Nery Castillo, a player that never reached his potential
Opening the vault of many players that have stepped foot in Mexico for either the club or national team level, Nery Castillo is one of the players that had a lot of potentials but sadly he was lost in the mist, not because of his playing abilities but the way he handled himself as a professional.
Nery Castillo shined like a bright star when he was on the top of his playing career but his light only shined for a very short amount of time with the national team of Mexico and even when he joined the Liga MX as he played with multiple teams. Castillo quickly made a lot of noise as he was playing in Greece for the club team, Olympiacos where he won six Superleague Championships and two Greek Cups from 2000 through 2007.
That is what helped to make a lot of attraction for the Mexico player as he was born in Mexico to his father playing in San Luis being from Uruguay helped him be part of the national team of Mexico although Castillo had participated with the youth national team of Uruguay and could have played with Greece or Italy due to his bloodline or being part of the country for numerous of years. Castillo’s time with Mexico came quickly after the 2006 World Cup participation with Mexico as they were searching for a starlet player to make a difference on the top of the field in scoring goals.
Castillo finally stepped foot with El Tri in 2007 under Hugo Sanchez‘s directions and that is where it started for Castillo time with Mexico that erupted quickly during that tournament. During the Copa America in 2007, Castillo scored four goals and had one assist but what made his name be screamed by many fans and experts was the amazing goal he scored against Brazil that was displayed as one of the top goals of the tournament.
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Almost every game throughout the Copa America tournament, Castillo was a participant and was the key factor for the team being paired along with Juan Carlos Cacho on the field. But after that Castillo just fell through the cracks and was never the same.
With personal problems Castillo had with the death of his parents in 2009 and jumping from club team to club team, he never really found his consistency with any team he stepped on and quickly was lost in participating with El Tri. Castillo was not that player that would make a difference for Mexico and did not even reach the roster for the 2010 World Cup as his last participated ever was in September of 2009 and since then only two things are remembered from Castillo.
His standout performance in the 2007 Copa America and his rant against the Mexican media, by stating that the difference between them and him is that he is in Europe and they are not.
The retired striker played with Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Chicago Fire, Aris, Pachuca, Leon, and Rayo Vallecano where he finally made his last pit stop and retired in 2014. At just 30 years old many were shocked to hear from the far distance that Castillo was hanging up the cleats. Now, Castillo is a fisherman in Greece and lives off that of now and will always be remembered as a player that was very close to being an elite player but it was never granted.