Mexico must move past U.S. rivalry
With a talent level so high, Mexico must think about winning more than a rivalry
By Jorge Arangure Jr.
ESPN Insider
PHILADELPHIA -- During a rather unmemorable match against the United States on Wednesday, Mexico displayed a sense of complacency and a boredom that seemed to doom it in the final third of the game. Mexico's football at times on Wednesday was pleasurable to watch, but it certainly never was threatening to its opponent, and it never reached the now-anticipated exhilarating levels fans are accustomed to seeing from El Tri. Passes were completed, fans whistled, there was the occasional scrum, but the game was marked by a lack of passion from the visiting team.
The statistical service Opta Sports reported Mexican star Giovani Dos Santos completed just three passes in roughly 35 minutes of play in the second half and deemed his performance as "disinterested." This was certainly not the "tiki taka" constant passing attack he learned while spending time with Barcelona as a teen. With a possible move to Spanish side Sevilla this week, it's perhaps understandable that Dos Santos' thoughts were elsewhere.
But Tuesday's rather placid affair forced us to ask a larger question: Is it time for Mexico to start looking beyond its rival to the north and move onto to bigger tasks?
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That's not out of disrespect for the United States -- which in a football sense only marginally trails Mexico -- but because Mexico needs to begin focusing on challenging the world's best. Beating the United States should not be the ultimate goal, but instead should be a mere marker on the way to the finish line. You can be certain that Jurgen Klinsmann, full of vast ambitions and vigor, doesn't see the United States' legacy to simply be the top team in CONCACAF.
This has been a triumphant summer for Mexican soccer. The Under-17 World Cup team left as champions, and the U-20 World Cup team is currently in the quarterfinals. Both have reinforced Mexico's continued emphasis on development. Mexico's entertaining Gold Cup win caught the world's attention and has rightly heightened expectations. With an established successful youth system and an accomplished senior team, why can't Mexico compete at the highest levels? To be blunt, Mexico must begin to think big.
Mexico soccer has reached a critical point. Does it take the successes of the past few years and grow to become a force in international soccer, or does it continue to be obsessed with regional supremacy? Constantly measuring the team against the United States is good when the results are there, but it also feeds a sense of complacency.
This is a rivalry that may have even created some disinterest among fans, with the exception of a loud and boisterous few. A half-empty Lincoln Financial Field was certainly not what organizers expected for last night's match, but is perhaps a sign that the rivalry has hit a lull.
Playing the United States in meaningless but lucrative friendlies has often forced Mexico managers to play an established team to get a positive result when, in fact, these friendlies should be used to test the next generation of stars or, at the very least, to determine role-players for the current team. We saw a bit of that in the fleeting moments of Wednesday's match with the substitutions of Paul Aguilar and Omar Arellano, neither of whom had much of an opportunity to make an impact. Striker Oribe Peralta, not a regular with the first team, scored Mexico's lone goal, but even he doesn't figure into El Tri's long-range plans.
"We never get enough time to work with the players," Mexico manager Jose Manuel de la Torre said Tuesday. "You need to take advantage of these opponents in international friendlies."
It never made much sense for Mexico to have scheduled a game against the United States so quickly after the Gold Cup final, and the match lost much of its luster when star striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez was unavailable due to a concussion he suffered while training with Manchester United. Klinsmann's appointment as U.S. manager further emphasized the point that the home squad would have much more to play for than Mexico. All in all, very little was accomplished on Wednesday for Mexico. A reconstructed backup back line of Aguilar and Francisco Javier Rodriguez showed it needed more practice time together. Peralta's unexpected goal, after de la Torre had been questioned Tuesday as to why the player was even on the squad, was a sweet moment that has no lasting impact.
What will impact Mexico's team on the road to the 2014 World Cup will be individual performances in future friendlies and in club competition. And a critical point has not only come upon the national team, but also on several key players. It's time for players to be in or out of this grand project, to get serious about winning a World Cup or move aside to allow others to take their place. With so much young talent, Mexico can afford to be selective.
De la Torre and the Mexican Federation have rightly refused to lessen the six-month suspension of the talented eight players from the Copa America squad who were caught consorting with prostitutes. "They are punished," de la Torre said. "The suspension was given and it's final."
The suspension was a harsh, but rightful, lesson to all that no player, however talented, should be beyond reproach. Everyone on Mexico's squad needs to realize their spots are not guaranteed, a painful lesson former teen star Carlos Vela has learned.
Vela and Dos Santos were anointed as stars shortly after leading Mexico's U-17 team to a World Cup win in 2005. Since then, Dos Santos has struggled to find a club team for which he will find playing time, and Vela has struggled to find a place on Mexican team. Vela has become so buried on Mexico's depth chart that de la Torre did not even mention him at Tuesday's press conference when discussing his options at striker past Aldo de Nigris and Hernandez. Vela is reportedly close to joining Spanish side Real Sociedad, and perhaps that may reinvigorate a career that has stalled at Arsenal. It's clear Vela won't get playing time with the national team until he gets playing time at the club level, which is an uncertain proposition.
"We depend on clubs to help with our player's development," de la Torre said. "But we can't dictate to them what to do." There is value in retracing Hernandez's path and comparing it to that of Dos Santos and Vela.
Though he had the legacy (his father and grandfather were Mexican national team members who were on World Cup rosters), Hernandez has had to fight for everything he has accomplished. While Dos Santos and Vela celebrated the U-17 World Cup win in 2005, Hernandez cheered the team from the stands. Don't think for a moment he has forgotten what it felt to be left out of such a moment.
Since then, Chicharito has built his fame through success with Manchester United while playing against the top teams in the world. It's time Mexico's national team follows his lead and does the same.
With a talent level so high, Mexico must think about winning more than a rivalry
By Jorge Arangure Jr.
ESPN Insider
PHILADELPHIA -- During a rather unmemorable match against the United States on Wednesday, Mexico displayed a sense of complacency and a boredom that seemed to doom it in the final third of the game. Mexico's football at times on Wednesday was pleasurable to watch, but it certainly never was threatening to its opponent, and it never reached the now-anticipated exhilarating levels fans are accustomed to seeing from El Tri. Passes were completed, fans whistled, there was the occasional scrum, but the game was marked by a lack of passion from the visiting team.
The statistical service Opta Sports reported Mexican star Giovani Dos Santos completed just three passes in roughly 35 minutes of play in the second half and deemed his performance as "disinterested." This was certainly not the "tiki taka" constant passing attack he learned while spending time with Barcelona as a teen. With a possible move to Spanish side Sevilla this week, it's perhaps understandable that Dos Santos' thoughts were elsewhere.
But Tuesday's rather placid affair forced us to ask a larger question: Is it time for Mexico to start looking beyond its rival to the north and move onto to bigger tasks?
<OFFER>
That's not out of disrespect for the United States -- which in a football sense only marginally trails Mexico -- but because Mexico needs to begin focusing on challenging the world's best. Beating the United States should not be the ultimate goal, but instead should be a mere marker on the way to the finish line. You can be certain that Jurgen Klinsmann, full of vast ambitions and vigor, doesn't see the United States' legacy to simply be the top team in CONCACAF.
This has been a triumphant summer for Mexican soccer. The Under-17 World Cup team left as champions, and the U-20 World Cup team is currently in the quarterfinals. Both have reinforced Mexico's continued emphasis on development. Mexico's entertaining Gold Cup win caught the world's attention and has rightly heightened expectations. With an established successful youth system and an accomplished senior team, why can't Mexico compete at the highest levels? To be blunt, Mexico must begin to think big.
Mexico soccer has reached a critical point. Does it take the successes of the past few years and grow to become a force in international soccer, or does it continue to be obsessed with regional supremacy? Constantly measuring the team against the United States is good when the results are there, but it also feeds a sense of complacency.
This is a rivalry that may have even created some disinterest among fans, with the exception of a loud and boisterous few. A half-empty Lincoln Financial Field was certainly not what organizers expected for last night's match, but is perhaps a sign that the rivalry has hit a lull.
Playing the United States in meaningless but lucrative friendlies has often forced Mexico managers to play an established team to get a positive result when, in fact, these friendlies should be used to test the next generation of stars or, at the very least, to determine role-players for the current team. We saw a bit of that in the fleeting moments of Wednesday's match with the substitutions of Paul Aguilar and Omar Arellano, neither of whom had much of an opportunity to make an impact. Striker Oribe Peralta, not a regular with the first team, scored Mexico's lone goal, but even he doesn't figure into El Tri's long-range plans.
"We never get enough time to work with the players," Mexico manager Jose Manuel de la Torre said Tuesday. "You need to take advantage of these opponents in international friendlies."
It never made much sense for Mexico to have scheduled a game against the United States so quickly after the Gold Cup final, and the match lost much of its luster when star striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez was unavailable due to a concussion he suffered while training with Manchester United. Klinsmann's appointment as U.S. manager further emphasized the point that the home squad would have much more to play for than Mexico. All in all, very little was accomplished on Wednesday for Mexico. A reconstructed backup back line of Aguilar and Francisco Javier Rodriguez showed it needed more practice time together. Peralta's unexpected goal, after de la Torre had been questioned Tuesday as to why the player was even on the squad, was a sweet moment that has no lasting impact.
What will impact Mexico's team on the road to the 2014 World Cup will be individual performances in future friendlies and in club competition. And a critical point has not only come upon the national team, but also on several key players. It's time for players to be in or out of this grand project, to get serious about winning a World Cup or move aside to allow others to take their place. With so much young talent, Mexico can afford to be selective.
De la Torre and the Mexican Federation have rightly refused to lessen the six-month suspension of the talented eight players from the Copa America squad who were caught consorting with prostitutes. "They are punished," de la Torre said. "The suspension was given and it's final."
The suspension was a harsh, but rightful, lesson to all that no player, however talented, should be beyond reproach. Everyone on Mexico's squad needs to realize their spots are not guaranteed, a painful lesson former teen star Carlos Vela has learned.
Vela and Dos Santos were anointed as stars shortly after leading Mexico's U-17 team to a World Cup win in 2005. Since then, Dos Santos has struggled to find a club team for which he will find playing time, and Vela has struggled to find a place on Mexican team. Vela has become so buried on Mexico's depth chart that de la Torre did not even mention him at Tuesday's press conference when discussing his options at striker past Aldo de Nigris and Hernandez. Vela is reportedly close to joining Spanish side Real Sociedad, and perhaps that may reinvigorate a career that has stalled at Arsenal. It's clear Vela won't get playing time with the national team until he gets playing time at the club level, which is an uncertain proposition.
"We depend on clubs to help with our player's development," de la Torre said. "But we can't dictate to them what to do." There is value in retracing Hernandez's path and comparing it to that of Dos Santos and Vela.
Though he had the legacy (his father and grandfather were Mexican national team members who were on World Cup rosters), Hernandez has had to fight for everything he has accomplished. While Dos Santos and Vela celebrated the U-17 World Cup win in 2005, Hernandez cheered the team from the stands. Don't think for a moment he has forgotten what it felt to be left out of such a moment.
Since then, Chicharito has built his fame through success with Manchester United while playing against the top teams in the world. It's time Mexico's national team follows his lead and does the same.
