He is one of the best foreigners to come to Mexican football, he marked an era with him Necaxa to make it the Team of the 90s and it was very close to signing with America -then both clubs of the same owner-, however, even the President of the Republic ordered Alex Aguinaga not to leave Rayos.
From 1994 to 2000, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León was the president of Mexico and was a professed supporter of Necaxa, with whom he lived the best times for those years Aguinaga as a flag, accompanied by other unforgettable players such as Sergio Zárate, Alberto García Aspe, Ivo Basay and Ricardo Peláez; most later wore the cream blue shirt, but Alex was banned by the nation’s leader.
“We were champions in ’98, I visited Los Pinos and there the president said: “Alex Aguinaga does not move there (in America)”. I was a very important figure in the team and it was very difficult for me to leave or change “, said the former footballer Millennium.
“When this option was given, he spoke in Los Pinos President Ernesto Zedillo with Alejandro Burillo, who was the president of the three teams: América, Necaxa and Atlante and told him that he could move anything he wanted, but that Alex Aguinaga stayed at Necaxa. Then they told Güero, “It’s a presidential order, so it stays that way.”. That’s how it was and I stayed in Necaxa all the time until my stay there ended “, added who, after leaving Rayos, signed with Cruz Azul.
“Television has always seen us less than America”
In those years it was very common to see Necaxa’s most outstanding players go to America, while those who did not fit in the Eagles were “thrown” into the Rays, something that Aguinaga always boils in his blood, for this reason, despite the fact that they both belonged to Emilio Azcárraga, in the non-box team they knew that he must always defeat the azulcremes to return to see them.
“In the economic part we were seen differently by the same company. America had sponsors, more people went to the stadium to see him. Although I wasn’t my favorite brother, every time we faced America we wanted to beat them and we wanted to be better, we knew we could do it, we have the team to do it. We always think about winning every game, with America as the number one because it was from the same house and also we wanted him to come back to see us with more respect“, he showed.
“Everything was for America, money, prizes … Everything”
Although in the 90s Necaxa was a football machine, while America did not win any titles, the popularity of those from Coapa and their tradition made their loved ones from Azcárraga.
“In all respects, there was a difference in treatment, salary and rewardsObviously, America had much more important awards than we did, but it was logical; You don’t have to be a genius to use math, if we put 10, 15 or 25 thousand people in Aztec and America puts 60, 70 or 80 thousand, then it was a matter of numbers and it made sense for support to be more for America“said Aguinaga, who currently works as an analyst at Fox Sports.