32 For 2010: Mexico

For a country so obsessed with football and having played it so long, it’s a mystery that Mexico is yet to make a bigger impact on the World Cup. The current team boast many a technically gifted player and are led by a much respected coach, but expectations thus far have been no higher than for previous campaigns.

Quarter-finalists in 1970 and 1986 (both times on home soil), Mexico really ought to have done better by now. The fact that they have the chance to do so in 2010 is not only a boon but also rather miraculous.

Rewind a year or more and you’ll have found El Tri floundering in fifth place in the ‘hexagonal’ final round of CONCACAF’s qualifying competition. Sven Goran Eriksson had been drafted in as a coach with much international experience, but his lack of appreciation for the Mexican footballing way quickly showed its limitations.

Eriksson made way for former player Javier Aguirre and with the clock ticking, he turned the fortunes of his charges around to the point where they finished second in the six-team group. Mexico had booked their ticket for South Africa, but only just.

And at time of publication, they’ve managed to replicate their old trick of reaching the first knockout round too. They’ve got this far at the last four World Cups, but sadly no further. This, for the Mexicans, is the first priority, but in this World Cup the prospects are stacked considerably in their favour. If they’re to reach the quarter finals in 2010, they’ll have to beat Argentina in Round 2. It’s possible Javier Aguirre’s men could produce an upset (and heaven knows we’ve already had a few of those), but few would actually bet on such an outcome.

The reason an upset can’t be completely written off is largely down to their appealing brand of possession football. The players are obviously very comfortable on the ball and are patient in piecing together each attack, yet they can work the flanks with speed and have a defence that’s difficult to breach too.

Many of the principles adopted by the current team have been brought through from the Mexican side that won the World Under-17 World Cup in 2005. Among that squad were some of the players – familiar names now – that make up Aguirre’s 23 in South Africa, including Efrain Juarez, Hector Moreno (of Dutch side AZ) and Arsenal’s Carlos Vela.

But there’s more quality at hand than that. Manchester United’s new signing from Guadalajara, Javier Hernandez, has already shown the sort of form that could make him a fan’s favourite. His goal was the first of two for Mexico in their group game against France and it may not be his last in this contest.

Elsewhere, Gerardo Torrado provides reliability in midfield, captain Rafael Marquez marshals the defence – a quality that’s made him a regular for Barcelona – and as any Tottenham fan will tell you, Giovani Dos Santos is a nippy winger who, can prize opening the opposition on the break.

Javier Aguirre is more than well aware that his squad is largely polarised between the two age extremes and if anything the Mexicans could do with some decent players that fall somewhere between the two. That, coupled with the fact that Mexico don’t get the chance to test themselves often enough against top opposition, could be a sign of weakness, but the spirit is strong and the support will be even stronger.

Mexico will be tested to the very limit if they’re to do well in South Africa, but they’ve already beaten France, so why not Argentina? This Sunday’s second round tie will tell us if it’s really possible.

League Spotlight: Mexico / Primera Division

And so we head to the far-off sultry climes of Mexico for our latest League Spotlight. We're sure for many of you the mere mention of the word 'Mexico' will conjure up numerous Technicolor-rich images of Pele and Jairzinho scoring for Brazil in 1970 (or, if you're Scottish, the image of Gerd Muller hooking the ball over Peter Bonetti's head), and so for that reason alone it's right to be focusing on this fabulous football-mad nation.

'Mad' is actually not far short of the way football is run in Mexico, as indeed can be said of many Latin American countries. For a start, each season of their top-flight league, the Primera Division, is split into two parts - the 'Apertura' ('opening') from August to December and the 'Clausura' ('closing') from January to May. We saw evidence of this system in our Uruguayan League Spotlight and of course to us Europeans it seems unnecessarily complicated, but there we are.

To add another interesting twist, the eighteen competing teams don't play in one league but are instead split into three groups of six. The best eight at the end of the Apertura or Clausura then play off in the Liguilla - effectively a series of knockout rounds to determine who wins outright.

When it comes to relegation from the Primera Division, things get really quirky. At the end of the Clausura, the team with the lowest points-per-game average from the previous three seasons gets the boot, replaced by the best team overall from the Primera Division 'A'. Sheesh, even the names of the divisions are confusing…

No matter. The 2008 Apertura recently came to an end with Toluca being crowned champions for the first time in three years. They overcame Cruz Azul 7-6 on penalties in the Liguilla Final following a 2-2 draw after extra time. It was a remarkable turnaround of fortunes for the side located to the west of Mexico City as the start of their campaign was anything but successful.

New coach Jose Manuel De La Torre struggled to get Toluca playing consistently well at first and it was only a run of five wins at the end of the campaign that saw them surge into a play-off place. Having done so, they prospered from a relatively easy quarter-final draw against UAG before battling out a tough semi-final victory over 2008 Clausura champions Santos Laguna.

Toluca could easily credit their Apertura win to two players in particular - Hector Mancilla, their Chilean striker and top scorer in the campaign with eleven goals, and goalkeeper Hernan Cristante who set a new record by keeping a clean sheet for 762 consecutive minutes. Quite an achievement for the man wearing the 125 shirt.

With the 2009 Clausura now underway, many are waiting to see if it'll be 'third time lucky' for Cruz Azul after finishing as runners-up in the last two competitions. Though historically they're one of the most successful Mexican clubs ever, they haven't won a league title since 1997 so success is considered somewhat overdue for this team from the southwest of the capital.

Mexico City is where you'll find three of the eighteen current top flight clubs, América and Pumas de la UNAM being the other two we're yet to mention. América won the Clausura in 2005 and is the richest club in the country on account of its owner having the biggest Spanish-speaking telecommunications company Televisa listed in his business portfolio.

Currently coached by former Argentine striker and Oxford United manager Ramon Diaz (we're not making this up, you know), América's most recent brush with glory came in the Final of the 2007 Clausura where they lost out to Pachuca in the Final.

UNAM, ironically, finished runners-up in the 2007 Apertura but the peak of their recent achievements was undoubtedly in 2004 when they won both league tournaments and numerous other competitions to boot. Their manager then was the star of the 1986 World Cup, Hugo Sanchez, who proved so successful that he went on to manage the national team just prior to Sven Goran Eriksson's arrival.

It's been five years since that last league win for UNAM, but that's untypical for Mexico's Primera Division. These days it's rare for any team to maintain a stranglehold over the competition as the league title changes hands time and time again.

Winning the Clausura in 2006 and 2007 was therefore something that Pachuca fans would have delighted in and it provided the basis for further success in the CONCACAF Champions League which they won in 2007 and 2008. Add to that a win in the inaugural SuperLiga in 2007 and you have a team that's as worthy of a top billing in Mexico as any other.

Pachuca currently have the best record in the 2009 Clausura after three games, and you wouldn't bet against them picking up another title when the current season ends in the summer. Just behind them in the overall rankings at the moment and looking for a return to better times is Guadalajara. Winners of a record eleven championships, the club from the north-west of Mexico that consists only of Mexican-born players have found success hard to come by recently, save for an Apertura title in 2006.

Their difficulty over the last few seasons has been to reach the Liguilla Final and have come unstuck regularly in the play-offs leading up to it. In the 2008 Apertura, they didn't even make the play-offs, but this may well turn out to be a blip as their current form suggests another title challenge could be on the cards.

Elsewhere in Mexico you'll find various other clubs who rise and fall on the tide of success. Monterrey, once managed by Daniel Passarella, are arguably at the top of that list. Their last piece of silverware came from a Clausura win in 2003 but in the last few competitions they've been among the lower placed teams and run the risk of incurring a possible drop into Primera 'A' at some point soon.

Atlante, on the other hand, were a team struggling to even get into the Primera Division a decade ago, but a series of behind the scenes changes led the club back to the big time culminating in a 2007 Apertura win. Their immediate future looks assured as a team challenging for trophies and it's this ability to survive, adapt and ultimately succeed that so many clubs in Mexico are capable of.

Ironically the national team must also now do the same. Under Sven Goran Eriksson's tutelage, Mexico have won just four games out of nine and only just scraped through into the final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup. Whether Mexico can make it to South Africa remains to be seen, but the exciting and varied club football that goes on week in, week out will never be in doubt. The Primera Division in the land of the Aztecs is a fascinating one to behold and if there was any justice in the world would have a much higher profile here in Europe than it's had up until now.

SuperLiga: The story so far...

Guest writer Chris (B Squad) introduces a new competition kicking-off Stateside...

The inaugural SuperLiga will see four Mexican sides face off against four MLS sides. There is pot of a million or so for the winner. This, along with television rights, has been enough to persuade some of the top Mexican sides to participate.

All matches will be played in the US, but in the south where crowds are typically pro-Mexico. The top two teams from each group will meet in a knockout phase. Hopefully in the coming years, we will see matches played in Mexico. I'm anxious to see how quickly an MLS side wilts in front of 100,000+ in the Azteca. I have a feeling some details will be tweaked in the future, such as adding more CONCACAF teams, moving the dates back during Mexico's season, and playing matches abroad. Until then, we have these eight teams in what looks to be a very exciting North American Champions League.

Dallas 1-1 Chivas (Gaudelajara)
This match was an excellent way to cut the ribbon on this tournament. After a very tense first half, Dallas struck first on well orchestrated goal. Juan Toja cut through Chivas' midfield and found Carlos Ruiz in space, who ,in turn, played an incredible through ball to Arturo Alvarez. Alvarez then struck a stunning ball that managed to be inches above the keeper's fingers and inches below the crossbar. Minutes later, Chivas would capitalized on Dallas' inability to clear the ball. Jose Olvera smashed home the equalizer from 25 yards, as the Dallas defenders petitioned for a hand ball. And what is sure become a running theme in this tournament, Drew Moor was sent off for pushing Hector Reynoso, who had elbowed Moor in the face.

The goals from FC Dallas v Chivas, courtesy of those withdrawn people at Telemundo...


LA Galaxy 2-1 Pachuca
In what I would consider the most surprising scoreline of the match day, LA defeated defending Mexican and CONCACAF champions Pachuca. Pachuca were by far the stronger side in this match, and thoroughly dominated the first half, but came away empty.

LA managed to weather the onslaught and in opening minutes of the second half, they took full advantage of their first real opportunity. An excellent cross from Landon Donovan found Alan Gordon on the far side. Gordon calmly slid the ball past the keeper to the far post.

Pachuca struck back with very nice play from Damian Alvarez, as he squared the ball to Rafael Marquez-Lugo who tapped in from three yards out. LA would score a late winner as Cobi Jones shot was deflected past the keeper by Donovan's right boot.

DC United 1-1 Morelia
The district opened the scoring early with a well taken goal by Christian Gomez. They spent the balance of the game trying desperately to hold onto that one goal lead. In the spirit of retaliation red cards, Luis Angel Landin was sent off after taking a vicious kick to the thigh and then pushing Bobby Boswell. Despite playing with 10, Morelia managed an equalizer in the form of a Diego Martinez goal from the edge of the box.

Houston 1-0 Club America
On paper, this looked to be the best of the opening games. On the pitch, however, it was possibly the most boring. Nate Jaqua scored a fine goal from close range. That about summed up the majority of action. I honestly expected more from America.

Saturday 27 July

Dallas v Pachuca
Dallas, behind Juan Toja (quickly becoming my favorite MLS player) and Carlos Ruiz, looked to be the class of the first match day. Taking points from this game will be a big step toward qualifying for the semifinals. After a disappointing loss to LA, Pachuca will be desperate for any points as they hope to move on.

LA v Chivas (Guadelajara)
LA put themselves in a very good position securing three points. A point from this match will almost certainly see them through to the semi-finals. The same can be said for Chivas, as they will be looking to take all three points.

Sunday 29 July

DC United v Club America
Both DC and America, each disappointing in their first match, will need to take the full three points in order to bolster their hopes.

Houston v Morelia
Houston can wrap up this group with a win. Morelia will need the three points if they hope to keep pace.

Copa America 2007: Semi Final Review

Written by Chris (B Squad)

As a prelude to the upcoming Copa America final, I thought I would recap the semi finals. Both matches were incredibly entertaining and well worth the price of admission. It is a bit disappointing to have a Brazil/Argentina final, only in the sense that it seemed predestined. The final is sure to be class in every way. It is just unfortunate that industry has lost out to imagination.

Brazil 2-2 Uruguay (Brazil win 5-4 on penalties)
This match was fabulous. Uruguay worked so hard, but you got the feeling it would never be enough to get over the hump. Brazil, in this game as in all the others of this competition, played lackadaisical with the occasional sprinkle of magic. Each time Brazil scored it seemed to be the end for Uruguay, but to their credit they never gave in.

Forlan was at the top of his game. The first goal was very well taken and the flick on to Abreu for the second was genius. I've never particularly liked Uruguay, but when the ball tumbled over the keeper, I jumped from my couch. It may have been a little schadenfreude, but it was mostly just the culmination of a truly exciting match. And I know Brazil should have had a few penalties calls and should never have been in the position to go to penalties. They may have had some good karma on their side because of it.

As for the shootout, Uruguay had every chance to send Brazil home and failed. Forlan delivered what could be one the worst spot kicks I have ever seen. From hero to goat seems to be his lot in life. And after so many shots off the post, Uruguay stood with one kick for victory, and it hit the post.

Now I don't agree with the way Brazil won, and I wish FIFA would address this (and I'm a Liverpool fan), but as I said, Brazil had some karma in the bank. Maybe the blackout in the middle of the match was foreshadowing for Uruguay. I do have to say that Uruguay have been incredibly poor sports about losing. Both in this competition and in the U-20 World Cup, Uruguay start fights after the final whistle. Overall, though, a very respectable tournament for them. And there is yet another final for the Brazilians.

Argentina 3-0 Mexico
This scoreline is deceiving. The match was much closer than 3-0 and Mexico was unlucky to fall in the way that they did. But football is all about finishing, and that's what separated these two sides. Mexico would have been up 2-0 in the first half but for a few inches and some white posts.

Riquelme was transcendent, despite being hacked down constantly. The free kick that resulted in the opening goal was nothing short of incredible, good finish from Heinze as well. Again in the second half, Mexico had opportunities and went begging.

Then their was the Messi wondergoal, which, for me, was the goal of the cup. He will soon be pressing to be the best player on the planet, if he isn't already. Riquelme put the icing on the cake with a very Zidanesque penalty on a soft foul call at the edge of the box. Nonetheless, considering how he has played, you'd have to say he deserved it.



(Side note: While writing this, I'm watching the '93 Copa Final, which Argentina won over Mexico thanks to a Batistuta brace. It's funny how you remember these players as great, but it's not until you see the replays years later that you appreciate how truly skilled they were.)

So on to the Final, which is destined to be filled with skill, trickery, and bit of histrionics. Brazil has the class to win, but you would have to favor Argentina. Riquelme, Tevez, Messi, and the high-scoring Mascherano (who knew), will just be too much for the Brazilians to contain.