Club America acquires U.S. national team midfielder Joe Corona on loan from Tijuana

Jon Arnold

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Club America acquires U.S. national team midfielder Joe Corona on loan from Tijuana image

The border boy is headed to the capital. Midfielder Joe Corona was loaned from Club Tijuana to Club America on Wednesday during Liga MX's draft.

Corona, a San Diego native, made the short trip across the border to play in Tijuana's academy and signed with the senior team in 2010. He's been there ever since, except for loan stints with Veracruz and Dorados de Sinaloa, which shares ownership with Club Tijuana.

Now, Corona is headed to join Mexico City side Club America, where he'll reunite with former Xolos manager Miguel Herrera. Corona arrives to the capital on a year-long loan while two more of his teammates this Apertura, forward Henry Martin and defender Emanuel Aguilera, are joining America on a permanent deals.

Moving the other direction is Pablo Aguilar, a center back who had played with Tijuana for several years before transferring to Club America. 

In many ways, Corona grew with Club Tijuana, helping the team lock up promotion from the Ascenso in 2011 and lifting the Liga MX trophy under manager Antonio Mohamed in the 2012 Apertura. While he continued to contribute most seasons, most recently finishing the Apertura starting seven of 17 league games and also making three Copa MX appearances, Corona struggled to help Tijuana to the heights it reached in 2012.

He'll look to earn a starting role with Las Aguilas, who are coming off a season in which they finished third in the regular season table but stumbled through the Liguilla with zero goals in four matches and an eventual semifinal elimination. In addition to the teammates who were dealt Wednesday, Corona also will reunite with defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez. The Argentine moved in the summer along with Herrera.

The 27-year-old Corona made his debut for the U.S. national team in 2012 and has amassed 20 caps in his career. Most recently, Corona played in two matches at the 2017 Gold Cup, helping the Stars and Stripes to the continental championship.

Jon Arnold

Jon Arnold Photo

Jon Arnold covered the Mexico national team and Concacaf region in English for Goal until March 2020. His byline also has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the New York Times Goal blog, FloFC and Pacific Standard. In addition to his written work, he serves as the Concacaf expert on the BBC's World Football Phone-In and has appeared on SiriusXMFC in English and Fox Deportes and Milenio in Spanish. Formerly based in Tijuana and currently living in Texas, Jon covered the 2018 World Cup, the 2015 Copa America, the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the last five Gold Cups.