VBFC x Club America: Gerardo & Andres meet Paul Aguilar

The 2018 Apertura Champions of the Liga Bancomer in Mexico, Club America were in Los Angeles this past weekend to play a match against Atlas. Venice Beach Football Club's very own Gerardo & Andres Flores Seo, were invited to watch training and sit down with one of the top stars of Club America and Mexico over the last decade, Paul Aguilar. These to VBFC youth players are no strangers to the Los Angeles pickup community. They have been at the Estadio for pickup nearly every Sunday over the last year. We've seen a young Gerardo flourish playing against grown men & women, while little Andres only recently made his pickup debut at 9 years old after success with the VBFC youth futsal teams and absorbing endless hours of play from the sidelines at the Estadio De Dogtown. Gerardo and Andres are both half Mexican and fluent in Spanish so they were ready to go and pick the brain of some who's shoes they would hope to fill one day. Paul Aguilar was gracious and gave these boys invaluable information to take home. It was only fitting he had scored in front of their eyes the next day at the game. The final result was 2-2 with Jeremy Menez scoring a paneka penalty, and Paul Aguilar scoring the second on a volley inside the box.

Club America is one of the most successful and widely-respected clubs in Mexican futbol. They've won a collective 13 Liga MX titles, holding the record for the most domestic trophies of any Mexican team. We, at VBFC, were honored to have that very same Liga MX Apertura trophy visit Estadio de Dogtown while its current holders played against Atlas (another historically significant club in Mexican soccer) at the Stubhub Center on the other side of Los Angeles.

Among the many fan-favorites on the field for Club America, is Paul Aguilar. Aguilar, now 33, has starred for Pachuca in over 100 appearances, for Club America in over 250 appearances, and has over 50 caps for the Mexican National Team. He's represented the tricolor in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and multiple Copa Americas and international friendlies, playing against the best players in the world on the biggest stage.

Gerardo (12) and Andres (10) aren't all that different from a young Paul Aguilar. They have those same dreams. They dream of representing their country, and are currently representing themselves and Venice. And they ain't doing too bad.

Saturday nights at futsal club. Sunday afternoons at Estadio. Doesn't matter. These young men are always giving their best; because they want to be the best. More importantly, they have a character and attitude about them that impressed us from day one.
Here's a typical example of that character and attitude that we admire so much in them:
They're the first to show up to futsal club. They're the last to leave. Meaning, they pack up all the gear with the coaches after everyone already left to go home.