Pele tabs Mexico as a dark horse

March 13th, 2006 | by: John |

Pele was making his rounds in Mexico City over the weekend, and during his press conference he suggested that Mexico could very well be a revelation at the World Cup. He gushed about Mexico’s team unity as their key strength. He sees Mexico as more mature, and more experienced. But, unlike Brazil, he added Mexico does not have the depth of the Brazilian squad to overcome injuries. He also lauded Rafael Marquez as one of the best players at his position in Europe.

Being a revelation this summer was a recurring theme in an interview with Bolton Wanderers striker Jared Borgetti. He stated that Mexico has proven that they can match-up with the best teams, and given the right circumstances Mexico can surprise a few folks, namely their Group C opponents if they make it through to the 2nd round.

Borgetti also echoed Manuel Negrete’s sentiments in saying that Mexico cannot go into their games with Iran and Angola overconfident, citing that Angola and Iran were dangerous because they are unknown quantities. Mexico have been guilty in the past of overconfidence, and they were sentenced to a 3-1 drubbing at the hands of Tunisia in the 1978 tournament. It was the first world cup match ever won by an African squad. Mexico fell to even greater depths of misery by losing to Germany 6-0, and Poland 3-1 to round off their feast of futility.

Both Borgetti and Pele named Brazil as favorites (duh!!), along with the other usual suspects. Pele is idolized in Mexico. He is commemorated with a plaque at the Estadio Azteca honoring him and his teammates for their victory in 1970.

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Roberto

Oh nooooo, the dreaded curse of Pele! Fortunately he has said the same thing about the 31 other teams
LC

I dont think Pele or anyone should be making those kind of coments, I am sure Rafa Marquez is one of the best playres in Europe, since he plays in one of the best teams, and AC Milan has showned interests on him. Oswaldo Sanchez is also one of the best goalies in the world, and we have a good team, with good chances of a great performance in the World Cup.

But, I think if we can manage to be in the top 6 teams in the competition we shouldn’t be called a black horse, cause we are ranked #6 on the Fifa Rankings and did a hell of a job on the Fifa Confederations Cup.

All I am saying is that Mexico should be considered a threat to do great on Germany, but we can’t make does coments until we prove worthy in a World Cup.
John

As roberto noted, Pele is not going to say anything bad about a country he is visitng. I thnik Pele’s point is Mexico could advance farther in the tournament than they have in the past. It would be a surprise considering they would have to get past their group, Group C’s top 2, and then probably either England or Germany to make to the semis.
Oscar (Mañana) Man

Mexico can be the dark horse although it has one of the best teams in the world. My true dark horse is the US team. I believe that their conditioning and the direction that Arenas has them in makes them a good pick…

Oscar