Cata Dominguez and the Reasons Why He Didn't Play in Europe
Julio Cesar Dominguez revealed that not knowing English prevented him from growing to another level in his career, even beyond the borders of Mexico
Julio Cesar Dominguez, one of Cruz Azul's most recent icons, experienced everything with the team, from recognition and success to failures and criticism. However, the only thing he lacked was the courage to accept the offers he received to play in Europe, simply because of the language barrier.
The former Cruz Azul defender revealed this in a conversation on his former teammate Yosgart Gutierrez's podcast, where he emphasized that he had several offers to play in Europe, but when they arrived, he lacked the courage to accept them due to the language barrier.
Ignoring the allure of Europe, Dominguez became a key figure for Cruz Azul, where he was an undisputed starter for almost 17 years, playing in over 650 matches. matches and part of the team that won the last league title for the cement squad.
However, in the end, the man known as “Cata” didn't dare to start from scratch, especially since he already had a family and wasn't willing to start over in a foreign country with the language barrier that accepting offers from Turkey and Ukraine would have represented, but in the end he decided to stay with Cruz Azul.
“I had two offers in Europe, from Ukraine and Turkey, but they were places where I didn't speak the language. I already had my two children and starting all that with them was going to be kind of complicated. If I had been alone, I think I would have gone,” he said.
Other offers in Liga MX
Dominguez also revealed that in addition to offers from Ukraine and Turkey, he ultimately chose Guadalajara, thus rejecting other offers in Liga MX, such as the one made by Rayados in 2022
Besides offers from European football, the Mexican defender revealed that Monterrey approached him at the end of 2022. The defender admitted that the Monterrey proposal was very attractive, but in the end, he decided to stay at Cruz Azul.
“I went to talk to them about that,“Because Monterrey caught my attention, but I stayed at Cruz Azul because of what we had agreed with the president for another year, and I told them (Rayados) no,” Dominguez explained.