Miguel Ángel Ponce


Miguel Ángel Ponce Briseño, is a Mexican footballer, who plays as a defender for C.D. Guadalajara of the Liga MX. He won the Olympic gold medal with the Mexico national under-23 football team in 2012.

Early life

Ponce moved with his family from Sacramento to Guadalajara before he was 1, then to Tijuana when he was 10 to enable visits from his father, who worked building bridges in California. Wanting his son to learn English, his father arranged for him to use a friend's address in San Ysidro, San Diego as a base to attend US schools. He played association football for four years at San Ysidro Middle School and San Ysidro High School before being invited to a tryout by C.D. Guadalajara at age 15.

Club career

Guadalajara

Ponce scored his first goal for Chivas on September 28, 2010 in the 71st minute of the game against UANL Tigres rescuing the team from a loss of the game with a 1-1 end. He scored once again on October 3, 2010 against local rival Club Atlas. Ponce ended the 2010-2011 season with two goals in 30 games.

Toluca

Ponce quickly established himself as the starting left-back in José Cardozo's starting eleven. Despite having a successful year with Toluca, the club announced they were not going to accept the purchase option included in the loan agreement.

Necaxa

On June 7, 2017 Ponce was sent out on loan to Club Necaxa.

International career

Mexico U-23

In 2011, Ponce was selected to participate in the 2011 Pan American Games, Mexico won gold after defeating Argentina in the final. in 2012 Ponce participated in the 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament and scored twice in the tournament. Ponce participated in the 2012 Toulon Tournament and helped Mexico win the final against Turkey. Miguel Ponce made the final cut for those participating in the 2012 Summer Olympics, Miguel Ponce played 4 matches in the 2012 Olympics including the 2–1 win over Brazil in the gold medal match at Wembley Stadium.

Mexico

Miguel Angel Ponce was part of the preliminary list of players that would participate in the Copa America in Argentina. Later, he also appeared in the definitive list for those participating in the tournament. Miguel Ponce Made his senior debut with Mexico at the 2011 Copa América July 8, 2011 against Perú entering as a substitute for Dárvin Chávez in the 73' minute of the game. However Mexico used a youth team in the tournament and participation by Mexico, as non conference member of CONMEBOL and guest invitee, were deemed friendly matches for Mexico. Miguel Ponce made his first competitive appearance for Mexico with the senior squad in a 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Canada that also, given his dual US-Mexican citizenship, cap-tied him to Mexico.

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.July 14, 2013Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, United States3–13–12013 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honours

Club

;Guadalajara
;Necaxa