MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- "He's a footballer who should give us much more than what he's giving us. He has to believe that he's an important footballer, and he has to be one. He has to step forward, assume responsibilities and do more."
Those were the words of Rayo Vallecano head coach, Paco Jemez, while speaking about Mexican footballer Javier Aquino last February. All along Jemez's interpretation of Aquino's football was correct, but Aquino needed to restart somewhere else, and little did he know that he would end up pressing the restart button in Mexico, with Tigres. Now, Los Felinos are two games away from winning its fourth league title, but to reach this point, Aquino has had to go through ups and downs. At the moment, playing for Tigres has his career on the rise.
Aquino left Cruz Azul for Villarreal CF almost three years ago, in January 2013. The move marked the end of one chapter, which saw him win a gold medal with Mexico's Under-23 team in London and finish the 2012 Apertura with three goals and two assists. In the Apertura's postseason, he also picked up two assists, but it wasn't enough to prevent Leon from eliminating La Maquina in the quarterfinals.
Upon arriving to Villarreal, it was not Spain's first division in which Aquino plied his trade, but the Liga Adelante, the country's second tier. His move to Europe wasn't like those of former Manchester United man Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez or Porto's Hector Herrera, who each went to clubs that would be fighting for league and European titles. Aquino's move to Spain appeared to be one in which he was going to have to climb up the ranks. In the last half of the 2012-13 season, Aquino made 12 appearances for the Yellow Submarine, which finished in second place of the Liga Adelante table, securing promotion to La Liga.
The Mexican winger's first chance to impress in La Liga came in the 2013-14 season, and even though he started 18 times and came in as a substitution in 14 occasions, Aquino's numbers were not amazing: one goal and four assists. The following season, head coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, who gave his okay to bring the Mexican midfielder from Mexico in 2013, saw it better to loan him to another Spanish club. Jemez heard about the possibility of getting Aquino on a season-long loan, and he immediately gave his nod of approval.
At the time, in the summer of 2014, Aquino had just participated in the World Cup, but it's worth noting that manager Miguel "Piojo" Herrera didn't include him in his original 23-man roster. Aquino was in Asia on tour with Villarreal when he heard of Luis "Chapo" Montes' injury, which opened him the doors to take part in his first World Cup.
His time in the Spanish capital was a time of frustration. Aquino was never able to establish any consistency. Jemez openly expressed his disappointment and teammates like Alberto Bueno, who ended the season as the team's top goalscorer with 17 goals in La Liga, even suggested that he and his teammates would pinch him during training to see if that could spark some sort of reaction.
The native of Oaxaca finished the 2014-15 season with two assists and a red card in league play, dismal numbers for a player of his caliber. The writing was on the wall; in his first two full seasons in La Liga with Villarreal and Rayo, he had a combined six assists and just one goal. The end of the Spanish adventure neared its end, but in his native Mexico he still owned a seat of privilege. After all, he was part of the Mexico's Olympic-winning squad, an achievement that will always set him apart from other 25-year-old Mexican footballers.
It was soon after his participation in last summer's Copa America that Villarreal announced Aquino's transfer to Tigres. In Aquino, Tigres knew that it would be getting a footballer who would be able to feed good crosses into forwards, like new star signing Andre-Pierre Gignac and also Rafael Sobis.
Upon his arrival to Cancun, where Tigres held their preseason before playing the Copa Libertadores semifinal against Internacional and then the final against River Plate, Aquino was straightforward in his gratitude to the Monterrey club: "I appreciate the trust the team has shown to me and its interest. Because it's a team fighting for Libertadores, I decided to play for them," he declared.
Since the moment Aquino penned his signature and joined a team with the likes of Gignac, Sobis, Jurgen Damm, Joffre Guerron, Guido Pizarro and Arevalo Rios, the 25-year-old has started in 23 games: 19 in Liga MX, three in Copa Libertadores and one in CONCACAF Champions League.
In Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti's Tigres, Aquino is an important player, something that he never managed to feel during his time at Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano. In Spain, Aquino was given starts where he could showcase his potential, but many times it failed to bear fruit; all too often Aquino would be left stranded out on the wing, barely touching the ball. With Tigres, it's the total opposite. He's one of the main players in the midfield who gives the last pass to the main forwards: Gignac and Sobis.
At Rayo, Jemez placed him on the left wing multiple times, but the player who would get the ball most of the time was left-footed Gael Kakuta, who tended to start his plays from the right flank. Aquino looked lost on the left wing for Rayo, but for Tigres, it is on the left wing where he has picked up most of his goals and assists for Los Auriazules. Aquino's speed, creativity and pinpoint crosses have been attributes that have helped Tigres reach the Apertura final.
In the current season with two games to go, Aquino has four goals and five assists; his best career numbers ever. With the 2016 Clausura coming up, it will be interesting to see if Aquino is able to build on his performances from this past fall and add more goals and assists to his season-ending totals next spring.
On Sunday night in the return leg at Pumas' Ciudad Universitaria, Frenchman Gignac will likely rob most of the attention, but Aquino's season should also get its mention. The return to Mexico paid off, and Aquino's football vindication should be celebrated.