[11]

Ajax

On 19 July 2019, Dutch club Ajax announced an agreement with Club América for the signing of Álvarez on a five-year contract, subject to a medical, for a reported fee of US$17 million.[12] He successfully passed his medical and was officially presented on 22 July, being handed the number 4 shirt which had been vacated following the departure of Matthijs de Ligt. The club announced an official transfer sum of €15 million.[13] On 17 August, Álvarez made his competitive debut for Ajax as a 74th minute substitute in the team's 4–1 league win over VVV-Venlo.[14] On 29 August, Álvarez scored his first goal in his first start against APOEL in the second-leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off round.[15] On 17 September, Álvarez scored the second goal in the 3–0 Champions League group stage victory over Lille, becoming the first Mexican player to score on his Champions League debut.[16]

International career

Mexico U-20

Álvarez was called up for the Mexico national under-20 football team camp[17] preparing for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship en route to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was included in the World Cup under-20 squad, and scored the winning goal in Mexico's 3–2 win over Group B minnows Vanuatu.

Mexico national team

On 30 January 2017, Álvarez received his first call up to Mexico's senior squad for a friendly against Iceland.[18] He made his senior debut on 8 February against Iceland, replacing Jesús Molina in the 60th minute.[19] Along with Alejandro Mayorga, Álvarez was cited to be a supporting practice squad player with the Mexico 2017 Confederations Cup team.[20] He was called up to the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster for Mexico, making him the youngest player on the squad. This roster was largely composed of alternate players as the primary squad was in Russia competing in the Confederations Cup.[21] On 17 July, against Curaçao in the last game of the group stage, Álvarez scored his first goal for the national team in their 2–0 win; he became the youngest Mexican player to score a goal in a Gold Cup tournament at 19 years old.[22]

In May 2018, Álvarez was named to Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup.[23] He was the youngest player on the list.[3] He was ultimately included in the final 23-man roster revealed on 4 June.[24] He appeared in all of Mexico's group stage matches; in Mexico's final group match against Sweden, Álvarez started at right-back and scored an own goal at the 74th minute in Mexico's 3–0 loss.[25] He also started in the round-of-16 defeat to Brazil.

In May 2019, Álvarez was included in Tata Martino's provisional 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster.[26] In a warm-up friendly match against Venezuela before the tournament, he would suffer from an apparent knee injury[27] but was revealed to only be a scare,[28] and was thus included in the final list for the competition.[29] He would go on to win the tournament.[30]

Style of play

Following his debut with the national team against Iceland, Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said of Álvarez: "Edson is a very technical player with a good aerial game… it seems that he has that pause (alluding to the technical concept of la pausa), that extra second to make a good decision."[31]

Career statistics

Club
As of 7 March 2020[32]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
América 2016–17 Liga MX 21260—1[lower-alpha 1]0282
2017–18 3104040—390
2018–19 343120——463
Total 86522040101135
Ajax 2019–20 Eredivisie 120308200232
Career total 985250122101367
  1. Includes one match from the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup

International
As of 10 November 2019[33]
Mexico
YearAppsGoals
201791
2018110
2019111
Total312

International goals
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 July 2017Alamodome, San Antonio, United States Curaçao2–02–02017 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2.15 November 2019Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama Panama2–03–02019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A

Honours

Club

América

International

Mexico

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba E-Auto: List of Players" (PDF). Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  2. "Edson Álvarez" (in Dutch). AFC Ajax.
  3. Arnold, Jon. "Get to know Hernandez, Lozano & Mexico's World Cup roster". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  4. "Edson Álvarez, un águila de calle" [Edson Álvarez, an eagle from the streets] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. "Causa y Efecto de… Edson Álvarez" [Cause and Effect of… Edson Álvarez] (in Spanish). Futbol Total. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. "Edson Omar Álvarez Velazquez" (in Spanish). Liga MX. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  7. "Edson Álvarez debuta en la Liga MX". ClubAmérica.com.mx (in Spanish). Club América. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  8. "Video: Gol de Edson Álvarez contra Tigres". Goal.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  9. "América registra 11 jugadores de 21 años o menos" [America registers 11 players aged 21 and under]. espn.com (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  10. "Edson Alvarez delivers dream finish to Club America after World Cup fiasco". The Athletic. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  11. "Edson Álvarez llegó a 100 partidos oficiales con América" [Edson Álvarez reached 100 official matches with America]. telemundodeportes.com (in Spanish). Telemundo. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  12. Valentine, Ben. "Ajax complete $17m signing of versatile Mexico star Alvarez". Goal.com. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  13. "Transfer completed: Edson Álvarez is now Ajacied!". AFC Ajax. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  14. "Ajax brings 3 points back to Amsterdam". AFC Ajax. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  15. "Edson Alvarez scores first Ajax goal in Champions League playoff". Goal.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  16. "Report: Ajax 3-0 Lille". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  17. "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México Sub 20". MiSeleccion.com.mx (in Spanish).
  18. Zacarias, Mariana. "Edson Álvarez se dice 'en shock' por la noticia del Tri". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  19. "Juan Carlos Osorio debutó a Edson Álvarez y Luis Reyes". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  20. "Edson Álvarez y Alejandro Mayorga, 'invitados' de Osorio a Confederaciones". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  21. "Elías en la lista preliminar de Copa Oro" [Elías in the preliminary list of the Gold Cup]. am.com (in Spanish). Periódico am. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  22. "Édson Álvarez, el mexicano más joven en convertir un gol en la Copa Oro". Univision Deportes (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  23. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 Squad - 23-Man Preliminary Lists & When Will They Be Announced?". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  24. "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  25. "Sweden v. Mexico". FIFA.com. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  26. Tinajero, Antonio (14 May 2019). "Tata Martino Announces Mexico Preliminary Gold Cup Squad; Vela, Chicharito, Herrera, Corona left out". Fmfstateofmind.com.
  27. Arnold, Jon (5 June 2019). "Alvarez injury in Venezuela friendly puts focus on Martino's provisional roster error". Goal.com.
  28. Arnold, Jon. "Mexico midfielder Alvarez says injury 'only a scare'". Goal.com.
  29. Diaz, Rafael (5 June 2019). "Mexico unveil final Gold Cup roster; Edson Alvarez doubtful". Fmfstateofmind.com.
  30. Straus, Brian (7 July 2019). "Mexico Turns Tide, Wins Gold Cup Title Again vs. Wasteful USMNT". Sports Illustrated.
  31. Harrison, Thomas. "Liga MX: 5 Unheralded Youngsters Making a Name for Themselves This Season". Outside of the Boot. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  32. Edson Álvarez at Soccerway
  33. "Edson Álvarez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  34. "Mexico leads way in Concacaf Men's Best XI". www.concacaf.com. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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