Mexico’s Kevin Alvarez fulfilled a promise to his late father at the World Cup

Mexico right-back Kevin Alvarez initially made two promises to his late father.

The first was that he would become a professional footballer.

He has done that: Alvarez, 23, made his Liga MX debut in 2018 with Pachuca and has now made over 100 appearances for the club.

The second promise was to become a Liga MX champion.

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In October, Pachuca were crowned champions of Mexico, and Alvarez, an attacking full-back with speed and grit, played a key role in that triumph. With a winners’ medal draped around his neck and the celebrations happening around him at Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo, Alvarez told reporters he knew his father would be proud of him.

Alvarez’s father, Felipe de Jesus, was killed in 2006 by a lightning strike while playing amateur football. Kevin was just seven years old.

Before his untimely death, Felipe had always dreamed of seeing his son play in Mexico’s top division.

Since then, Alvarez has turned his grief into the ultimate form of motivation.

He wears a T-shirt under his matchday kit that has a photo of his father, sitting relaxed in his football uniform, printed on it with the words Hasta Arriba (Up Above) atop the image and ‘F. Alvarez’ below it. He also has a tattoo across the front of his neck dedicated to his father that reads “Started with a promise” in English.

“I know he’s enjoying this,” Alvarez said that night last month.

“As time has passed I’ve promised him more things — like becoming a champion, and now I’ll promise him to go even further,” Alvarez added. “To Europe, become a champion over there, go to the World Cup… all that I can.”

On Saturday, Alvarez made his World Cup debut for Mexico, a surprise choice to start at right-back, rather than Ajax’s Jorge Sanchez, against Argentina.

Alvarez played well. He was tasked with marking full-back Marco Acuna, an aggressive wide player  Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has always relied on. It was a pivotal tactical matchup and one where Alvarez did well to control over the more experienced Acuna.

Alvarez is an interesting prospect. He has just nine appearances for Mexico’s senior team and is the youngest player in their World Cup squad. His promise to play his club football in Europe is so far no more than that, but Alvarez is no different than many other talented Mexican players in that regard.

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Liga MX has long lagged behind other Latin American leagues in terms of the amount of players they export, but Pachuca has a rich history of producing talents with European pedigree, including current Mexico internationals Hector Herrera, Hirving Lozano and Erick Gutierrez.

Unconfirmed reports from Mexico have linked both Ajax and Dutch rivals PSV Eindhoven to Alvarez, a direct player who shows tremendous stamina and good technique. He’s unafraid in the tackle and shows promise in terms of his delivery from wide areas.

Alvarez has been named in Liga MX’s all-star best XI twice in the past two years and won the award for the league’s best full-back. In this year’s MLS All-Star game, he came off the bench for the Liga MX representative side and scored their goal in a 2-1 loss.

📹#NoTeLoPierdas
¡¡¡G⚽⚽⚽L!!! Este fue el gol de Kevin Álvarez para acercarnos en el marcador.#MLSAllStar 2-1 #LigaMXAllStar#LigaBBVAMX ⚽

— Liga BBVA MX (@LigaBBVAMX) August 11, 2022

Speaking to ESPN Mexico after the weekend defeat to Argentina, Alvarez described the moment Lionel Messi’s precision shot from distance beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to open the scoring just past the hour mark. Ochoa has been criticised back in Mexico for not doing enough to prevent the goal.

“We were playing well in the first half and to begin the second, but they had a player like Messi,” Alvarez said. “You realise that with one small bit of space he can change the game.”

Alvarez certainly wasn’t star-struck by facing Messi or intimidated by the nearly 90,000 people that filled Lusail Stadium.

He’s soft-spoken but shows a level of maturity on the pitch and in front of a camera that bodes well for his international career. Still, it was an emotional moment for him. When he stood arm-in-arm with his team-mates and heard Mexico’s national anthem, cameras captured Alvarez crying as the rabid Mexico crowd sang along with their players.

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Alvarez performed well against Argentina and then made a brief appearance at the end of Wednesday’s chaotic 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia to close out the group stage, which wasn’t enough for Mexico to advance to the knockout phase — Poland go on instead as runners-up to Argentina, thanks to their slightly superior goal difference.

Given his limited minutes, Alvarez can’t truly be a breakout player at this World Cup — Mexico’s overall performances did not allow any individual to really stand out — but it still served as a first experience of the sport’s biggest stage. Another promise kept.

Against Argentina, Alvarez did give hope that Mexico’s future at right-back will be one bright spot El Tri fans can look forward to.

“I’m honestly grateful, on one hand, I’m happy to accomplish my dream of debuting at a World Cup,” Alvarez told TUDN on Saturday. “But a win would’ve been even better.”

Whether Alvarez can next make a move to Europe and become a champion there is yet to be determined. But his conviction in fulfilling the lofty promises he’s made to his late father clearly remains a driving force for him.

(Top photo: David Ramos – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)