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Mexico Team Guide

It’s is going to be a marathon for the Mexican players as they, unlike their South American counterparts, are only halfway through their obligations having been involved in the CONCACAF equivalent to the Copa America; the Gold Cup. Mexico finished as runners-up to the hosts America and lost surprisingly in the group stage to Honduras before requiring extra tie to over come Costa Rica in the quarter final. This despite selecting their strongest squad for the tournament.

The coach, Hugo Sanchez who took over from Ricardo Lavolpe, Mexico’s flamboyant coach in Germany last season, has not called on most of the European based players for the Copa America allowing the likes of Carlos Salcido of PSV and Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio of Stuttgart to get some rest before the European season starts again. However, several players have still been retained from the World Cup team that got to the first knock out stage before loosing to Argentina in extra-time including veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco who represented Mexico way back in the World Cup in 1998 and Jared Borgetti once of Bolton Wanderers.

Sanchez was a fierce critic of the previous Mexican regime and claimed he would be able to make a much better job if given the position. He now has been given the national team role and he has to live up to the promises made. He has a varied record in Mexican domestic football as a coach helping Pumas to win the league with some flowing and attractive football. However, the following season the team fell apart with Sanchez unable to prevent it. The recent variable results in the Gold Cup has shown that the side still has along way to go in terms of development

Mexico have been involved with the Copa America since 1993 when they were first invited to the tournament to bring the number of participating countries up to 12. They are permanently invited to the tournament now and although they have yet to win it they have got to the semi finals last time out and in Colombia were beaten by the hosts in 2001. Mexico on the whole play well against South American opposition and beat Brazil for instance at the 2005 Confederations Cup tournament in Germany and Argentina in the last edition of the Copa America in the group stage.

The main player for Mexico at the tournament will be Rafael Marquez currently of Barcelona, although question marks over his future at the club may be raised following the recent purchase of Yaya Toure from Monaco this week. Marquez, one of a number of Lavolpe’s supporters in a polarised group of players at the World Cup tournament, will be the most important player for the Mexicans as he dictates the tempo that Mexico play at as well as being a focal point for the entire midfield.

With the exception of Marquez and Nery Castillo the entire team play their football in the Mexican league. Despite not receiving much coverage in Europe it is a strong league and its teams have been performing creditably against South American opposition in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sud-Americana. The latter has been recently won by Pachuca, a Mexican team which has contributed not only to this international selection but also other sides participating in the tournament. In fact Mexican football on the whole has been able to attract large numbers of South American players as a result of the better organisation of club football.

In goal the most likely candidate will be the regular 1st choice goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, who has been involved with the national team for over 10 years; he was first capped in 1996. He has gone on to accumulate 80 caps for the national team. He has never moved to Europe despite being openly courted by several Spanish sides including most recently Atletico Madrid managed by former Mexican boss Javier Aguirre. However, a move has never materialised so he remains in Mexico. He is an agile keeper and was named player of the 2005 Gold Cup after he kept a clean sheet in every game of the tournament. He hasn’t been without his controversy though after an off the ball incident between him and Eddie Johnson in a recent friendly between Mexico and the USA the entire Mexican team refused to shake the hands of their opponents. His back up will be regular No. 2 choice Guillermo Ochoa of Club America who has 6 caps to his name.

In the centre of defence Mexico may choose to start with Rafael Marquez who despite playing at centre midfield for his club, Barcelona, plays usually as a defender for his country. His versatility combined with his excellent passing range has made him a quasi-libero strolling around the pitch untroubled defensively by opponents unable to really hurt Mexico. However, his spell as a centre back in La Liga was poor defensively and Marquez never looked entirely comfortable playing in the last line of defence. Marquez will be joined by either Francisco Javier Rodriguez of Guadalajara a versatile left footed centre back or Jonny Magallon another left footed player and a club mate of Rodriguez, who both their club win the opening championship of 2006 in Mexico. Magallon, in particular, has been scouted by European clubs and has been most recently linked with a move to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

On the right the main option appears to be Jose Antonio Castro who plays for Club America. He has 19 caps and is an excellent over-lapping full back. The main cover on the right appears to be Pachuca based Fausto Pinto who is yet to be capped at this level. Despite his small height he has been heavily involved for the current Mexican and South American champions. Replacing first-choice Carlos Salcido from the left will be Gonzalo Pineda an experienced left back who is a consistent performer.

The midfield looks to be well taken care of even if Marquez is involved in the defence as he often moves forward allowing one of the midfielders to get up and support the attack. This can leave the defence exposed so pace is an important consideration when selecting defenders to play alongside him. The holding midfield role will be occupied by former Sevilla man Gerrardo Torrado who returned to Mexican outfit Cruz Azul 2 seasons ago. He is an experienced campaigner with over 70 caps and a vital part of the midfield. Another option for the defensive slot may be Jaime Correa another one of the Pachuca contingent although he is yet to win his first cap for Mexico.

From the wide slots Mexico have chosen a number of versatile performers who are capable of covering the whole wing as wing backs, allowing themselves the further possibility of playing with three centre backs giving Marquez a free role between defence and midfield as a libero. On the right the main option would be Fernando Arce who is plying his trade currently with Morelia. He is a quick right winger who was called into the squad under Lavolpe and now has 12 caps to his name.

Over on the left side Mexico have several options including Ramon Morales, Jaime Lozano and Andres Guardado. Mexico are unlikely to start with all 3 as there would only be room for 2 at the most so one of them may be moved into the middle. The likelihood of this should be increased as Mexico haven’t named someone who could be considered a central attacking midfielder. All three are quick lively players who enjoy getting forward and terrorising defences.

Up front unsurprisingly given the position Hugo Sanchez played he has named a plethora of strikers in the team. Out and out striking options are provided by veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Jared Borghetti. After a long and distinguished career in the Mexican league Blanco has been signed up by Chicago Fire and has been recalled into the national team after being ostracised by former manager Lavolpe after a falling out between the pair. Borgetti, who had an unhappy time in the Engllish Premiership with Bolton, has also been called up. On his day he is a clinical finisher with an eye for goal. Both players now reaching the ‘veteran’ stage of their career have good records at international level.

In Blanco’s absence last year Lavolpe started with Omar Bravo who proved himself an able deputy. Bravo is still based in Mexico but had a good World Cup scoring twice against Iran in a 3-1 victory. He has been linked with a move to join up with other Mexican colleagues Osorio and Pardo at Stuttgart and Feyenoord scouts were also at the Gold Cup, it has been reported, to find out about the player.

More deep lying options could be provided by Nery Castillo a Uruguayan born forward who has finally agreed to play for Mexico after much controversy about his choice. He was eligible to play for Mexico as a result of being born in the country to Uruguayan parents but having spent 7 years in Greece could also play for them. The Greek FA was very keen to have him on board, going so far it has been reported, as to offer him an inducement of £1 million pounds but he eventually choose for Mexico after a lot of soul searching. He is a fine player and will be an asset to any national team. Playing in the same position as Rivaldo, with whom he played for several seasons, has benefited his game to a considerable extent. Another deep attacker could be Alberto Medina who is a trickly dribbler better known for his assists then his goals. Domestically he has formed a fine partnership with Bravo and this could be rekindled by Sanchez if he is looking for some continuity.

Mexico haven’t named a full squad but do have plenty of talent within the team and it will be an excellent chance for some of the lesser known squad and domestically based players to stake their claims for starting places in future tournaments.

Mexico have been drawn in a tough group that includes three teams who qualified for last season’s World Cup (themselves, Brazil and Ecuador) and they will have to make sure they don’t let Ecuador steal a march on them. They face Brazil in their opening match in Group B, if they can get something out of this match the Mexican management would be delighted to set up an all-important 2nd clash with the Ecuadorians.

Main man: The most obvious choice has to be Rafael Marquez as his influence extends over the entire team. Despite not being the most reliable centre-back in the world Marquez’s distribution and ability to control a game is an important factor in the team.

Posted by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 27th June 2007

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