👹 Borracho? Loco? Campeón: Alexis Vega leads Toluca to the Liga MX title
Vega came home & lifted a trophy PLUS: More trophies in the Conca-catch-up!
Alexis Vega had developed something of a reputation.
He became this generation’s version of a player Mexico always seems to have: The player who is good at soccer but could be great if they’d only spend less time in the night club and more time in the gym.
Mexico’s sporting press can be ruthless, but there was a kernel of truth to the image. Vega had the potential, but he just didn’t seem focused. At times, Vega himself even played into that stereotype. Even last week, he pointed to himself as Toluca fans sang “borracho” in one of their songs.
Sunday night, he cut a different figure. It was a celebration, yes, after Toluca beat América 2-0 with Vega’s goal and assist pushing the team to the Liga MX title.
But rather than the life of the party, he looked like a jubilant family man, his daughter joining him for the post-match interview on TUDN.
“It’s a huge happiness. This is thanks to the support of my wife and kids who support me every day,” Vega said. “They push me to train every day. I’m a better person. I just want to live in this moment, happy and chill.”
The nature of sports means he won’t have this moment for long - yet he’ll also have it forever. It definitely is a moment that for many years didn’t feel like it was coming.
Vega made a big-money move to Chivas in 2019, a move that brought expectations that he didn’t live up to. There were multiple disciplinary issues - including rumors Vega went out in Toluca after a Chivas visit there, reveling in the moments
Vega admitted he “wasn’t really enjoying playing” in his last months at Chivas. Despite offers from other Liga MX clubs and at least one team in MLS, his wife encouraged him to reach out to Toluca legend José Saturnino Cardozo. During a chat that lasted more than 90 minutes, the message was clear.
“He told me I had to come home,” Vega recalled. “I know the city, the team, all the people. My family is here - my wife’s family as well.”
Now, Vega has delivered the first title to his city since 2010, giving Toluca an 11th all-time trophy that puts it just one behind second-place Chivas in the all-time table.
Of course, it wasn’t just Vega.
Paulinho was a sure-fire finisher from the moment he arrived in Mexico in the summer, finishing off many of the passes Vega sent in. Luan scored Sunday and was a key piece at the back, saying after the match he wanted to honor his late mother by succeeding outside his native Brazil. Jesus Gallardo’s addition in the summer gave Toluca another fullback happy to get forward and provide the tempo the team needs both when pressing and when defending. Marcel Ruiz and Jesus Angulo also cut perfect figures with Vega, Ruiz learning to do the dirty work as a two-way midfielder (and who really should be off to Europe this summer), Angulo finding critical passes when Vega was elsewhere on the field.
Antonio Mohamed was able to build on what Renato Paiva started. It was the Portuguese boss who helped bring in Paulinho, who handed Vega the captain’s armband and who started the swashbuckling style that Mohamed refined - and in the final totally modified. The team played a calculated game against América that kept Las Aguilas from firing a single shot at goalkeeper Luis Garcia, a position that is one of the club’s weak points after Tiago Volpi’s abrupt return to Brazil for family reasons in January.
Vega, though, unquestionably represents the soul of the team.
“Personally, I love him a lot,” said center back Antonio “Pollo” Briseño, who played with Vega at Chivas and joined Toluca in this offseason. “He’s a guy who knew just where to come, to come home. After that, you saw it. He had the knee issue. He dropped 8 kilos (almost 18 pounds), he’s in great shape now, he doesn’t let a day go by when he doesn’t go to the gym.
“All that stuff is in the past now. (The motivation) comes from home, from his family, people around him. Paiva told him, ‘You’re going to be the captain here.’ I think he committed, he responded - not always with chewing guys out, with love, with hugs. That’s how he did it.”
He also did it with performances on the field that older players respected and younger players wanted to replicate. Vega now has a measure for what the match needs. If he needs to take a pair of defenders on and set up a scoring chance, he does it. If the game calls for him to tuck inside and ping through balls, he takes that on.
He has done everything for Toluca, and now has a title to his name. The question for many fans in Mexico remains not whether Vega is too much of a partier but whether he can do what he’s now doing wearing red while wearing green.
Vega has three dozen appearances for the Mexico national team, including three starts at the 2022 World Cup. Yet, he’s never broken through to become a difference-maker, reaching the level of many El Tri greats in the past.
Could this new-look Vega, the family-first king of Toluca, also change the complexion of Javier Aguirre’s squad?
“Totally. That’s my goal, to play a World Cup in my country, in front of my family, with my fans is my biggest dream,” Vega said Sunday. “I’m already thinking about earning a spot in the national team, showing everything I’m doing here in Toluca with the national team and earning the opportunity to be in the list and help the national team.”
For now, he’s celebrating - maybe with a few too many drinks, maybe with some family time, definitely however he wants to do it at this stage in his life. We know now he is unlikely to miss a gym session, aiming for another title, that Mexico place and continued success as he hits the prime of his career.
There’s a time and place for partying, and for Vega that time and place is right now. Ahead of a summer with Mexico and the lead-up to 2026, let the good times roll.
What now?
América will pack its bags for Los Angeles ahead of a playoff with LAFC for the final Club World Cup place. América’s summer is, of course, heavily dependent on those 90 minutes. Win, and there’s a huge windfall for the club. Millions of dollars will come in that the team can use to keep players in Mexico City and to bolster the squad.
My suspicion is manager Andre Jardine will try to keep most of his team together, likely asking for a new forward who could relegate Henry Martin to a bench role or at least provide the depth the team sorely lacked this season. Alvaro Fidalgo is a transfer target every summer, Alejandro Zendejas could make a big move. Sebastian Caceres had Serie A interest in the winter. We’ll see.
But beyond these two teams, much will be decided about the future of Mexican soccer in the next two days. The owners’ meetings - stripped down from past editions that often took place at fancy hotels off beautiful beaches - will take place in the first half of the week.
Then again, we thought the previous owners’ meetings were going to decide much about the future of Mexican soccer, only for the can to be kicked down the road on just about everything - though it did see the FMF commissioner resign in frustration.
Reportedly on the table once again will be the idea of accepting outside investment
Specific things to watch: Grupo Caliente is strongly rumored to (finally) have a buyer for Queretaro, which may join Necaxa as a team with U.S.-based ownership. Puebla is working with a foreign group to try and pay down significant debt it currently owes to TV Azteca. If Liga MX president Mikel Arriola gets the interim tag removed as FMF commissioner. Not sure they’ll actually say anything, but the return of promotion and relegation, especially given 10 second-division teams appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking to reinstate pro/rel.
Again, don’t get your hopes up that all of these things will be solved, and definitely don’t expect everything to be solved in a way that benefits fans. You know I’ll have it covered here in future newsletters!
Conca-catch-up yourself before you wreck yourself
We’ve got a Concacaf trophy, several league titles, the first Pelican Cup ever, the first Unity Cup in two decades, some wild comments about officiating, a new executive in Canada and … Saudi kids on tour?
Let’s get into it