Naturalized players who triumphed with Mexico

Throughout the history of Mexico’s national team there have been cases of players who were born elsewhere representing El Tri after becoming naturalized. Examples include Antonio Naelson and Julián Quiñones, the latter being the latest to go through the naturalization process and is now accredited as Mexican. Let’s take a look at some of the players born outside of the country who were successful in the national team.

Carlos Blanco Castañón

One of the first foreign players to represent Mexico at the international level was Carlos Blanco. Born in Madrid, Spain, the centre-forward spent his entire career playing in Mexico with spells at Asturias, Necaxa, Marte and Toluca. He was naturalized and wore the Aztec shirt in two World Cups - 1954 Switzerland and 1958 Sweden. He also played in the Pan American championship and World Cup qualifiers.

Gabriel Caballero

Gabriel Caballero was born in Argentina, but because of his love for Mexico (where he emigrated in 1996) he decided to become a naturalized Aztec. He was called up nine times by national team coach Javier Aguirre, and played friendlies against Albania, the United States, Bulgaria, Colombia and Bolivia. At the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, he starred for Mexico in three group games against Croatia, Ecuador and Italy but El Tri ended up being eliminated in the Round of 16 by the United States.

'Sinha'

Brazil-born Antonio Naelson is one of those players who felt Mexican right from the first moment they come to play in the country and for that same love he decided to become Mexican by naturalization. That earned him an almost immediate call-up to the national team where he made a total of 57 appearances, scoring six goals. He was part of the squad that took part at the 2006 World Cup in Germany - Mexico made it past the group stage and were eliminated by Argentina in the Round of 16. After that he continued to be called up, but was left out of the squad for South Africa 2010.

Guille Franco

Argentine by birth, but Mexican by naturalization, Guillermo Franco was one of the players who triumphed during his stay in the Liga MX and at international level with Mexico. He made his debut in the 5-2 win against Guatemala in October 2005 and was included in the squad for the 2006 World Cup. In Germany, he was on target in the opening group game against Iran. Four years later in South Africa 2010 he played in all of the team’s four games, up until Mexico were dumped out - painfully for him, by Argentina.