Guillermo Ochoa Transfer 2014: Mexican Goalkeeper’s Agent Confirms Liverpool Interest

Guillermo Ochoa played brilliantly at World Cup 2014, and is now being sought after by Liverpool.
Guillermo Ochoa Transfer 2014: Mexican Goalkeeper’s Agent Confirms Liverpool Interest
7/7/2014
Updated:
7/7/2014

Guillermo Ochoa played brilliantly at World Cup 2014, and is now being sought after by Liverpool.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper left French Ligue 2 side A C Ajaccio after his contract ended earlier in the summer, and after a string of top drawer World Cup displays, has since drawn the interest of Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, according to Metro.

Ochoa’s agent told Jorge Berlanga told TuttomercatoWeb that Liverpool have inquired about his client, but have not made any official offers yet. Apparently, Ochoa also favors a move to Merseyside.

“Many clubs are interested in my client but we still have not received any concrete offers,” Jorge Berlanga said.

“Now it is normal that many clubs will be interested in him after he played so well at the World Cup.”

See an AP story below.

Ochoa the Standout for Valiant Mexicans

FORTALEZA, Brazil (AP) — He'd stopped two of the world’s most famous forwards, and on Sunday, Brazilians and Mexicans alike chanted his name.

Guillermo Ochoa was one of the main reasons why Mexico was on the brink of reaching the quarterfinals at the World Cup — before the Netherlands came from a goal down to win 2-1 with two late goals.

Voted man of the match, he was inconsolable.

“It isn’t easy to go out this way, the way this match went,” said a keeper who had denied Brazil star Neymar and Dutch forward Arjen Robben at the World Cup. “It’s just very hard to deal with when victory escapes you this way.”

However, the 28-year-old keeper, who plays for French second division team Ajaccio, now looks likely to attract the attention of Europe’s bigger clubs. He almost single handedly held Brazil to a 0-0 draw in the group stage and then kept the Dutch at bay until the final minutes in the second round on Sunday.

He twice prevented what looked like certain goals, getting between Stefan de Vrij and the ball in the 57th minute and then dropping down to stop Robben nine minutes later.

Eventually, Ochoa was beaten by Wesley Sneijder in the 88th minute, with almost no time to react to his powerful low volley that traveled through a crowded penalty area. And he was given no chance by Klaas Jan Huntelaar’s coolly-taken penalty in injury time that secured victory for the Netherlands.

But he'll be remembered for what he saved.

Against Brazil, he twice stopped star striker Neymar, diving at full stretch to push his header past the post and later blocking his goal-bound shot.

Neymar almost got his revenge before the game ended, sending in a free kick to Brazil captain Thiago Silva, whose close-range header was somehow stopped by the curly-haired Mexican ‘keeper.

In the opener against Cameroon, the Mexicans won 1-0, but only held on to their victory after an impressive save from Ochoa stopped a late chance from Benjamin Moukandjo.

Mexico had already sealed its place in the last 16 and was leading 3-0 against Croatia before Ivan Perisic beat Ochoa for a late consolation goal.

Ochoa’s standout performances both came in Fortaleza, against Brazil and the Netherlands.

After Sunday’s game, Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal’s single note of praise for his opponents was for their goalkeeper and how his skills prompted him to change tactics.

“We shot at the goal and Ochoa made a fantastic save,” the Dutch coach said referring to De Vrij’s effort. “After that we moved to Plan B.”

Larry Ong is a New York-based journalist with Epoch Times. He writes about China and Hong Kong. He is also a graduate of the National University of Singapore, where he read history.