Mexico World Cup Team Blog

Mexico Slips

Andrea — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:42:27 +0000

New FIFA rankings were released today and Mexico now finds itself at number 19th in the world down from last month’s 14. Despite having won 2 World Cup qualifying matches against Belize winning on aggregate 9-0 the rankings still switched around. Spain are now #1 with the Euro win while Argentina is now in 6th and Brazil in 4th. Italy, despite their dismal showing moved up to 2nd from #3 and, Germany is now the new #3.

FIFA ranking of course are a bit skewed. Does Brazil truly deserve to be that high with their bad performances in World Cup qualifying? Italy barely made it through group play and yet, they moved up? See the Top 20 here.

1. (4) Spain
2. (3) Italy
3. (5) Germany
4. (2) Brazil
5. (10) Netherlands
6. (1) Argentina
7. (15) Croatia
8. (6) Czech Republic
9. (11) Portugal
10. (7) France
11. (24) Russia
12. (12) Romania
13. (13) Cameroon
14. (20) Turkey
15. (9) England
16. (17) Scotland
17. (18) Bulgaria
18. (8) Greece
19. (14) Mexico
20 (16) Ghana

A Girls View: Ochoa

Andrea — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:45:32 +0000

Sorry for the long absence but I’ve been in Europe and just recently arrived back home a few days. So, in the process I noticed that the female fans were gaining a lot of attention at Euro 08 (just head over to the sister site and you’ll see what I’m talking about). Well, it seems like no one pays attention to the hotness of the actual players and as a female I am displeased. And on the Mexican team there are plenty of good looking players. So, why not feature them? As a girl I feel like it is my obligation to do so.

The logical place to start with this is the back. The goalkeeper. The man with the gloves and safe hands. My first pick? Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña. Or as he is more commonly known Memo Ochoa. I’m not fond of America(too put it lightly) as I am a Chivas fan since birth but I can’t help but admire this man’s technique and, well, physical aspects. He’s very young and yet he has quite a bit of experience. Many want him and he’s soon due to go to Europe as soon as his contract expires.

Birthday:July 13, 1985
Place of Birth: Guadalajara, Jalisco
Height:1.83m (6ft)
Status: Bachelor
Debut for America: February 15 2004
Leagues played: Clausura 2004, Apertura 2004, Clausura 2005, Apertura 2005 and liguillas. He
started after Adolfo Rios was injured and soon shared the spot. When the new coach Oscar
Ruggeri came Memo was benched but soon returned with the new appointment of Mario
Carillo and became the undisputed number 1.
Honors:* Mexico Clausura: 2005
* Mexican Super Cup: 2005
* CONCACAF Champions’ Cup: 2006
* InterLiga: 2008
International: First he participated with La Seleccion in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He debuted
with El Tri December 14, 2005 against Hungary. He was then named in
the squad as 3rd choice keeper for the WC 2006 in Germany.
Likes
*Going to the movies. He goes often.
*Japanese(sushi) and Italian food. He especially likes seafood.
*Watch American Football and Basketball.
*To read. He likes the secrecy theme.
*Cars, but he’s not obsessive over them.
*Mechanical rides like Six Flash.
*Other than futbol he likes to play tennis, american football, basketball, bowling, and beach volleyball.
*The color blue. This was the color of his school Colegio Santa Mónica de Guadalajara where he
first started playing futbol as a defender.
*Music. He likes to listen to pop, hip hop, banda, reggaeton, and techno. He especially likes Reik,
Sin Bandera, and RBD.
*Manchester United. Real Madrid. AC Milan. Inter Milan. These are the teams he’d like to be in.
*He was a fan of Atlas when he lived in Guadalajara as a young boy.
Other
*He’s not superstitious as many other goalkeepers are but likes to listen to music on the way to
games and before the team talk.
*Since the year 2005 he’s had a contract with sports clothing giant Adidas.
*He admires Edwin van der Sar, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon and Óscar Córdoba in addition to
fellow countrymen Oswaldo Sanchéz, Óscar Pérez, Jorge Campos and Adolfo Ríos.
*His family owns a tortilla making place.
*He has a sister Ana Laura who’s an up and coming tennis player.
*He’s appeared in several commercials for Danone, Adidas, Bimbo, Televisa, and Genoma Lab.
*When he was younger he was in an accident while playing in the parking lot of the building he
lived in. He went through a glass door and still has a scar on his face to remind him of that
day.
*During his first game for America’s school he played as a striker and scored a goal. An injury to
the goalkeeper put him in his current position.
*He finished la preparatoria which is equivalent to high school. He plans to take a break before
returning to his studies.

And his skills

Chucho’s Swan Song

Alan — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:25:02 +0000

Chucho’s last game as coach of el Tri was a beauty. Mexico beat Belize in their World Cup quialifying game 7-0 which put the aggregate at a resounding 9-0.

After a 2-0 win in the first game, Mexico finally played to expectation and managed to get 7 goals in while keeping a clean sheet across both games.

Scoring:
Jared Borgetti (2), Fernando Arce (2), Carlos Vela, Andres Guardado, Trevor Lennen (OG)

Mexico advances to the second round of qualifying as part of group 2 which is made up of: Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, and Canada.

The first game in the group stages will be against Honduras the 20th of August in the Estadio Azteca. I’m also looking forward to the rematch against Canada.

Now with Chucho’s last game in the books it’s time for coach Sven to take over el Tri. We’re all anxiously waiting his debut game and I hope we don’t have to wait until August to see it.

Highlights:

Road to the World Cup

Alan — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:30:01 +0000

The road to the 2010 World Cup started today for Mexico with their first qualifying game against Belize.

This games was also the last that Mexico will play under coach Jesús Ramirez, as Sven Eriksson will presumably take control of the helm for Mexico’s return game against Belize next week in Monterrey.

This game was expected to be a blowout by most, but at the end of the first half Mexico was tied with Belize at 0. This was pretty incredible considering the fact that most of the game was played on Belize’s half of the pitch. I missed the first 5 minutes and had to wait almost to the 40th minute to realize that Oswaldo Sanchez was the starting keeper for Mexico.

However, at the 66th minute Carlos Vela as able to kick in a ball of a rebounded shot that was partially blocked by keeper, Orio. Then in added time Mexico was awarded a penalty kick that was taken by Jared Borgetti.

Mexico won the game 2-0 but was a bit disappointing. Mexico moved the ball well but still lack players that are willing to take an outside shot or take on a defender.

However, it’s hard to make any lasting commentary on the way Mexico has been playing since they’ll have a new coach at the helm. I’m looking forward to coach Sven’s debut next week and to see what he changes. I think the fact that they’ll be playing Belize again will be a good way of contrasting Sven’s work to Chucho Ramirez.

Shootout in Chi Town

Alan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:35:47 +0000

Now that’s more like it, coach Sven was treated to a 4-0 win over Peru last night.

Mexico made a complete 360 for this game. Early on it looked like Peru would have the upper hand, they were controlling the midfield and Mexico didn’t seem to be able to make a pass to save their life.

But then…

Fernando Arce finished a lob into the area and Mexico’s luck seemed to change. But that was only the beginning, after the first goal Mexico seemed to gain confidence and Peru seemed to disappear from the field one by one.

Peru never seemed to have an answer for Guardado on the left wing. He had all the time in the world every time he received the ball. In the 8th minute allowing Guardado all this space came back to haunt Peru as Guardado cleaned up a loose ball to give Mexico a two goal lead.

Then Carlos Vela scored in the 20th and finally Arce scored once more in the 28th.

In the second half Peru stepped up the hitting, but not play. Mexico had other opportunities but the woodwork denied a couple of opportunities.

This was Mexico’s last game before World Cup qualifying and it was good to see the team show up. Chucho Ramirez will coach his last game when Mexico faces Belize.

Highlights:

SuperLiga 2008

Alan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:44:16 +0000

The groups have been defined for the SuperLiga 2008. The tournament will run from the 12th of July to the 5th of August.

Group A:
D.C. United, Houston Dynamo, Gudalajara, Atlante

Group B:
Chivas U.S.A., New England Revolution, Santos, Pachuca

Still Can’t Beat Argentina

Alan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:33:53 +0000

The drought, curse, frustration, etc. continues for Mexico against Argentina. I don’t know what it is about Argentina, Messi might be a possible explanation, but the troubles for Mexico seem to have stuck around since the last World Cup, that goal still gives me nightmares.

And last night was no different, but it was slightly more frustrating. Mexico seemed to have the early control, attacking more, having more possession, and clearly had a home crowd advantage. And then it all went downhill…

Mexico gave up a goal in the eleventh minute, it’s cool lucky bounce, we’re still in it. Then in the 17th minute came the next goal, ok Messi being himself can’t be mad at that we can get it back. Then in the 29th came the third, can I fast forward this on Tivo?

So what happened? Besides getting outplayed, the defense for Mexico was not there at all. Salcido seemed to make too many mistakes for a player worthy enough to play in Europe. Saint Oswaldo must have taken the sabbath early because he was not there at all. Borgetti, Mr. I-don’t-want-a-European-coach missed a header in front of the net, his bread and butter.

But there were some rays of hope. Guardado was magic out there, he was giving great passes, which were in turn thrown away by other players. Sinha was also great, and the author of the only Mexican goal.

Also coach Sven was there taking notes, lots and lots of notes. I wish I could have read what he wrote down. I imagine he doodled a lot, probably worked on his Spanish, maybe even started writing his memoir, oh and he probably but a next to all the names of the Mexican defenders.

I’m hoping a better outing against Peru, and also a LOT of changes in the lineup, possibly Ochoa starts as keeper.

Highlights:

Hej Sven

Alan — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:26:58 +0000

It’s official, Sven-Göran is the new coach of the Mexican national team. He signed a two-year 7.5 million dollar contract that will see him as a coach until the end of the 2010 World Cup, I’m guessing after the world cup it will be decided whether Mr. Eriksson will stay.

Erikson brought company, he’s bringing two other coaches with him: Tord (I wonder how this is pronounced) Grip and Hans Backe.

More than coaches, Eriksson is bringing news, and lots of it.

People are already lining up on either side of the coach. So to make it somewhat simpler, here is the full battle royal rumble lineup.

Pro: Pumas coach Ferreti, player Leandro Augusto.

Con: Everyone else. Seriously, Borgetti, Osorio, Naelson, Pineda, Johnny Magallón, and two guys who I overheard saying choice words about Sven over the paper.

So why all the hate? Some people say that the players don’t want an “outsider” perhaps after being spoiled with Hugo Sanchez, and all the losses. The FMF has already announced that besides Sven and his entourage, the rest of the coaching staff will be Mexican.

But it has to be more than that, perhaps the Mexican players were following Sven’s games with Man City. Whatever the case, the players are going to have to get used to Sven… or mutiny which would be really cool.

Sven will be relocated to Mexico City, but will first go back to Manchester to close up shop.

During Sven’s vacation, Chucho Ramirez will still hold the reigns of Mexico’s national team for the next three games.

Mexican Teams Playing in International Competitions

Alan — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:11:22 +0000

With the end of the Mexican domestic season, it is time to find out who’s playing in the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup and the CONMEBOL South American Cup.

Champion’s Cup:
Atlante, Santos, Pumas y Cruz Azul
These teams were the first and second place teams of the Clausura and Apertura tournaments.

South American Cup:
Guadalajara y San Luis
These teams were selected because they were the highest teams in the general table, after removing the teams already participating in the Champion’s Cup.

With America still in the Libertadores and teams like Santos and Chivas in the tournaments it looks like this could be a good year for Mexican football.

American Jay Silverstein Buys Himself a Mexican Team

Alan — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:40:04 +0000

That’s right, for the low low price of $8.5 million dollars you too can have your own Mexican football team. At least that’s what Jay Silverstein paid for Los Tiburones de Veracruz, which might now be called “The Veracruz Sharks”.

The deal breaks down as follows:

$3 million will go to the state of Veracruz in two $1.5 million payments.
$5.5 millon will be used for the external and internal renovation of the stadium, Luis “Pirata” Fuente.
Silverstein agrees not to move the team from Veracruz
Jay will get the team who was relegated last season to the Primera ‘A’, as well as the team in the second and third divisions, and their training camp.

For his part Jay Silverstein says it is his goal to return his team to the Primera Division in a year’s time, pretty ambitious.