Colourful Jerseys & Goals as a striker: The life of goalkeeper Jorge Campos

Mexico has had many great footballers in the past, including national team legends like Hugo Sanchez, Rafa Marquez and flamboyant goalkeeper, Jorge Campos. Jorge Campos was the Mexican national team goalkeeper between 1991 and 2004. Whilst he was popular for being just 5.3' tall (quite short for a goalkeeper), being one of the first sweeper-goalkeepers, and being a goalscoring goal keeper; Jorge Campos was most known for his bright-coloured and neon jerseys. 

Jorge Campos popular jerseys and why he wore them

Especially at International level, Jorge Campos had an assortment of multicoloured, neon-based jerseys that he wore. These jerseys were mostly won during the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup and also for his club sides Pumas UNAM and LA Galaxy. He also won a variant of this jersey during the 1995 friendly match against Japan in Tokyo. 

Jorge Campos' choice of neon-coloured and bright jerseys was his way of deflecting attention from his rather short height for a goalkeeper, improving his self-confidence while on the pitch and distracting his opponents when they face him. His jerseys usually had large shapes, numbers or objects, placed haphazardly on the jerseys and in rather large or oversized proportions. 

Jorge Campos career and statistics

Jorge Campos played most of his career in the Mexican Primera Division with only short stints coming in the MLS with LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire.  Campos spent the better part of his career at UNAM,  playing 205 games between 1988 and 1995. Interestingly, he scored an impressive 28 goals for UNAMA due to his propensity to sometimes play as a striker during matches. 

Between 1995 and 1998, Jorge Campos had shirt stints at Atlante, LA Galaxy, Cruz Azul and Chicago Fire, before returning to UNAM for the 1998/99 season where he scored another 6 goals in 43 matches. Campos then played for UANL before returns to Atlante and UNAM again, finally hanging his boots at Puebla in 2004.