Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido has been selected to the Mexican Men’s National Team for two upcoming matches in the Netherlands, the Mexican Football Federation announced earlier this week.
Pulido was voted MLS Player of the Week on Monday after bagging two goals in a 2-1 road victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at BBVA Stadium.
Pulido will join a 26-player squad assembled by head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino for international friendlies against the Netherlands on Oct. 7 in Amsterdam and Algeria on Oct. 13 in The Hague.
Mexico’s showdown with the Netherlands will be shown live at 1:45 p.m. Oct. 7 on ESPN2, the ESPN app, TUDN and UniMas, while the game versus Algeria will air live at 2 p.m. Oct. 13 on Univision and TUDN.
Pulido, who joined Sporting Kansas City last December on a club-record transfer fee from Chivas de Guadalajara, has recorded five goals in 13 career caps for Mexico. He notably represented his country at the 2011 Copa America and 2014 World Cup and last played for El Tri in September 2018.
Following the friendly match against Algeria, Pulido will adhere to mandated health and safety protocols in accordance with international travel before rejoining Sporting Kansas City later this month for the final stretch of the MLS regular season.
Now in his first MLS season, Pulido has played an integral role for a Sporting Kansas City side that occupies third place in the Western Conference. The forward is tied atop the club scoring chart with six goals in all competitions, including a brace in Saturday’s 2-1 road victory over the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Stadium.
He also has a team-leading four assists, three of which came this summer at the historic MLS is Back Tournament in Walt Disney World. In Pulido’s nine regular season starts, Sporting owns a 6-2-1 record with an average of 2.2 goals per game.
Pulido, 29, is part of a star-studded Mexican roster that includes European-based forwards Jesus Corona (FC Porto) and Raul Jimenez (Wolverhampton) as well as MLS standouts Rodolfo Pizarro (Inter Miami CF) and Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy).
A native of Ciudad Victoria, Pulido has featured for Mexico at the U-20, U-23 and senior levels. He led El Tri to the 2011 Concacaf U-20 Championship title, scoring three goals at the tournament, before making five appearances at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia as Mexico finished in third place.
In April 2012, Pulido and the Mexico U-23s hoisted the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament title at Children’s Mercy Park. The semifinal and final matches both took place in Sporting’s home stadium, with Pulido scoring in a 3-1 semifinal victory over Canada. He finished as the competition’s leading scorer with five goals, helping Mexico book their place at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and guided El Tri to the Toulon Tournament championship later that year in France.
Pulido made his senior international debut on Jan. 29, 2014, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 friendly win against South Korea in San Antonio, Texas. He added another goal in a 2-2 friendly draw with the United States over two months later and was selected to Mexico’s 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Pulido scored his fifth Mexico goal in a friendly win over Iceland in February 2017 and most recently featured in friendlies against Uruguay and the U.S. in September 2018.
