Eight Mexicans among the best goalkeepers of the AP22

Eight Mexican goalkeepers, headed by Santos’ Carlos Acevedo and Chivas’ Miguel Jiménez, appear in the list of the fifteen best goalkeepers of the Apertura 2022 - according to a statistical analysis carried out by the specialized outlet, SofaScore.

Joining Acevedo and Jiménez on the list are: Luis Cárdenas from Monterrey, Luis Malagón from Necaxa , Guillermo Ochoa from América, Rodolfo Cota from León, Alfredo Talavera from Juárez and Jesús Crown from Cruz Azul.

These eight Aztec goalkeepers have competed in the tournament with a host of foreign goalkeepers such as Nicolás Vikonis from Mazatlán, Nahuel Guzmán from Tigres , Tiago Volpi from Toluca, Esteban Andrada from Monterrey, Marcelo Barovero from Atlético de San Luis, Puebla’s Antony Silva and Pachuca’s Oscar Usteri .

Home-grown keepers outnumbering foreigners in the ranking demonstrates that Mexican managers continue to bet on the ability of the Mexican players - at least in that part of the pitch.

Sofacore’s analysis includes data including saves made from shots on target and in that department, Acevedo de Santos is the leader with 68 saves and his closest pursuers are the Argentine Marcelo Barovero from San Luis with 61 and the Brazilian Tiago Volpi from Toluca, while among the Mexicans, Necaxa’s goalkeeper Luis Malagón is the best placed with 56 saves on his goal line.

Next, are Jiménez from Chivas with 53 and Talavera from Juárez with 51, Cota from León with 49, while Ochoa behind all of them with 42.

As for saving penalties, León’s goalkeeper, Rodolfo Cota is the best with three spot-kicks detained - including one from Atlas’ Julián Quiñones in the recent 4-2 victory 4-2; then comes Rogelio Funes Mori of Monterrey and Cristian Calderón of Chivas, beating Marcelo Barovero from San Luis and Antony Silva from Puebla who have stopped one in the current competition.

Obviously, the privileged position that Acevedo occupies demonstrates the great moment he is going through and that he should undoubtedly have a good chance to be included in Tata Martino’s squad for the World Cup list, but the final decision, as always, will be down to the coach.

Up until now, the goalkeepers which Martino has favoured for the national team are Guillermo Ochoa as his first choice, Alfredo Talavera and León’s Rodolfo Cota. Bar any unexpected changes, everything indicates that there will be no changes to the list - at least until it is expected to be submitted to FIFA.

The best goalkeepers of the Apertura 2022