A young Washington soccer player is now in the Liga MX

Chris Aquino, a young soccer player from the Tri-Cities, has begun playing in Mexico. The former Tacoma Defiance midfielder is now part of FC Juarez Under-23, which plays in the Mexican soccer league’s Liga MX.

Salvador Valero is Aquino’s new coach. He says FC Juarez is considered a binational team because it includes Mexican-American players. Some players live in El Paso, Texas, and others are in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The team also gives opportunities for Mexican-American players, he said. 

Aquino moved to the club after two seasons in Washington state. He’s been playing with the team since January.

“When this opportunity to come to FC Juarez presented itself, I saw it with good eyes because it’s Mexico, and I always wanted to play in Mexico,” Aquino said.

He said the process has been challenging. Still, he was looking to test new waters.

“It’s a big change, a whole change of country, a whole change of culture of different soccer,” Aquino said. “I think it’s similar because as you know, Pasco is full of like Latinos, Mexicans, and they all … we have a big soccer culture there in Pasco with a lot of, a lot of talent.”

Valero said the team had been following Aquino’s performance in his former club.

He said that most of the team’s scouting is done in Texas and California, but that they’ve also followed players from the Seattle area.

“We have a scouting department at the club that passed on reports on him, and I personally was watching several games at his previous club,” Valero said.

He added that the club thought Aquino was a good addition to the team.

“Individually, he has a very good pass. He hits the goal. He is a very intelligent player, and we thought he had much potential for the future. We wanted to incorporate him so that he can aspire to be a player on our first team in the future,” Valero said.

“From the Academy to Defiance, Chris’ talent and personality are a testament to both himself as a person and our developmental system here in place in Seattle,” Wade Webber, the Seattle Sounders’ director of development, said in a press release.

According to the Sounders’ website, Aquino made 38 appearances for Tacoma after signing an MLS Next Pro contract before the 2023 season and spent five years at Sounders FC Academy. 

Aquino, who also played with the U.S. National Soccer Team Under-17 in 2023, is of Mexican and American nationality. He said he dreams of representing one of these countries in the FIFA World Cup.