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There were two key moments for Edson Alvarez in 2010. Together they proved to be a turning point in his journey to becoming Mexico’s most important player.
The first came when he was released from his first club, Pachuca, for being small. Alvarez’s parents encouraged him to continue playing and were it not for their intervention, he would have quit football.
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The second key moment came that summer. Alvarez and his family watched Mexico beat France 2-0 in the group stage of the World Cup in South Africa. He made a promise to his parents that would one day play for the national team. He vowed not to break it.
Alvarez had no club for a year but, after a growth spurt, he joined Club America following a trial. He impressed in the youth setup and made his senior debut in 2016 against Santos Laguna a week after his 18th birthday.
He has never looked back.
It has been a remarkable journey for Alvarez, who grew up in the suburbs of Tlalnepantla de Baz, north of Mexico City. Last summer he joined West Ham United from Ajax for £34.4m ($44.1m) and, in May, his national team manager Jaime Lozano announced the 26-year-old will captain Mexico in this summer’s Copa America.
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It will be the first time Mexico have featured in the competition since 2016 — their last match being a 7-0 defeat to Chile in the quarter-finals. In January of the following year, Alvarez made his international debut against Iceland, and has now earned 78 caps for his country.
Mexico’s opening group match will be against Jamaica on Sunday, before taking on Venezuela and Ecuador. It is a moment for which the challenges of his early career have prepared him.
Each morning, when he left his family home in Tlalnepantla, it took the midfielder two to three hours to travel the 24 miles (39km) to Club America’s training ground in Tlalpan. Alvarez did not drive, so he took a train, bus and taxi. Coaches urged the club’s hierarchy to intervene and they got him an apartment near the training ground.
It was Ricardo La Volpe, Club America’s manager at the time, who gave Alvarez his big break. He recognised the youngster’s potential and in his debut season Alvarez made 28 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice. Rafa Marquez, the former Barcelona and Mexico defender, was Alvarez’s idol growing up, and for the midfielder another turning point was receiving one of the biggest compliments he could get from La Volpe.
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“I worked with Rafa Marquez and Edson reminded me a lot of him,” said La Volpe. “I said to him, ‘You are both very similar’.”
Alvarez, who had already been capped for Mexico’s under-18s, earned a place in the Under-20s World Cup squad in 2017. He scored in their group stage opener against Vanuatu and made four more appearances before their quarter-final loss to England.
“Edson wanted it more than all the other young players,” says ex-Club America forward Oribe Peralta. “He sacrificed a lot to reach this stage of his career and he deserves all the praise he gets. Now he’s become Mexico’s most important player. I honestly watched him grow from a boy to a man.
“I’ll never forget this: I was preparing for the Confederations Cup in 2017 and the Under-20s World Cup was approaching. Edson asked me if I thought he would be considered for the tournament. I had such high hopes for him I initially thought he was talking about the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but he was talking about the Under-20s World Cup. That motivated Edson even more.”
Alvarez did earn a place at the senior World Cup in Russia in 2018, becoming the youngest player in Mexico’s 23-man squad. He played in every match leading up to their loss to Brazil in the round of 16, but also endured tough moments. During a group stage game against Sweden, in his second-ever start in a World Cup match, Alvarez scored an own goal in their 3-0 loss. Alvarez was inconsolable as he walked off the field. Following his performance against Brazil, he was named in L’Equipe’s “Worst XI” of the World Cup.
Alvarez’s credentials as a leader were formed from setbacks such as these. He knew he had to prove critics wrong. In December 2018, when the spotlight was on him again, he scored two late goals against Cruz Azul to help Club America win their 13th league title.
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“The World Cup is one of the biggest platforms and when you struggle, or make a mistake it probably feels like the whole world is against you,” says William da Silva, who played for Club America from 2016 to 2018. “Most players probably would’ve found it hard to bounce back, but that wasn’t Edson. He didn’t let it affect him and that shows how tough he is mentally. He has cleared every hurdle he has faced.”
Alvarez won the Liga MX and Copa MX at Club America. It is here where he impressed his older peers with this leadership. “In Mexico many of the players have nicknames,” says Peralta. “I’ve also called him ‘Flaco’ because he’s slim and tall, but fans call him ‘Machin’, which is a guy that is strong, tough and doesn’t back down.”
The midfielder’s performances alerted Ajax, who signed him in the summer of 2019. Alvarez made 147 appearances and scored 13 goals during his four-year spell. He also won the KNVB Cup (the Dutch Cup) and the Eredivisie twice, in a team managed by Erik ten Hag, now manager of Manchester United.
Alvarez has been linked with a move to his former boss at Old Trafford. The midfielder has been viewed as a potential replacement for Casemiro, a comparison with the former Real Madrid midfielder having once been made by La Volpe.
“Edson is a modern player because he is multifunctional,” Volpe said, “that is, he fills several positions well and can be a very good No 5 because he knows how to go back. If the play requires it, he makes a line of three like, for example, Casemiro does.”
West Ham, however, have no intention of selling Alvarez this summer. Alvarez’s contract does not expire until 2028, having been West Ham’s first summer arrival last year.
When Declan Rice, West Ham’s former captain, joined Arsenal for £105million ($133m) in July, former manager David Moyes and his recruitment team looked at midfielders who could play the No 6 role. Joao Palhinha, of Fulham, was identified as the first choice for the role because of his Premier League experience, but Fulham rejected an offer in the region of £45m.
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Alvarez had been on West Ham’s radar for a few seasons but, with Rice and Tomas Soucek on the books, a deal was never pursued. Moyes’ scouts would often travel to watch Alvarez and the feedback was consistently positive. Despite interest from Bayern Munich, a deal was struck. He scored twice and amassed two assists across 42 appearances in all competitions for West Ham last season.
But he did struggle towards the latter stages of the campaign. He was substituted at half-time during the 5-0 loss away to Chelsea and was an unused substitute in the following game against Luton Town. Moyes was occasionally critical of Alvarez’s discipline and the need to maintain fitness during 90 minutes.
For the national team, Alvarez did not always see eye to eye with Gerardo Martino, now manager of Inter Miami, during his spell in charge. “I am grateful, at some point I had a great relationship with Martino,” he told Caliente TV. “A relationship in which we would chat and share ideas. Martino is a person who likes to talk a lot about football and he was very interested in Ajax’s system, we shared a lot of things.
“In the World Cup the game against Argentina came and I realise that I was a stranger, as if he had never seen me play; I didn’t start and I didn’t play.”
Ahead of the Copa America, Mexico’s current head coach Lozano has entrusted Alvarez to be his leader. “Being the captain is not just about wearing the armband,” said Alvarez. “You need to be a good person on and off the pitch. You need to give advice to everyone. You need to be the example because everyone is watching you.
“We have a very young team and I am one of the most experienced players. I need to support them in all of the situations.”
The manager has gone for a youthful squad, with experienced trio Guillermo Ochoa, Raul Jimenez and Hirving Lozano not featuring in Mexico’s squad.
In 2023, Alvarez played a key role in Mexico’s CONCACAF Gold Cup success. The midfielder will aim to inspire his team-mates once more this summer at Copa America.
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(Top photo: Hector Vivas via Getty Images)