USA Hall of Famer to work as a scout for Mexico national team
Hugo Perez joined the Mexican National Team to recruit young Mexican-American talent in the United States. Perez will seek to reinforce the younger squads of El Tri.
The Mexican federation (FMF) is winning the script to the United States Soccer Federation, this time by hiring former US youth coach, Hugo Perez as a USA based scout. The former USMNT player and US National Hall of Famer will seek to give Mexican-American youth more possibilities to grow as professionals.
In an interview with SoccerAmerica held after the FMF youth visor camp in Southern California, Perez talked about his new job with the Mexican federation. "I'm doing this because I want the kids to have opportunities. I just want them to have more than one choice. If one national team doesn't want them, maybe the other one does. For me, the most important thing is providing opportunities."
The courting of the Mexican-American talent comes after a Mexican law modification in 1998 that allows US-born Mexican-American to obtain Mexican citizenship, increasing the scouting on the American side of the border.
During Perez's time at US Soccer, he coached the U-14 and U-15 squads, where he worked with players such as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie.