Alan Pulido


Alan Pulido Izaguirre is a Mexican professional footballer who plays for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City and the Mexico national football team.
Pulido started his career with Tigres UANL in 2010. Contractual disputes with Tigres UANL following the summer of 2014 resulted in him making no appearances for the 2014 Apertura tournament. In February 2015, he would appear with Greek clubs Levadiakos and Olympiacos, until his return to Liga MX with Guadalajara in August 2016.
He has represented the U-20, U-23, and senior national teams. He has been called up to participate in the 2011 Copa América and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Tigres UANL

Alan Pulido made his debut in an official competition in 2010 playing in that year's edition of the SuperLiga tournament. He played all 90 minutes against American side Chivas USA on 20 June. Tigres would go on to win the match 2–1. Tigres would advance to the Final against Chicago Fire, going on to win a match in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw after 90 minutes and extra time.
On 27 February 2010, Pulido made his debut in the Primera División coming on as a substitute after the half-time break in the 0–3 defeat to Monarcas Morelia. He scored his first league goal on 13 April 2011 in the 4–2 win over Pachuca at the Estadio Universitario.
Pulido scored the third goal in the 3–1 second-leg victory of the 2011 Apertura Final against Santos Laguna on 11 December, winning his first league title and helping secure the club's third league title, the first in over thirty years. Throughout the tournament, Pulido was subdued to a substitute role, behind first-choice striker Héctor Mancilla, and received limited playing time.

Transfer dispute

After participating with the Mexico national football team at the 2014 World Cup, Pulido was meant to rejoin Tigres to prepare for the upcoming 2014 Apertura tournament. After alleged interest from several European clubs, among them Greek side Olympiacos, Pulido stated that his contract with Tigres had ended and was thus a free agent, though club personnel claimed Pulido had signed a contract extension that would keep him with the club until June 2016. Pulido did not attend any of the club's pre-season training sessions and was separated from the first team and sent to train with the reserves as a result, with Pulido also failing to appear at the training sessions. He subsequently did not participate in the Apertura tournament.
In November of that year, Pulido and his representative started a legal dispute against Tigres via the Mexican Football Federation, claiming the signature on the addendum of the contract was falsified. The Federation ultimately ruled in favor of Tigres, though another complaint was filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Levadiakos

On 29 January 2015, it was reported that Pulido had signed a one-and-a-half year contract with Greek club Levadiakos, with the deal being confirmed by both Pulido – who announced the transfer via his Twitter account – and the club. However that same day, Tigres issued a press release declaring that CAS had ruled in their favor and would reject the transfer, with the court stating that ‘there is not a risk of irreparable damage to the player, because such damage, if exists, is caused by the player himself who decided not to re-join Tigres’. Pulido's request for a provisional transfer had also been denied by CAS, though another request was submitted to FIFA. On 2 February, Pulido participated in his first training session with Levadiakos. On 27 February, a provisional transfer was granted to Pulido by FIFA's Player's Status Committee, thus allowing him to play for Levadiakos while the legal dispute continued.
On 9 March 2015, Pulido scored on his official league debut with Levadiakos in the 3–1 win against Platanias, and was named man of the match.
He completed the campaign with six games played and one goal scored as Levadiakos finished 15th in the table, and were relegated.

Olympiacos

On 3 July 2015, Olympiacos announced the signing of Pulido from Levadiakos. Prior to the move, Mexican club Guadalajara claimed they had purchased fifty percent of the player's rights during the annual league draft, and were awaiting on a verdict from the resolution from CAS in favor of Tigres UANL, who as a result could negotiate with Guadalajara over Pulido.
On 13 January 2016, Pulido started his first match for Olympiacos in the Greek Cup match against Chania, scoring the fifth goal in the 6–0 victory. On 18 January, he made his debut with the club in the Super League in a 0–0 draw game against Platanias. Five days later, Pulido played all 90 minutes and scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Xanthi. On 28 February, Pulido scored the third goal in the 3–0 win over Veria, meaning Olympiacos won the league with six matches to spare, 21 points clear of second-place AEK Athens.

Guadalajara

On 30 August 2016 it was announced that Pulido was returning to Mexico to play for Guadalajara for a reported €6 million, making his transfer the most expensive in the history of the club.
Pulido became an important part of the team especially in the Clausura 2017 season where he scored 17 goals including 2 in the final against Tigres UANL. In the first leg at Estadio Universitario, he scored the first goal in a 2–2 draw. In the return leg at Estadio Chivas, he scored the first goal of the match again, this time the final score being 2–1 in Guadalajara's favor meaning they were crowned champions for the first time since the Apertura 2006. Pulido finished the Apertura 2019 as one of the top goalscorers with 12 goals and was the first Mexican to score the most goals in a season since Angel Reyna in the Clausura 2011 who played for America with 11 goals.

Sporting Kansas City

On 11 December 2019 it was announced that Pulido will play for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City for a reported €9.2 million, making his transfer the most expensive in the history of the club.

International career

Mexico U20

Pulido scored three goals in the group stage of the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Guatemala and helped Mexico win the tournament and qualify to the under-20 World Cup in Colombia held that same year.

Mexico U23

In 2011, he was called up to join Mexico's squad for Copa América in Argentina, but did not play a part in any of the three group stage matches.
On 23 March 2012, Pulido scored the opening goal in Mexico's 7–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in the United States. Two days later, he scored a hat-trick in Mexico's 3–0 victory over Honduras. His fifth goal came in the semi-final match against Canada, making him joint-top-scorer, along with teammate Marco Fabián.
In the summer of that year, Mexico won the Toulon Tournament, with Pulido scoring his only goal in the competition in the 3–0 win over Turkey in the Final.

Mexico national team

On 23 January 2014, Pulido received his first call-up to the Mexico national team by coach Miguel Herrera. He scored a hat-trick on his debut appearance against South Korea on 29 January, with Mexico going on to win the match 4–0. On 2 April, he scored the second goal in the 2–2 draw against the United States in a friendly match at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
On 2 June 2014, Pulido was named in Mexico's squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He did not appear in any match.

Kidnapping

On 28 May 2016, Pulido attended a party with his girlfriend in a rural area in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. After leaving the party at 11:30 p.m., he drove through a highway and was cut off by a vehicle. Pulido and his girlfriend were then forcibly taken by six masked gunmen. His girlfriend was later released unharmed. His family members contacted the police and the case was escalated to all three levels of law enforcement. On 30 May, Pulido managed to escape by overpowering one of his captors and taking one of his guns. The other captor ran from the scene after Pulido destroyed the windows of the room he was in. Once he was safe, Pulido dialed 066, the emergency number, to contact law enforcement and give his location. In the operation, at least one person was arrested; Pulido was sent to a hospital for medical examination. He suffered a minor injury in his right hand for breaking through the window to escape the kidnapper's safe house, where he was being held.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Club

UANL
Olympiacos
Guadalajara
Mexico U23