U.S. U-17 Sagir Arce makes Liga MX debut for Morelia

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 27, 2019

Sagir Arce, 17, made his Liga MX debut for Morelia as a substitute in its 3-2 loss at Tijuana on Thursday.

Arce, who was born in Kansas City and grew up in Chihuahua, moved to Morelia four years ago. He had made his first-team pro debut three weeks ago in the Copa MX.

He scored 17 goals in 23 games for Morelia's U-17s last season and moved up to the U-20s for the 2019 Apertura in the Fuerzas Basicas competition.

Arce went with the U.S. U-17s on trips to Costa Rica, Mexico and England in 2018 and attended Rafael Wicky's first camp in charge of the U-17s in April.

The only American starting regularly in Liga MX this season is Ventura Alvarado, the captain of second-place Necaxa.

The ranks of Americans playing in Mexico have thinned in recent years as the Mexican federation has tightened up on the transfers of minors in violation of FIFA regulations and Liga MX introduced new rules on the classification of foreigners.