Projecting El Tri's 2014 World Cup roster
By Jorge Arangure Jr.
ESPN INSIDER
The success of Mexican national teams at all age levels has many dreaming of a deep run at the 2014 World Cup, and a look at the possible roster does nothing to downplay those thoughts.
While El Tri has yet to produce that one transcendent player in this crop of talent (someone like Hugo Sanchez), they are loaded with quality depth at almost every position. There is hardly a huge drop-off at any position should the eventual starter get injured.
In many ways, Mexico's possible 2014 World Cup squad is fairly predictable. Mexican teams of all age levels have been playing the standard 4-2-3-1 formation of the senior team, and that ensures stability heading into Brazil -- should Mexico qualify, of course.
While losing likely starting center back Hector Moreno would be a terrible blow to the team, it's quite possible Hugo Ayala or the much heralded youngster Diego Reyes (likely European-bound within the next couple of years) would be more than capable of stepping in and performing at a high level. The competition for a spot on defense is so fierce that we don't even predict 2010 World Cup starter Efrain Juarez will start in Brazil.
El Tri's defensive midfield is extremely crowded. There are so many possible combinations of players that it seems almost impossible to predict two starters, but we'll give it a shot. Naturally, Barcelona's Jonathan Dos Santos will be in the mix, although he didn't earn himself much favor with the federation by turning down an opportunity to play in the Olympics.
In the end, it might be dos Santos who suffers most from his Olympic snub, because there is plenty of talent at his position. A fancy Barcelona pedigree will not be enough to get him an automatic eventual starting spot.
Even Hector Herrera, who has emerged as a star prospect in the past eight months, doesn't crack our starting lineup despite increasingly becoming a target for several European teams. <offer>
The weakest spot on the roster appears to be at striker, although Mexico does have quality there beyond Javier Hernandez. The emergence of several youngsters in the Olympic campaign (Alan Pulido, Raul Jimenez) gives Mexico manager Jose Manuel de la Torre some options. Perhaps in two years, other players such as Marco Antonio Bueno, Edson Rivera and Carlos Fierro will emerge to compete for a roster spot, as well.
The squad might not need a deadly striker anyway, since it has so many offensive options at the attacking midfielder positions. It will be quite compelling to see how De la Torre finds playing time for Giovani Dos Santos, Andres Guardado, Marco Fabian, Javier Aquino, Ulises Davila, Miguel Angel Ponce, Pablo Barrera, Javier Cortes, Carlos Vela and Candido Ramirez, among others. To say Mexico has options would be quite the understatement.
It's because of this incredible depth that predicting the 2014 starting lineup might not be so easy after all. It's possible some players in our starting lineup might be overtaken by one of the backups. Success at the youth levels also means it's possible that a star player might emerge two years from now whom nobody would have predicted.
Mexico's many attacking options means El Tri might experiment tactically. Could we see a 4-3-3 formation? Would Mexico play with only one defensive midfielder and crowd the attacking zone with forwards? Would El Tri dare play with just three defenders and stack the midfield and offense half? All these options will be available to De la Torre.
Although we are still two years away from the World Cup, it's becoming quite clear that Mexico will be a formidable foe.
</offer>
By Jorge Arangure Jr.
ESPN INSIDER
The success of Mexican national teams at all age levels has many dreaming of a deep run at the 2014 World Cup, and a look at the possible roster does nothing to downplay those thoughts.
While El Tri has yet to produce that one transcendent player in this crop of talent (someone like Hugo Sanchez), they are loaded with quality depth at almost every position. There is hardly a huge drop-off at any position should the eventual starter get injured.
In many ways, Mexico's possible 2014 World Cup squad is fairly predictable. Mexican teams of all age levels have been playing the standard 4-2-3-1 formation of the senior team, and that ensures stability heading into Brazil -- should Mexico qualify, of course.
While losing likely starting center back Hector Moreno would be a terrible blow to the team, it's quite possible Hugo Ayala or the much heralded youngster Diego Reyes (likely European-bound within the next couple of years) would be more than capable of stepping in and performing at a high level. The competition for a spot on defense is so fierce that we don't even predict 2010 World Cup starter Efrain Juarez will start in Brazil.
El Tri's defensive midfield is extremely crowded. There are so many possible combinations of players that it seems almost impossible to predict two starters, but we'll give it a shot. Naturally, Barcelona's Jonathan Dos Santos will be in the mix, although he didn't earn himself much favor with the federation by turning down an opportunity to play in the Olympics.
In the end, it might be dos Santos who suffers most from his Olympic snub, because there is plenty of talent at his position. A fancy Barcelona pedigree will not be enough to get him an automatic eventual starting spot.
Even Hector Herrera, who has emerged as a star prospect in the past eight months, doesn't crack our starting lineup despite increasingly becoming a target for several European teams. <offer>
The weakest spot on the roster appears to be at striker, although Mexico does have quality there beyond Javier Hernandez. The emergence of several youngsters in the Olympic campaign (Alan Pulido, Raul Jimenez) gives Mexico manager Jose Manuel de la Torre some options. Perhaps in two years, other players such as Marco Antonio Bueno, Edson Rivera and Carlos Fierro will emerge to compete for a roster spot, as well.
The squad might not need a deadly striker anyway, since it has so many offensive options at the attacking midfielder positions. It will be quite compelling to see how De la Torre finds playing time for Giovani Dos Santos, Andres Guardado, Marco Fabian, Javier Aquino, Ulises Davila, Miguel Angel Ponce, Pablo Barrera, Javier Cortes, Carlos Vela and Candido Ramirez, among others. To say Mexico has options would be quite the understatement.
It's because of this incredible depth that predicting the 2014 starting lineup might not be so easy after all. It's possible some players in our starting lineup might be overtaken by one of the backups. Success at the youth levels also means it's possible that a star player might emerge two years from now whom nobody would have predicted.
Mexico's many attacking options means El Tri might experiment tactically. Could we see a 4-3-3 formation? Would Mexico play with only one defensive midfielder and crowd the attacking zone with forwards? Would El Tri dare play with just three defenders and stack the midfield and offense half? All these options will be available to De la Torre.
Although we are still two years away from the World Cup, it's becoming quite clear that Mexico will be a formidable foe.
</offer>
