Oswaldo Sanchez Ibarra (born September 21, 1973 in
Guadalajara, Jalisco) is a Mexican footballer currently playing
for Chivas de Guadalajara. He is arguably Mexico's best
goalkeeper with great defense, goal-keeping skills, and above
all, leadership. Due to all this, Chivas fans know him and call
him San Oswaldo, meaning Saint Oswaldo.
Oswaldo made his debut with Atlas de Guadalajara at the age of
20 on October 30, 1993 against Veracruz where the teams tied at
one goal. Two years after his debut, he was a starter on the
team and led Atlas to the quarterfinals where they were
eliminated by Veracruz.
In the summer of 1996, Oswaldo Sanchez was transferred to
América, one of the most popular clubs in not only Mexico, but
North America. He was an immediate starter under Ricardo Antonio
La Volpe who coached the team then and since has coached the
Mexican national team. Oswaldo's first season with America
wasn't a good one where they didn't even make it to playoffs and
lost the Mexican "clasico" vs. Chivas with an incredible score
of 5-0. The following season Oswaldo was benched for the older,
more experienced, Hugo Pineda. Oswaldo only played three out of
19 games, including the quarterfinals where America got
eliminated by Monarcas Morelia. The following season, Oswaldo
went back into the starting line-up and led America to a
disappointing elimination in the semifinals against Leon. His
last three seasons with the club were normal ones and in one the
team managed to reach semifinals once again, only to get
eliminated. In the summer of 1999, Oswaldo left America for
their main rival, Chivas de Guadalajara.
As Oswaldo came to the club, his popularity in Mexico surely
went up and in a few years he consolidated himself as one of the
team's idols. To this day, Oswaldo has played 11 seasons with
the team and going on 12. He's helped qualify the team to
playoffs seven times, along with one wild card, and has only
been eliminated three times out of 11 seasons. On Chivas, he's
been coached by Ricardo Ferreti, Hugo Hernandez, Jesus
Bracamontes, Oscar Ruggeri, Daniel Guzman, Eduardo de la Torre,
Hans Westerhof, and Benjamin Galindo. His most notable season
was that of Clausura 2004 where arguably he led the team to the
finals all by himself. All Oswaldo needs is a championship with
Chivas.
Oswaldo has also been constantly called up to play for the
Mexican senior national team. He's been part of two Football
World CupsWorld Cups, in 1998 and 2002, although, both on the
bench as second or third goalkeeper. He won the 2003 Gold Cup
and was named the tournament's MVP.
Oswaldo also has a goalkeeping school in Guadalajara for future
players of the beautiful game. He's already a living legend and
idol of Chivas and some are already naming him as one of the
greatest goalkeepers ever produced in Mexico. |
