MEXICO -- Jesus Corona celebrates 15 years since his debut in the First Division. The goalkeeper had his first minutes in the top flight on February 15, 2003, wearing the Atlas jersey. For that match, the tapatío started in the starting lineup to face Veracruz. The night could not have been better for 'Chuy', as he did not concede a goal in the victory of the rojinegros at the Jalisco Stadium. Since that day, the goalkeeper has not let go of the starting position in the three teams he has played for, and he hopes to achieve the same with the Mexican National Team in Russia 2018, as he has not had any playing time in the two World Cups he has been called up for.
The door to professional football opened for Corona due to an injury to Armando Navarrete, who was the starting goalkeeper for Atlas. Fernando Quirarte, the coach at that time for the Zorros, decided to put Jesús in the starting eleven, without knowing that 15 years later he would have played 502 games, all as a starter, in the first division out of 569 possible games. Therefore, the current Cruz Azul goalkeeper has only missed 67 matches in his career, due to suspensions and injuries.
With the rojinegros, he played three seasons: Clausura 2003, Apertura 2003, and Clausura 2004. He only missed 14 matches, as he played in 47 out of the 61 games that Atlas contested. He then moved on to Tecos, the team with which he played from Apertura 2004 to Clausura 2009, and reached his first League final in Clausura 2005. However, it is not the best memory for the goalkeeper, as they lost 7-4 on aggregate against América. He participated in 168 matches out of 184 with the emplumados.
His debut with the Mexican National Team and his first World Cup call-up also came with Tecolotes. He made his debut with El Tri in 2005 in a friendly match against Poland. A year later, he was one of the three goalkeepers for Germany 2006, alongside Oswaldo Sánchez and Guillermo Ochoa.
In Apertura 2009, he joined Cruz Azul, the team he currently plays for. Jesus Corona has been with them for nine years, during which time he has reached two finals but lost both. In his first tournament with La Máquina, they contested the title against Monterrey, but the most painful one was in Clausura 2013 when they lost on penalties against Águilas.
With the Cementeros, he received his second call-up to a World Cup. He was included in the squad for Brazil 2014 along with Guillermo Ochoa and Alfredo Talavera, but he did not get any playing time. With the Noria institution, he has missed 37 matches, as he has played 287 out of 324 possible games.
With 15 years of career in the first division and over 500 games in the Liga Bancomer, Jesús Corona is seeking the starting position for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Despite being an Olympic champion with El Tri, he has not been able to fully win the trust of the Mexican National Team coach.