Oswaldo Sanchez

Oswaldo Javier Sanchez Ibarra is a professional footballer from Mexico who plays as a goalkeeper. Sanchez began his professional career at the age of 20 when he came on as a substitute for F.C. Atlas A.C., in a game against Veracruz. After two more years of being the back-up keeper in the first team, Sanchez gained the first-choice keeper spot in 1995. At the end of 1996, having made 80-odd appearances for Atlas, Sanchez moved to Club America in a much-awaited transfer.

At Club America, Sanchez had a disastrous first season that included a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of rivals, Chivas. Hugo Pineda took over the reins from Sanchez in his second year at the team with Sanchez only making 3 appearances. Sanchez returned as the first choice in the following season and finally left in 1999, after making almost 80 appearances for the team.

Sanchez moved to Chivas de Guadalajara in 1999 and became the first choice keeper after establishing himself with some stellar performances. Sanchez played over 270 games for Chivas and even scored against Club Deportivo El Nacional of Ecuador, in the 2000 Copa Merconorte. Sanchez would assume the responsibility and role of team captain for Chivas and stayed there despite 10 coaches coming and going at the club during his tenure. He led the team to the championship title in 2006, the first trophy of his career, and for Chivas during Sanchez’s association with the team.

In 2007, Sanchez moved to Santos Laguna and helped the team remain in the first division with some incredible performances between the posts. Sanchez was frequently injured and despite leading them to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Clausura tournament, Sanchez spent most of the time on the injury list. In 2008, he led Santos to the Clausura title and even drew a lot of criticism and spite from the fans during a match against his old club Chivas.

In Clausura 2008, he started a bit rusty still recovering from his injury but has recovered, and has led Santos again to become one of the best teams in all of Mexico, being second after Chivas in the Clausura 2008 tournament.

At the international level, Sanchez was first picked for the Mexican Uncer-20 team, representing the country at the FIFA World Youth Championships. He made his debut for the senior team in 1996 and since then, has played 99 times for the national team including the 1998 World Cup in France, the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The last edition, he played despite losing his father just days before their first match against Iran.

Sanchez has also represented Mexico at various editions of the Gold Cup and the Copa America. Sanchez has been the first choice goalkeeper for Mexico for a number of years and has two CONCACAF Gold Cups to his name from their 1996 and 2003 exploits.

Sanchez was named as the Best Goalkeeper at the 2003 Gold Cup while winning the same award for the 2002 and 2005 seasons of the Mexican First Division Championship’s Apertura tournament. In 2003, he was named as the best goalkeeper for the Clausura tournament as well.