The 19-year-old shook up the USA-Mexico rivalry last winter by choosing to play for El Tri – on Tuesday he’ll face the US for the first time

When long-time U.S. youth national team midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez made headlines last winter by choosing to play for Mexico, one thing he would eventually have to do is face the national team he left behind.

That first meeting takes place on Tuesday in Nashville, when Gonzalez and El Tri face off against the U.S. national team in a friendly that will have the added story line of a player who switched sides – a move that led to plenty of introspection within U.S. Soccer, and cast Gonzalez as a traitor among U.S. fans.

That label doesn’t likely bother Gonzalez one bit these days. He has continued to thrive for Liga MX powerhouse Monterrey, and has emerged as one of the Mexico national team’s brightest prospects as it pushed into the 2022 World Cup cycle.

“Without a doubt, I made this decision perfectly and everything came out perfect,” Gonzalez told Univision on Monday. “The truth is I’m very happy to be here, happy that Mexico opened its doors to me.”

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Born and raised in Santa Rosa, California before moving to Mexico to play for Monterrey, Gonzalez was a regular fixture in the U.S. youth national team ranks during his teenage years, but that connection faded after he failed to make the U.S. Under-20 team for the 2017 World Cup.

 

That U.S. team featured current USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams, who will be facing off against his former team-mate in one of Tuesday’s more high-profile matchups.

Adams was surprised when Gonzalez made the decision to play for El Tri, but he doesn’t hold a grudge, even if he admits to looking forward to beating Gonzalez’s El Tri.

“I didn’t know if I would ever think Jonathan would play for Mexico,” Adams told Goal. “Obviously growing up and playing with him and being on so many different age-group national teams with him. I thought it was ironic that he went to Mexico after being there and then blowing up a little bit.

“I don’t know what went on behind the scenes. In that sense you can read into things, but you never know. I’m not one to really get involved in it. I wish him the best of luck, but more than anything I’m excited to play against him now.”

The subject of Gonzalez’s switch to Mexico is still a touchy one for U.S. Soccer, which was roundly criticized in some circles for not doing enough to court the 19-year-old as his career took off in Mexico a year ago, while there’s also the feeling not enough has been done to cultivate the Latino-American player pool.

Interim U.S. coach Dave Sarachan believes Gonzalez’s decision is individual to the player, rather than it being the start of a trend.

“That’s a real individual decision,” Sarachan said. “Every person has to make those important decisions and Jonathan made his. I don’t think any more beyond that to be honest. It’s worked in the reverse cases for us as well. And as we move along, there’s probably going to be more examples of that.”

While Sarachan wouldn’t go as far as to blame U.S. Soccer for losing Gonzalez to Mexico, he did acknowledge the need to get better in certain aspects of handling dual nationals.

“We have a big country, with a lot of people out watching,” Sarachan said. “We have a lot of systems in place, but that can be improved in terms of identifying talent and trying to offer everyone opportunities to be a part of our national teams at the youth level moving on up.

“I think we’ve done well with our programming at the youth level for all players and those that have dual citizenship and have options, hopefully they’re getting a great experience along the way.”

“We still have to be the best at every level going forward,” Sarachan added. “Ultimately it is up to the players to make those decisions, but there’s going to be some that decide one way and some that decide the other no matter what you do. We know there’s improvements that need to be made in terms of the scouting and identification and I think we’re getting there.”

U.S. fans will get their first up-close look at Gonzalez, offering them a chance to see the player that they missed out on. There is no denying his talent, the same talent that helped him earn Liga MX Best XI honors in the fall of 2017 during Monterrey’s title-winning season. The same talent that has helped him maintain his starting role at Monterrey even through multiple coaching changes.

Gonzalez has come a long way from the summer of 2017, when he had yet to make his professional debut, and he failed to make the cut for the Under-20 World Cup. Now that his career is thriving, there is some understandable angst among U.S. fans that the USMNT missed out on a special player, and could have done more to keep that from happening.

Whether or not that is the case is up for debate. Could the U.S. have called in Gonzalez for its friendly against Portugal last November? That is a snub that sources tell Goal was one that stung Gonzalez, especially since he was three months into his breakout season at Monterrey. It is clear the Mexican federation saw Gonzalez’s emergence happening and acted quickly to step up its recruiting at a time when the USMNT was picking up the pieces after failing to qualify for the World Cup.

Something that should make losing Gonzalez a bit easier to take is that the USMNT has several talented youngsters in its talent pool in central midfield.

“Nothing against Jonathan but If you look at our midfield and the depth that we do have there, I don’t think that it should be very concerning to anybody,” Adams told Goal. “With myself, Weston (McKennie), Derrick Jones and Kellyn Acosta, we shouldn’t ever really be too worried about that.”

If there is a silver lining for the U.S. in the wake of Gonzalez’s defection to Mexico, it is that it has forced U.S. Soccer to take a hard look at how it is approaching the Mexican-American player pool. Mexico has continued to pursue top talent in the United States, with exciting prospects ranging from 16-year-old LA Galaxy II standout Efrain Alvarez to 13-year-old youth sensation Alex Alcaza, both born-and-raised Californians.

As for Gonzalez, he will face the United States on Tuesday in the first of what should be several meetings if his career continues on its current path. He is sure to be eager to make a statement with his play, as will the U.S. team, and its midfielders in particular who will be motivated to show its fans that they are better than the one who got away.

Gonzalez traded in his stars and stripes for the green and red of Mexico. A move that has made him happy but one that has also made him a villain to the U.S. side of the USA-Mexico rivalry.