José de Jesús Corona

José de Jesús Corona
	Corona with Mexico in 2018
Personal information
Full name	José de Jesús Corona Rodríguez
Date of birth	26 January 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Tijuana
Number	30
Senior career*
Years	Team
2002–2004	Atlas
2004–2009	Tecos
2005	→ Guadalajara (loan)
2009–2023	Cruz Azul
2023–	Tijuana
International career‡
1997	Mexico U17
2004	Mexico U23
2012	Mexico Olympic (O.P.)
2005–2018	Mexico
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Mexico
Olympic Games
Pan American Games
Central American and Caribbean Games
CONCACAF Gold Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 July 2023; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2022

José de Jesús Corona Rodríguez (born 26 January 1981) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Tijuana.

Corona is an Olympic gold medalist, captaining Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[3]

Club career

Atlas

Corona started his career in Atlas in 2002. On 26 February 2003, in week five of the season, Corona made his official league debut against UNAM in a 2–1 win. Corona played 47 games with Atlas from 2002 to 2004.

Tecos

Corona was later transferred to Tecos in the 2004 summer transfer window. He made his league debut playing a full 90 minutes against América. Corona was then loaned to Guadalajara for the 2005 edition of the Copa Libertadores as they reached the semifinals. He is well remembered for his stunning performance against Boca Juniors. Corona had an impressive final season with Tecos before leaving.

Cruz Azul

On 16 June 2009, Corona was transferred to Cruz Azul for €2.8 million, with whom he signed a three-year contract. Corona made his league debut with Cruz Azul on 2 August 2009 against Pumas in a 3–0 win, earning his first clean sheet with the club. That same year, he helped Cruz Azul reach the league final against Monterrey, where they finished as runners-up after losing both matches of the finals.^[4]

Corona played the last 2 games of the Clausura 2013 Copa MX, including the final against Atlante in a match which was scoreless at the end of regulation. Cruz Azul went on to win the game in penalties, giving them their first title in 16 years. Corona was a key figure during the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League as Cruz Azul was crowned champions of the tournament for the sixth time in its team history, qualifying them for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup. Corona played all three matches of that competition, and Cruz Azul finished in fourth place after suffering a 4–0 defeat against Real Madrid and losing to Auckland City in penalties. On 9 May 2015, Corona made his 200th league appearance with Cruz Azul in the last match of the 2014–15 Liga MX season against Leones Negros in a 2–0 loss. Although Cruz Azul had a poor season, Corona was named one of the best goalkeepers in the league with 60 saves and 4 clean sheets at the end of the Clausura 2016.

On 30 July 2016, Corona stopped a penalty kick against Monterrey before they scored two minutes later, ending the match in a 1–1 draw. This ended his two-game streak of clean sheets on the third week of the season. On 30 May 2021, Corona finally won his first Liga MX title with Cruz Azul vs Santos Laguna winning 2–1 on aggregate. This also ended Cruz Azul's 23-year championship drought when at the time, they won it in 1997.

On 23 June 2023, it was announced that Corona would leave Cruz Azul.^[5]

Tijuana

On 24 June 2023, Corona joined Tijuana on a six-month contract.^[6]

International career

Corona was part of the Mexico U23 at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Corona was called up to represent Mexico at the 2006 FIFA World Cup as the second-choice goalkeeper. He did not play in any of Mexico's four games.

In 2007, former coach Hugo Sánchez included him in the 23-man squad for the CONCACAF Gold Cup as the third-choice goalkeeper.

Corona looked to be one of the three goalkeepers for Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, however, after an alleged violent incident where he severely assaulted another man in Guadalajara, Javier Aguirre decided to omit him from the World Cup roster.^[7]

Corona was originally chosen to represent Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup as one of the goalkeepers, but after he participated in a fight in the second leg of the semi-finals of the Clausura 2011 between his team, Cruz Azul, and Monarcas Morelia, José Manuel de la Torre, coach of the national team, decided to cut him from the squads participating in the Gold Cup and the 2011 Copa América due to violent conduct. He was replaced in the squads by Jonathan Orozco. Corona also was suspended for the first six games in the 2011 Apertura season. Yosgart Gutiérrez replaced the suspended Corona during that period.^[8]

Corona was named as one of the three overag players for Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also named as the captain of the squad throughout the tournament. He helped the team reach the final, where they defeated Brazil 2–1 to win their first ever medal, the gold medal, at Wembley Stadium.^[3]

On 2 June 2014, Corona was named in Mexico's squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as second-choice goalkeeper; he did not feature in any of Mexico's matches.

On 28 March 2015, Corona was first-choice goalkeeper for a friendly match against Ecuador. Corona made incredible saves in a game where Ecuador put over six shots on target, his most impressive save arguably the save of a penalty. Mexico won the match in a narrow 1–0 victory at a sold-out Los Angeles Coliseum.^[9]^[10]

On 17 May 2015, Corona became the first-choice goalkeeper over Alfredo Talavera and Melitón Hernández to represent Mexico at the 2015 Copa America. On 12 June 2015, he played all 90 minutes against Bolivia in a 0–0 draw. He was later named captain of the squad for the remainder of the tournament after Rafael Márquez suffered an injury.

In May 2018, Corona was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup,^[11] and was ultimately included in the final 23-man roster. He did not play in any of the matches.^[12]

Personal life

Corona is married to Mexican model Melissa Rivas and together they have a daughter named Valentina, and a son named Misael who played for Cruz Azul’s youth teams but was released by the club in 2023 after a video surfaced of a violent altercation he had with security guards at a private event.

Corona is Cruz Azul’s 2nd leading cap holder, behind El Cata Dominguez and he is an Olympic Gold Medalist.