Out of contract Guillermo Ochoa goes back to his roots in NYC
After his time in Europe, the iconic Mexican keeper turned some heads by joining in with street games in New York City.
Sometimes in life you need to go back to go forward. This is possibly the philosophy being employed by Guillermo Ochoa with the Mexican keeper a free agent but still aiming to participate in, what would be his sixth World Cup next year.
Guillermo Ochoa ended his relationship with Portuguese top flight side AVS Futebol SAD after leaving Salernitana previously and despite his contributions in keeping the side from Vila Das Aves from relegation, he was released by the Liga Betclic side on June 30th.
But being without a team doesn’t stop Ochoa from showing his love for the game, and now he’s traded professional courts for street courts.
Wearing a classic Nike retro jersey, Ochoa was involved in a pick-up game on a astroturf pitch in New York over the weekend.
The legendary goalkeeper posted a series of photos from the low-key kickabout from New York with the accompanying message: “No stadium, no crowd… just passion, joy, and pure football in the heart of the city".
This friendly match in New York is the first time the 40-year-old has played since being on the Mexico the bench at the recent Gold Cup 2025 and his last official match with AVS on November 9, 2024, during Matchday 11 of the Primeira Liga.
His time in Portugal was a disappointment after a positive impression with Italian side Salernitana.
Despite team from Salerno getting relegated from Serie A, the Mexican stopper produced the second highest number of saves in a single game during that Serie A season.
The goalkeeper averaged an impressive 5.2 saves per game as Salerno’s goalkeeper, making him the league’s most active goalkeeper in that category.
He was also crowned the best player of the 2022-23 season.
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