EXCLUSIVEHe arrived days ago, but Ventura Alvarado already sounds smitten. After nearly a decade in Mexico City with Club America, Alvarado was transferred to Santos Laguna in the offseason. Unlike Mexico City, his new hometown, Torreon, was not named The New York Times' Top Place to Visit in 2016, is not known as a cosmopolitan capital of culture, does not house any restaurants from the World's Best Restaurant list.
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But for Alvarado, the city of 600,000 has everything he needs.
"Sometimes in Mexico City, it’s stressful. There’s a lot of traffic in the city, there are some ugly streets. Sometimes some insecurity also," Alvarado told Goal USA. "Here, there was a period of some insecurity, but now everybody has said the city is calm, you can go out, there’s security, it’s relaxed."
That's the atmosphere the 24-year-old hopes will lead to success in the domestic game and lead to a recall to the U.S. national team. While Torreon doesn't have the same reputation Mexico's capital does, Santos Laguna has worked hard over the last decade to make sure it offers everything the bigger clubs in the capital do.
"The city, the teammates, the people around the team, all the coaches, the directors, it’s something new, but I’m going to get used to it," Alvarado said. "The facilities are really incredible. It’s something where, really, I’ll have no excuse because they have everything I need here. I feel really welcome here."
It's no surprise Santos is happy to have him. In the recently concluded Apertura, all but two Liga MX teams allowed fewer goals than the 30 Santos conceded. The Guerreros struggled and finished third from the bottom in the table. That's not acceptable for a team that has won five titles, most recently the 2015 Clausura. Alvarado arrives as part of a wave of signings meant to get the team back to prominence and another league crown.
Alvarado can be plugged into pretty much any spot on the back line. After struggling with injury at the start of the season, something that the defender said kept him from joining up with the U.S. during qualifiers in the fall, America's new coach Ricardo La Volpe slotted Alvarado in as the right wing back for the close of the regular season and kept him there during the playoffs. It resulted in a great chemistry with right winger Renato Ibarra, as the right side of the America attack became the focal point with Alvarado and 19-year-old right center back Edson Alvarez also keeping teams from finding attacking success.
Wearing No. 3 at his introduction seems to hint that Alvarado is seen by Santos coach Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre as a center back who can slot in next to Mexico international Nestor Araujo. But Alvarado said that, as long as he's given time to study what the opponent does in the lead-up to a match and knows his role, he's happy to play anywhere on the field.
"I don’t feel uncomfortable in any position on the field. If I play as a center back, I’m ready to play there. If you put me as wing back, also, outside back, I’m ready," he said. "Obviously, recently I played as a wing back with La Volpe and was able to get really forward because the way he plays he has the wing back play almost as a winger. But, I’ve always been able to do what I was sent out to do. If they tell me they want me to play left back or left center back or whatever, I’m here for the team."
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While he went to Mexico at a young age, Alvarado learned some of that versatility on the fields of Phoenix, where he was born and grew up. It was there that a youth club merger resulted in him playing in Jesse Cadena's Pachuca-affiliated team. When several players went to train with Pachuca, Alvarado stuck. But, according to Cadena, some off-field drama among adults slowed Alvarado's progression with the Tuzos. Cadena said he spoke with incoming Club America youth coach Alfredo Tena, and the America legend liked what he saw from Alvarado.
That set off nearly a decade that saw Alvarado win youth triumphs with America before being promoted to the first team. After coach Antonio Mohamed fell out with right back Paul Aguilar, it was Alvarado he turned to in both legs of the 2014 Apertura final. Alvarado played well, and the team won the championship. Leaving that behind in a whirlwind that involved his transfer north being announced while America still was in the playoffs and the Club World Cup wasn't easy.
"Well, yeah, the truth is it’s an emotion that … well, in the last training that I had there, I felt, not sadness, but pride that I’m advancing. I grew up there, all the people I knew there and, yeah, almost like a family," he said of leaving Club America.
The welcome he's found in Torreon has helped redirect what could've been sadness into enthusiasm for the new season. Alvarado said he's focused on Santos, but would love to get back to the U.S. setup and add to the 13 caps he's accumulated since first suiting up for the Stars and Stripes in 2015.
"First I played well with America, then they called me to the national team," he said. "I think it’ll be the same way here. I’m going to put all my energy toward the competition with my teammates here, first achieving things with the team and doing things well here. I want to get to the Liguilla and win the title, and I want the same thing with the national team, to play with the national team and compete for a spot. Right now, I’m coming in with a very competitive attitude."
Alvarado doesn't know new U.S. coach Bruce Arena and said he hasn't had any contact with U.S. Soccer since the managerial switch but is confident that if he does his job well in Torreon, Arena and his staff will take note.
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Those rooting for him back home in Phoenix, a city where Alvarado pointed out the climate is even more oppressive than desert Torreon's arid atmosphere, are sure about that.
"Last night I was posting his picture with his new jersey on Facebook and just posted that 10 years ago we let him go as a young kid with a lot of dreams to become a professional player, and now we wish him the best of luck on his new adventure. I have to tell you, though, that there’s not a doubt in my mind that he can achieve whatever he decides to do," Cardena said.
He added: "Hopefully the opportunity is there for him to work very hard, I have no doubt that he will be a star at Santos and hopefully he gets called back into the national team because he takes a lot of pride when he wears that jersey."
Alvarado won't make his Santos debut for a few weeks as he serves a suspension for his role in a fight during the second leg of the final (Alvarado was sent off from the bench), but could make his debut Jan. 18 in a cup game at the Estado Azteca against his former team in his former home.
For now, Alvarado's happy to have a new club, a new home and a new opportunity.
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