Juan de Dios Ibarra

Juan de Dios Ibarra Corral (born February 17, 1979 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico) is a Mexican football goalkeeper who currently plays for Club de Futbol Monterrey in the First Division in his native country.

Career

Ibarra began his career at Monterrey, where after spending several years in the youth squads, made his debut at the professional level on February 10, 2002 in a game against Celaya. In his first full game, Ibarra made a favorable impression by shutting out Chivas de Guadalajara by a score of 3-0. His initial success prompted then-coach José Treviño to name him the starter and Ibarra responded by allowing 21 goals in 12 games. However, the following season he would be benched, only seeing action in two games. The next season, Ibarra filled in for starting goalkeeper Ricardo Martínez in 11 games, while Martínez recovered from an injury. The young goalkeeper stepped up to the challenge and allowed only 14 goals in that span. However, when Martínez returned, Ibarra was relegated to the bench and watched from the sidelines as Monterrey won the championship that very season, under Argentine coach Daniel Passarella.

After two more years of scattered play at Monterrey, he was transferred to América before the start of the Apertura 2005 season, where he has placed as second on the depth chart, behind Francisco Guillermo Ochoa. His only start that season came against his former team, in a game where he allowed all four goals in a 4-1 loss.

Prior to the upcoming Clausura 2006 season, Ibarra is expected to compete for the #2 job in Club América with Alberto Becerra and Armando Navarrete, the team's other reserve goalkeepers.He returns to his first team CF Monterrey on December 21st, 2007, he will be playing for this team the Clausura 2008.

External links

*es icon [http://mirror3.mediotiempo.com/jugador.php?id_jugador=321 Profile/Stats]
*es icon [http://www.esmas.com/clubamerica/nuestroequipo/463578.html Ibarra's profile @ the Club América site]