Jesús Manuel Corona


Jesús Manuel Corona Ruíz is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger or right-back for Portuguese club FC Porto and the Mexico national team.
Corona began his career in 2010 with Monterrey, playing with the club for three years before moving abroad. He transferred to Dutch club FC Twente and played with its reserve team as well. He joined Porto in 2015, since then making over 200 appearances and winning two Primeira Liga titles.
A full international for Mexico since 2014, Corona was part of the squad that won the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He has also represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and at two Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Monterrey

Corona began his football career with Monterrey, where he was spotted by experienced club scout Alejandro Niemeijer, according to people familiar with the club. He made his senior team debut at 17 years old under coach Víctor Manuel Vucetich on 7 August 2010 as a starter in an away league match against Atlante in a 2–1 victory for Monterrey.
Corona scored his first goal for Monterrey on 7 October 2011 in an away match against Estudiantes, with the game ending in a 3–2 victory for Monterrey. Corona also scored his first goal for Monterrey in their presentation at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup against Ulsan Hyundai on 9 December, with an assist from Aldo de Nigris in the 3–1 victory. In the match for third place against Al Ahly on 16 December, Corona scored in the third minute of the match, which ended in a 2–0 victory for Monterrey.

Twente

On 22 August 2013, it was announced that Corona was transferred to Dutch side F.C. Twente, for whom he signed a four-year contract. He started the 2014 season with F.C. Twente's reserve team, which plays in the Second Division, scoring 2 goals on 18 August. On 13 September 2014, Corona returned from injury and a stint with the reserve team to start his first game with Twente in the 2014–15 season and went on to record an assist and a goal against Go Ahead Eagles in a 2–1 victory for Twente, the club's first victory of the 2014–15 Season.

Porto

On 31 August 2015, Twente announced the transfer of Corona to Portuguese club Porto on a four-year deal for €10.5 million, with a €50 million buy-out clause.
On 12 September, Corona scored two goals on his official debut in the 3–1 victory over FC Arouca. On 25 September, Corona scored his third goal playing against Moreirense giving Porto the 2–1 lead, the match resulted in 2–2 draw. On 4 October, Corona scored Porto's first goal against Belenenses in a match that ended in a 4–0 win over the Lisbon team.
On 24 October 2018, Corona scored a goal and assisted another in Porto’s 3–1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in their Champions League group stage match. In March 2019, Corona signed a contract extension with Porto, keeping him at the club until 2022.
On 10 January 2020, in a league match against Moreirense, he would score Porto's final goal as a well-placed volley in a 4–2 victory, which was named as Goal of the Month for January.

International career

Mexico U20

Jesús Corona participated in the 2011 Milk Cup and 2012 Milk Cup with the Mexico U-20 team. In the 2012 edition of the Milk Cup, Mexico won the final against Denmark. Corona was called up by coach Sergio Almaguer to participate in the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship hosted in Mexico. Jesús played four out of five matches and scored three goals. In the final against the United States U-20 team, Corona scored in the fourth minute of the match, and helped Mexico win the championship. Corona was selected again by Almaguer to participate in the 2013 Toulon Tournament, with Corona playing in every single match. Mexico were placed sixth in the tournament.
Corona was a squad member at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup hosted in Turkey.

Mexico national team

Corona was called up by Miguel Herrera to play with the Mexico national team for November 2014 friendlies against Netherlands and Belarus and made his debut with the on 12th of that month against the Netherlands, coming on in the 61st minute and providing the assist for Carlos Vela in scoring Mexico's second goal in the 3–2 win over the Netherlands.
Corona was a member of Mexico's 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winning squad, scoring his first competitive international goal in the 3–1 win over Jamaica in the final in Philadelphia. He also received the Bright Future award. He was also included in the final 2015 Copa América roster. In Mexico's first group stage match against Bolivia, where Mexico finished at scoreless draw, he was named as the best player of the match.
In 2016, Corona participated with Mexico at the Copa América Centenario. He featured in all three of Mexico's group games, providing an assist in the 2–0 win over Jamaica and scoring the tying goal in a 1–1 draw against Venezuela.
In May 2018, Corona was named in Mexico’s preliminary 28-man squad for the FIFA World Cup, and was subsequently named in the final 23-man squad. He appeared as a substitute in the group stage matches against South Korea and Sweden.

Style of play

Corona started his career at Monterrey as a forward, but mostly used as a winger by Víctor Manuel Vucetich. A creative winger capable of playing either flank, he is considered quick and agile, capable of dribbling past defenders, has excellent technique, and has an eye for a shot. He is comfortable playing with either foot, managing to develop the ability from a young age.
Under Porto manager Sérgio Conceição, Corona has been utilized at times as a full-back.
He has cited Cuauhtémoc Blanco as someone he idolized while growing up.

Personal life

Corona was given the nickname Tecatito during his early years at Monterrey. The name is a reference to the beer brand Tecate, as his surname is the name of the beer company that is considered a competitor to Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, which owns Tecate and was a club sponsor. As a sponsor, the logo of its subsidiary, Carta Blanca, was on the kits. During Monterrey's participation at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, with Carta Blanca as the sole kit sponsor, the name 'Corona' was not displayed, but instead 'Jesús C.' was printed on the kit.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 May 2015Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico3–03–0Friendly
2.26 July 2015Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, United States2–03–12015 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
3.17 November 2015Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras1–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.25 March 2016BC Place, Vancouver, Canada3–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.29 March 2016Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.13 June 2016NRG Stadium, Houston, United States1–11–1Copa América Centenario
7.1 June 2017MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States1–03–1Friendly

Honours

Club

;Monterrey
;Porto
;Mexico