Mexico's Veracruz hires Chilean forward Nava

Mexican soccer team Veracruz has hired Chilean forward Reinaldo Nava, reuniting him with former attacking partner and one of Mexico's most famous footballers, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, the team's president said on Friday.

Navia, 31, played alongside Blanco in the 2004 Closing Tournament when the two led the attack for America, a famous team based in southern Mexico City.

Navia played in Mexico from 2001 to 2008, playing for five different teams during that period and earning a reputation as a major goal scorer. In July 2008, plagued by injury problems, he joined Ecuadorian team Liga Deportiva de Quito, but was transferred again to Chilean team Morning.

In 2000, Navia was part of the Chilean team that took the Olympic bronze in Sydney, but he is also known for being fired from Chile's national team for a sex scandal while playing away in Irish capital Dublin.

Veracruz's decision to hire Navia came just days after the team lost 3-0 to Fresneros, a team from Irapuato, a town in Pacific coast state Michoacan. Losing to the Irapuato team meant that Veracruz lost its chance to enter Mexico's top division.

Navia's partner Blanco, who was playing for U.S. club Chicago Fire, will begin playing for Veracruz in January.

Source: Xinhua