Wednesday, October 8, 2008

A Little from the New Guy

The newest member of the U.S. national team pool is Jose Francisco Torres, who got his first sniff in training yesterday. Born in Longview, Texas, he left high school and his family behind at the age of 16 to join Pachuca. Four years later, he has earned a regular place in Enrique Meza's squad, and all the while he had an eye on fulfilling his dream of playing for the national team. That dream came one step closer to being a reality yesterday, so we asked Jose about his first experience with the U.S. national team.

us: How was your first day?

Jose: "The first day was good. I was really nervous because I didn't know what to expect. Everyone has treated me really well. I started to feel very comfortable, and after the first day of training I'm feeling better and better."

us: With all the anticipation, has camp been different than you expected?

Jose: "It's better than I expected. I thought my teammates might be different, because sometimes in Mexico your teammates can be difficult. But here everyone treated me well. I felt comfortable with everyone very quickly. The coach is really cool, and everyone on the staff has been great. I'm really excited."

us: You've said that this has been a lifelong dream. How does it feel to now actually be wearing the colors of the U.S. National Team?

Jose: "When I put on the shirt I get the chills, because it's a dream. I think it is everyone's dream as a kid to be on the national team. Right now I think I'm living it, and when I put the shirt on I'm very excited and motivated to start playing. My choice was always to come here and represent the country was where I was born."

6 comments:

Rosie said...

hopefully he'll get some play time :]

glad to hear that his dream came true!

Anonymous said...

Does he go by Jose? or Francisco? or Jose Francisco?
Regardless, we are lucky and extremely happy he's putting on the red, white and blue!

Anonymous said...

This kid has all the making of being our next great player. If Freddy doesn't start performing he is going to be overtaken quickly, same goes for Beasley.

aw said...

Well, those comments are a bit different than what he said in spanish to the Mexican press...

Insurancepro said...

Finaly we are bringing in some hispanic tallent! They are all over the country, instead we have been stuck with the suburbanites of Taylor Twellmen in the past.

Historicus said...

I'm very excited that Jose made it the national team. Watching him grow up here in Longview, everyone knew he was special.

I'll be rooting for him to get some playing time this weekend.