Javier Ignacio Aquino Carmona (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ aˈkino], born 11 February 1990) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. He is an Olympic gold medalist.[4]

Javier Aquino
Personal information
Full name Javier Ignacio Aquino Carmona[1]
Date of birth (1990-02-11) 11 February 1990 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth Ixhuatán, Oaxaca, Mexico[1]
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger, full-back
Team information
Current team
Tigres UANL
Number 20
Youth career
2005–2010 Cruz Azul
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Cruz Azul Hidalgo[3] 49 (5)
2010–2013 Cruz Azul 78 (7)
2013–2015 Villarreal 44 (1)
2014–2015Rayo Vallecano (loan) 24 (0)
2015– Tigres UANL 317 (26)
International career
2011–2012 Mexico U23 31 (2)
2011–2018 Mexico 54 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Mexico
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 August 2024

Aquino made his debut with Cruz Azul in 2010, playing in over 70 league matches until his transfer to Spanish Liga Adelante club Villarreal in January 2013, with whom he gained promotion to La Liga that same season. In 2014, he was loaned out to Rayo Vallecano. After a quiet performance with Rayo Vallecano, in 2015 he returned to Mexico to join Tigres UANL.

Aquino has been called up to the Mexico U-23 national team, where he was a part of the squads playing at the 2011 Copa América, the 2011 Pan American Games, and the 2012 Summer Olympics, where Mexico won the gold medal. He made his debut with the senior national team in 2011, and participated in the 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, as well as the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

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Cruz Azul

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Born in San Francisco Ixhuatán in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Aquino began playing in Cruz Azul's lower division youth squads. Aquino played for Cruz Azul Lagunas of the third division, where he then traveled to Mexico City to join the club's reserves. It would not be until the Apertura 2010 season that Aquino, together with other youth players, joined the first team. Aquino was one of the revelations of the tournament, his main virtues being dribbling, speed and passing accuracy.

On 23 July 2010 during the Apertura 2010, Aquino debuted for Cruz Azul under coach Enrique Meza in a 0–3 win over Estudiantes Tecos, coming in as a 57th-minute substitute for Alejandro Vela.[5] He scored his first goal in the Primera División on 24 October 2010 during match-day 13 of the Apertura 2010 against Morelia in a 1–1 draw at Estadio Morelos.[6] He gradually cemented his place into the team's starting eleven as the main right-winger, going on to play for two more years at Cruz Azul, amassing over 90 appearances for the club, scoring seven goals.[7]

Villarreal

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On 28 January 2013 it was announced that Aquino was transferred to Villarreal CF of Spain.[8][9][10] He made his league debut coming on as a 67th-minute substitute for Moi Gómez in a 1–1 draw against Hércules CF.[11]

On 19 August 2013, Javier Aquino made his debut in La Liga, entering as a substitute in the second half of the match against Almería. He collaborated towards the final 3–2 victory for Villarreal, with an assist to fellow Mexican teammate Giovani dos Santos.

Rayo Vallecano (loan)

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On 25 August 2014, Villarreal announced that Aquino would be loaned out for the 2014–15 season to Rayo Vallecano.[12] He made his league debut against Atlético Madrid on 25 August, and played all 90 minutes of the match which ended in a 0–0 draw.

Tigres UANL

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After a discreet performance with Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish 2014–15 season, in June 2015, it was announced that he would join Mexican team Tigres UANL. With Tigres, he played the 2015 Copa Libertadores finals against River Plate. Tigres lost by 3–0 in Argentina after a 0–0 draw in Mexico. In December 2015, Tigres won the Mexico Apertura 2015 finals against Pumas UNAM, in December 2016 the Apertura 2016 finals against América and in December 2017 the Apertura 2017 finals against Monterrey; Aquino played a key role for the team in the championships.

International career

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Youth

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Aquino was called up by Luis Fernando Tena to play in the 2011 Pan American Games, in which he played in all six games and won the Gold Medal match against Argentina. He scored his first unofficial international goal in a friendly against Club León on 5 July 2012 in a 1–1 draw.[13]

Aquino took a hiatus from the senior squad to train with the under-23 team in preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics, in which they won a gold medal in the final against Brazil.

Senior

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Aquino made his official debut with the senior national team on 4 July 2011 against Chile in the 2011 Copa América. He played in all three group matches.

The national team that played the 2011 Copa América was an under-22 squad composed of 5 "over-age" players. FIFA has classified the team as the official "senior squad" but it could be said that his debut with the senior squad was on 11 November 2011 against Serbia in a 2–0 friendly, he coming into play at the 86th minute for Andrés Guardado.[14] He made his next appearance on 25 January 2012 in another friendly against Venezuela where he was attributed as adding creativity to Mexico's offense. He entered the game on the 56th minute while the game was tied 1–1, and was involved in the last two goals that Mexico scored to win the match 3–1.[15]

Aquino was initially omitted from the final 23 man roster that would participate in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, however after Luis Montes suffered a severe leg injury, Aquino would be called up to round out the 23 player at the 2014 World Cup.[16]

Aquino's most brilliant moment came at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup against New Zealand. Aquino would go on to be named man of the match.[17]

In May 2018, Aquino was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup,[18] and in June, was ultimately included in the final 23-man roster.[19]

On 29 May 2019, Aquino announced his retirement from international duty.[20]

Career statistics

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As of 20 November 2018[21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Mexico 2011 4 0
2012 4 0
2013 12 0
2014 6 0
2015 8 0
2016 7 0
2017 9 0
2018 4 0
Total 54 0

Honours

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Tigres UANL

Mexico U23

Mexico

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Javier Aquino Carmona Bio, Stats, News – Football / Soccer – – ESPN FC". Archived from the original on 16 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Javier Aquino Stats, News, Bio".
  3. ^ Javier Ignacio Aquino Carmona - Ficha Jugador
  4. ^ "Olympics football: Mexico shock Brazil to win gold". bbc.com. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Estudiantes 0–3 Cruz Azul... La Máquina abrió con victoria el torneo". Medio Tiempo. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Morelia 1–1 Cruz Azul... La Máquina dejó escapar el triunfo y aún no clasifica". Medio Tiempo. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Javier Ignacio Aquino Carmona – Trayectoria". Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  8. ^ "El Villarreal CF ficha al internacional mexicano Javier Aquino". Villarreal CF official website. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Javier Aquino se va al Villarreal". Medio Tiempo. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Javier Aquino moves to Villarreal". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  11. ^ "Dos puntos que se escapan en el Rico Pérez (1-1)". villarrealcf.es. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Aquino agrees loan move to Rayo Vallecano". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 August 2014. [permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Página Oficial de la Selección Nacional de México".
  14. ^ "Hernandez double as Mexico beats Serbia". NDTV Sports. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  15. ^ Rosano, Nick. "Mexico 3–1 Venezuela: Late goals give El Tri hard-fought win in Houston". Goal. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  16. ^ "Copa del Mundo 2014: Herrera confirma a Javier Aquino como reemplazo de Montes". June 2014.
  17. ^ FIFA.com
  18. ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists | Goal.com".
  19. ^ "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Javier Aquino dijo adiós al Tricolor de manera definitiva". 29 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Javier Aquino". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
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