Super goalie Memo Ochoa spent years planning his life around the next match. Now, the Mexican soccer star is enjoying the chance to show up for a different kind of stadium-filling talent, with a playlist that runs from Fuerza Regida to Cristian Castro.
Speaking with this reporter on the blue carpet at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa described a new freedom to attend events that his playing schedule once put out of reach. He also offered a comparison between the profession he knows and the musicians he was there to celebrate.
"Music has become almost a high-performance career, like soccer," he said in Spanish.
Ochoa announced his retirement from professional soccer in July, ending a career that spanned more than two decades. His appearance at the awards offered a lighter look at what comes next: time to enjoy music, travel, and, occasionally, a meal without the demands of an elite athlete's routine.
Why Ochoa Sees Musicians as High-Performance Athletes
Asked whether sports or entertainment is the more complicated world, Ochoa declined to choose.
"Both," he said, before explaining what connects them: their relationship with the public. "Both worlds share something very important, which is their impact on people, on society," he said. "They're two worlds that fill stadiums, where people look for idols and try to get close to their favorite artists."
The similarities, in his view, extend to the work required to keep performing. Ochoa pointed to musicians' travel schedules, concert commitments, and attention to protecting their voices. "You see them traveling more and more, doing more concerts, taking much greater care of their voices," he said.
For someone accustomed to the preparation and restrictions of professional soccer, those demands were recognizable. Attending the celebration, however, was something he could now enjoy with fewer scheduling obstacles. "It's nice, for now, to be able to enjoy this new stage, which I couldn't experience before because I had a match or couldn't travel," he said.
Earlier in the week, Ochoa moderated a Billboard conversation with Fuerza Regida.
From Fuerza Regida to Cristian Castro
When asked what might surprise people about his playlist, Ochoa resisted being pinned to a single genre.
"It's a playlist with everything," he said. "It's not that I have one particular genre." He named Mexican and regional Mexican music, including Fuerza Regida, before adding Morat, Spanish band Taburete, Maluma, J Balvin and Cristian Castro.
The selection crossed genres rather than following one musical identity. His listening choices depend on where he is. And going back to life after fútbol, the former goalie of Mexico's national team, Ochoa shared the indulgence he had allowed himself after the demands of high-performance sport: "A hamburger, maybe," he offered. "Without feeling guilty."
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