Tijuana Xolos: “Toño” Rodriguez Makes Move Back To Chivas Guadalajara
This Wednesday, Chivas de Guadalajara officially announced that goalkeeper Jose Antonio Rodriguez was making a move back to La Perla Tapatia.
The Mexican goalkeeper had been on loan to Club Tijuana from Chivas in this Apertura 2017 and served as the backup to Gibran Lajud.
Rodriguez never played in the Liga MX, but was solid throughout the Copa MX competition. “Toño” featured in five total games in this Apertura 2017 edition of the Copa MX, including the round of 16 match against Monarcas Morelia.
The Guadalajara native was the villain and the hero in this game as he made a brutal error that allowed Morelia to tie the game at two goals each. The game went to a penalty shootout, but “Toño” came out as the hero as he stopped two penalties and the Xolos took a 4-2 win in the shootout.
That was easily the most memorable moment for Jose Antonio Rodriguez in his very short stint with the Tijuana Xolos.
The Mexican keeper was actually an above average keeper in the few games he did play and at one point fans were calling for him to start over Gibran Lajud.
The 25-year-old clearly deserves a chance to be a consistent starter for a Liga MX team and he may receive that opportunity with his hometown team, Chivas de Guadalajara. Chivas had a really solid goalkeeper in Rodolfo Cota, but he was only on loan to the club. Pachuca was asking an astronomical amount of money for the Mexican international and it is very likely that he will stay in Pachuca.
¡ChivaHermanos, @TonoRodriguez1 está de regreso con el Rebaño! ??? pic.twitter.com/UIHnjeVPAI
— CHIVAS (@Chivas) December 6, 2017
Many Xolos’ fans will not remember Rodriguez because he was mostly on the bench, but this could have been a nice stepping stone in Tijuana for the young keeper to finally get a consistent starting role.
Now the question for the Xolos is if a younger keeper will be given the opportunity to be Gibran Lajud’s backup or if the new manager will bring in another keeper to sit on the bench and possibly feature in the Copa MX.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.