Alejandro Zendejas chooses the USMNT over Mexico for his international future

Zendejas, 25, is a highly-rated winger who stars for Liga MX giant Club América and previously represented Mexico twice at the senior international level.

Alejandro Zendejas, who was in camp with the USMNT in January, decided Tuesday that he will represent the U.S. initernationally over Mexico, the country of his birth.Read moreHarry How / MCT

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published March 14, 2023, 12:50 p.m. ET

The U.S. men’s soccer team won a big recruiting battle on Tuesday, as Mexican-American winger Alejandro Zendejas picked the United States over Mexico for his national team future.

Born in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and raised just across the border in El Paso, Texas, Zendejas grew up in FC Dallas’ youth academy. He moved from there to Mexican giant Chivas, and now plays for Club América, the country’s biggest club of all.

Internationally, Zendejas played for U.S. under-15 and -17 teams, including at the 2015 under-17 World Cup with Tyler Adams and Hershey’s Christian Pulisic. In 2017, he switched his allegiance to Mexico, then played for its under-21 and -23 teams.

In October 2021, Zendejas, 25, made his senior Mexican national team debut in a friendly — but he and the Mexican federation didn’t file the necessary paperwork for him to switch nationality.

Six months later, Zendejas played for El Tri in another friendly. Because he had only played in friendlies, he was technically still eligible to represent the United States. So the U.S. called him up for its January camp this year, he accepted, and he debuted in a Jan. 25 friendly vs. Serbia.

At this point, FIFA started paying attention, and Mexico was in trouble. FIFA forced Mexico to forfeit the two games Zendejas played with El Tri, and issued a fine of just under $11,000.

Zendejas still hadn’t decided by then, and Mexico was starting to get impatient. On Feb. 20, Univision reported that new El Tri manager Diego Cocca spoke with Zendejas. On March 2, Cocca confirmed he had done so.

“Our intention is to have him with us,” he told reporters in Mexico. “Today he is not eligible because he has to sign a document to be with the Mexico national team. It’s his decision and we’ll give him time to make his decision.”

As polite as those words were, there was also a sense of a deadline because Cocca wanted him for this month’s Concacaf Nations League round. The U.S. federation didn’t seem to be in such a rush.

That night, Univision reported that Zendejas turned Mexico down. Now it’s official.

“I’m very grateful for all the opportunities the United States and Mexico have provided to me and my family,” Zendejas said in a statement on Instagram. “Making a decision on your international career is very difficult, and I believe in following your heart. Mine tells me that my future lies representing the USA.”

It’s a big win for interim U.S. manager Anthony Hudson. He’s far from the big-name boss many fans crave, but has won praise for his warm and transparent personality.

Zendejas will likely be on the U.S. roster for its upcoming Nations League games: at Grenada on March 24, and vs. El Salvador in Orlando on March 27.

Medford’s Brenden Aaronson will likely be on the squad too, and the Washington Post reported that Gio Reyna has said yes to a call-up. That would help close the book on the scandal involving his parents and former U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter.