US Under-20 head coach Tab Ramos now has a new young player to keep an eye on while scouting in Mexico ahead of this summer's U-20 World Cup: his own son.
Alex Ramos has signed a professional contract with Pachuca, with the club confirming the deal to MLSsoccer.com on Monday. And like the vast majority of other Yanks at Liga MX sides, the 19-year-old will be registered as a Mexican citizen and not occupy a foreigner spot.
That may come as a surprise, given his father's nationality (born in Uruguay, raised in the US), but Pachuca’s sporting director Marco Garces confirmed the information in a phone interview.
“He was born in Monterrey when Tab was playing for Tigres [in his stint between 1995 and 1996],” stated Garcés, who is in overall charge of the Liga MX team’s youth setup. US Soccer also confirmed Ramos was born in the northern Mexican City in an email to MLSsoccer.com on Monday.
The younger Ramos featured for New Jersey Soccer Academy 04 and went on to play college ball for Iona in New York, where the Liga MX club scouted him.
“We keep scouting the US and send scouts every so often and one of them came back with information that we should sign Alex,” related Garcés, in English. “We contacted Tab, negotiated a contract and fortunately we were able to bring him in.”
Before then, Ramos headed to Pachuca on trial – described by Garces as “a mutual opportunity to know each other [club and player]” – where the youngster impressed.
“He’s a wide midfielder,” Garces said of Ramos, who has previously featured for the US U-14 national team. “[He’s] very fast, very quick, [with] good feet … he plays on the right wing and we think he can do a job for us.”
Ramos is most likely to feature for the club’s Under-20 side before getting a shot at the first team.
