Rodolfo Cota: the last great Chivas goalkeeper?

The years go by, and Chivas still cannot recover the security that Rodolfo Cota provided in his goal. The goalkeeper, originally from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, spent three and a half years in Guadalajara, where he was a key player in the successful It was Matías Almeyda.

Since Cota left, in mid-2018, more than five years have passed and the Rebaño Sagrado has not yet had a goalkeeper to provide security and regularity that they had with the now León goalkeeper under the three sticks.

Once Rodolfo left Chivas, his place was taken by the youth player Raúl Gudiño, who arrived from APOEL in European football, and Antonio Rodríguez, a youth player for whom there were many hopes. But neither of them could establish themselves as the undisputed starters.

How did Wacho become a starter at Chivas?

When the name of Carlos Acevedo began to be heard—and there was even talk of Rodolfo Cota returning—the Chivas scratched him deep on their bench so that Miguel ‘Wacho’ Jiménez took over in the middle of the pandemic.

He remained in this position until Apertura 2023. Veljko Paunovic trusted Wacho as his starting goalkeeper in the year he was with the Sacred Flock, even for above Oscar Walleya goalkeeper of Spanish origin that Fernando Hierro brought in with the aim of fighting for the title and has not managed to be in the game, neither with Paunovic nor with Fernando Gago.

Tala Rangel, Fernando Gago’s bet

Gago opted for another man from home, now for Raúl Rangel, just 24 years old. Tala has stood out with great performances throughout the Clausura 2024, being determined in the third best defense of the championship. Throughout the contest, they only received 17 scores and it was largely due to the great actions of Rangel.

Maybe the Chivas finally found the answer to the absence caused by the departure of Rodolfo Cotawho sounds to return to the team that placed it in the foregroundnow in a supporting role, as Tala’s own mentor.

Journalist from Rebaño Pasión with 12 years of experience in the media. Winner of five José Martí Awards by the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) of the United States; an award for excellence in digital publishing at the EPPY Awards 2021 and an honorable mention in the 14th Edition of the National Faces of Discrimination Award in Mexico. Previously in media such as Récord, Mediotiempo, Infobae, La Noticia, El Universal and others.