Alejandro "Alex" Zendejas Saavedra (born February 7, 1998) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a winger for

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club América. Born in Mexico, he represents the United States national team.

Early life

Zendejas was born in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

in Mexico before moving to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, in the United States at a young age. The

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

, U.S. Soccer, and

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

websites all listed him as being born in

. FC Dallas later confirmed that Zendejas had been born in Mexico.

Club career

FC Dallas

On October 1, 2014, Zendejas signed a homegrown player contract with

, making him the 13th homegrown signing in club history. However, he was not eligible to play for the first team until the 2015 season. Zendejas made his professional debut on 1 May 2015, in a 4–1 victory over

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

Guadalajara

On June 23, 2016, Zendejas signed with Liga MX C.D. Guadalajara. In order to meet with the club's tradition of only using Mexican players, Zendejas agreed to reject future U.S. national team call-ups and accept Mexico national team call-ups if they ever occur. Zendejas was registered with the first team and was given the number 29 jersey, the same kit he had at Dallas. Zendejas made his

debut on August 6, in a match against

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

2017–18: Loan to Zacatepec

In a press conference, Chivas coach Matías Almeyda confirmed some youth players would be sent out on loan to sister club Zacatepec to get playing time. On 8 June 2017, Zacatepec announced they had signed Zendejas on loan. Zendejas scored his first professional goal in a

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

match against

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. He scored his first

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX, also known as Ascenso BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, was a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Primera División A de México (1994–2009 ...

goal on August 12, 2017, against Murciélagos F.C. Zacatepec would go on to win 1–0 with his goal.

Necaxa

On June 29, 2020, Zendejas joined

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

on a free transfer.

América

On January 17, 2022, Zendejas joined América for $3 million.

International career

United States U15 and U17

Zendejas was a member the United States under-17 squad that competed at the

2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was a scheduled age-restricted international association football tournament organised by CONCACAF. The competition was used to determine the four CONCACAF representatives at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chil ...

playing alongside future USMNT stars

Christian Pulisic Christian Mate Pulisic (born September 18, 1998) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for club AC Milan and the United States men's national soccer team, United States natio ...

and

Tyler Adams Tyler Shaan Adams (born February 14, 1999) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays for club AFC Bournemouth, Bournemouth and the United States men's national soccer team, United States national team. Primarily ...

. Overall, he gained 27 caps and scored four goals for the U-17 national team. After joining Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara, Zendejas agreed to reject future U.S. national team call-ups and accept Mexico national team call-ups if they occur.

Mexico

In August 2017, Zendejas was called up to the Mexico under-21 squad for games in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, the start of preparation for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Zendejas received his first call-up to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

, and made his debut on 27 October 2021 in a friendly match against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, coming in as a substitute in the 65th minute for Uriel Antuna.

National team controversy

In late August 2022,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

issued an investigation probe on the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

regarding Zendejas' call-ups to friendly matches in October 2021 and April 2022, against

and

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

respectively, the matches themselves were non-FIFA regulated matches but nevertheless, Zendejas' national team allegiance was still under the 'legal' jurisdiction of the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

, meaning that Zendejas had taken part in friendly matches for Mexico without consulting or filing a one-time switch to FIFA in order to

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

national team allegiances, a violation of FIFA regulations. On November 9, 2022, Zendejas’ attorneys revealed to media that the player was considering representing the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. On January 19, 2023, FIFA ordered

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to forfeit two friendlies—a 3–2 loss against

on October 28, 2021, and a 0–0 draw with

on April 22, 2022— and pay a 10,000

Swiss Franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

fine for using Zendejas in violation of regulations. The Mexico under-23 team was also ordered to forfeit three games in which Zendejas played.

United States

On January 17, 2023, Zendejas was included in the list of United States national team call ups for two friendlies against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, as he had never applied to FIFA for a one-time switch in affiliation to be allowed to appear for the Mexico national team. In January 2023, Zendejas became the fifth player to earn caps for both national teams in the history of the Mexico–U.S. football rivalry and only the second Mexican-born to do so since Martín Vásquez. On March 14, 2023, U.S. Soccer announced that Zendejas had officially committed to play internationally for the United States on a permanent basis.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zendejas goal.''

Honors

Guadalajara *

: Clausura 2017 *

: Clausura 2017 * Supercopa MX:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

América *

: Apertura 2023, Clausura 2024, Apertura 2024 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Supercopa de la Liga MX Supercopa can refer to: *Supercopa de España (disambiguation) *Supercopa do Brasil, a Brazilian football (soccer) competition. *Supercopa Honduras, a defunct Honduran football (soccer) competition. *Supercopa de Costa Rica, a Costa Rican Football ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

United States *

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

: 2022–23 Individual *

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

Best XI:

Player of the Month: January 2025https://www.soyfutbol.com/ligas/Club-America-El-mejor-de-la-Liga-MX-Zendejas-fue-elegido-como-jugador-del-mes-20250209-0012.html

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zendejas, Alejandro 1998 births Living people American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Mexico men's youth international footballers Mexican emigrants to the United States American sportspeople of Mexican descent Homegrown Players (MLS) FC Dallas players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Men's association football midfielders Major League Soccer players Liga MX players Dual internationalists (men's football) Footballers from Ciudad Juárez 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Mexican sportsmen