Mexico has high hopes for World Cup
The countdown to this summer’s World Cup ticked under 100 days Tuesday, a milestone marked in the host country, South Africa, with street dances and other public performances.
Half a world away, in a 10th-floor hotel room in Pasadena, Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre was also showing off some moves of his own, metaphorically dancing between the high hopes and the lowered expectations he has tried to simultaneously create for his team.
In Mexico this year’s national team, which plays New Zealand on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl, is being hailed as the country’s best ever — a christening that seems to take place in the run-up to every World Cup.
Only this time it may actually be true.
Eleven months after taking over for Sven-Goran Eriksson, Aguirre has transformed the Mexican squad from a sluggish underachiever that was in danger of failing to qualify for the World Cup into a team that could go deeper in the tournament than any in Mexican history.
“We’re going for it all. We have the capacity to beat any team we play,” two-time World Cup veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco said of El Tri, which has advanced as far as the tournament’s quarterfinals only twice, both times on Mexican soil.
“This is the moment to do something big, something historic,” added Rafael Marquez, the captain of Mexico’s last two World Cup teams.
And while Aguirre agrees, at the same time he begs for a little perspective as well.
“The Mexican team is very talented,” Aguirre, speaking in Spanish, said Tuesday as a chilly breeze blew through the open French doors of his corner suite. “It has all the ingredients. But it’s not going to be easy. We’re in a tough group. And there are six or seven rivals who also want to win the World Cup. Brazil, like always, Argentina, England, Spain, Germany, Italy.
“I just want people to see the reality and not be saying that we should be champion because we have the best team in the world. Yes, we have the best Mexican team ever. Yes, we’re prepared for this challenge. But it’s not easy.”
Given his late start with the national team – most coaching staffs have been preparing for South Africa since the last World Cup in 2006 – Aguirre isn’t close to choosing his 23-man roster yet. But he has a deep pool from which to choose.
On one end are seasoned but aging veterans such as Blanco, Marquez and Braulio Luna, who have combined to play in 210 international caps, including 22 World Cup matches. On the other are immensely talented but inexperienced youngsters such as Giovani Dos Santos, Hector Moreno, Efrain Juarez and Carlos Vela, who helped lead Mexico to a world junior championship as teenagers.
“We have a base of older players. And we have young players,” Aguirre said. “It’s a very strong mix. We just need some players in the middle to support that.”
He’ll get perhaps his best look at how that mix works against fellow World Cup qualifier New Zealand in a match that is expected to draw a near capacity crowd of more than 80,000 fans to the Rose Bowl. Wednesday is the last chance for Aguirre to recall players off their European club teams and play a game for Mexico before training camp begins in May and he has to pick his final Cup roster.
Nine of Mexico’s European-based players are in Pasadena, including Andres Guardado, Vela, Marquez, Dos Santos and his younger brother Jonathan.
“I’ve had to do everything at high speed,” Aguirre complained. “The ideal is to have four years of work…to make plans, to observe players. We started from zero. We had to start over with players, install our playing style.
“The preparation has been unique.”
But successful, which has created problems of its own, Aguirre conceded with a weary smile.
“The pressure is beginning to build. We’re running out of time,” he said. “The Mexican people are starting to go crazy over their national team.
“Our intention to have an historic World Cup. That’s the idea. Do something distinct.”
And if they do, there will be more dancing in the streets of South Africa this summer.
