Jesús Orozco: “When my father died, I thought about quitting football”

Making a debut in the top flight of professional football is undoubtedly the dream of thousands of youngsters around the world: a goal that will not happen overnight and that after a lot of hard work, could become a reality. However, imagine achieving your goal and shortly after having done so, contemplating retirement. That is what Jesús Orozco experienced.

The Mexican defender is expected to have a big future in the game and is a regular in Veljko Paunovic’s Chivas team but it has been far from plain sailing.

Thoughts of retirement after Father’s passing

During an interview with Tudn, the 21-year-old player admitted to having thought about giving up the dream and leaving the sport behind after the death of his father.

“It was very difficult to digest. The day I made my debut, my dad was in hospital, he had already lost consciousness and all that. So, it was a difficult situation. When I found out that he passed away, I’m not going to lie, I was thinking about leaving football. When he passed away I didn’t see why I should continue if he was gone,” said Orozco.

The centre-back made his debut on 30 July 2021 in a match against Puebla and since then, he has played 49 matches - a total of 4,211 minutes - scoring two goals and registering three assists.