Mexican team draws on foreign service
It’s difficult to determine exactly what Mexican soccer fans are more upset about these days.
On the one hand, they are bewailing the inclusion of foreign-born players in the Mexican national team, no matter whether those players would strengthen it.
On the other hand, they are seriously concerned about the dominance that the U.S. has exhibited over that same team for the last decade.
Mexico, which will use tonight’s friendly game against Sweden in Oakland as a tune-up for its far more important World Cup qualifier against the U.S. on Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, has not defeated the Americans on U.S. soil in more than a decade.
That sad fact -- from the Mexican viewpoint -- prompted one sports daily, the Record, to come up with an unusual gimmick. It told its readers to cut out a particular page from Tuesday’s edition and take it to an electronics store where it could be exchanged for a U.S. voodoo doll.
Sticking pins in dolls is not what Mexico Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson considers a sound tactic. The Swede’s preference has been to select a strong team for tonight’s game (7:30, Telemundo), hoping it will provide a platform for a good showing in Ohio.
“There will be a lot of players playing against Sweden who will later play against the U.S.,” Eriksson said. “It’s an important game for us.”
Included in the Mexican squad are Brazilian-born Antonio “Zinha” Naelson and Leandro Augusto and Argentine-born Matias Vuoso and Lucas Ayala, and U.S.-born Edgar Castillo.
“I think if they have quality and a Mexican passport, they have to be in the Mexican national team,” Eriksson said last week while responding to media and fan criticism over the use of naturalized citizens.
Eriksson is not the first coach to do so. Predecessors Hugo Sanchez, Ricardo Lavolpe and Javier Aguirre all selected foreign-born players, and Naelson played for Mexico at the 2006 World Cup, just as Argentine-born Gabriel Caballero had done for Mexico at the 2002 World Cup.
Eriksson is simply following the pattern.
“Nobody told me this was prohibited,” he said.
The hands of England’s former coach are also tied, in a way, because of the loss of several key players to injury or suspension. Lively and influential winger Andres Guardado has been sidelined for six weeks because of a ruptured tendon suffered while playing for Deportivo la Coruna in Spain.
Similarly, experienced defender Rafael Marquez of Barcelona is recovering from a muscle strain and remains questionable for the game against the U.S. In addition, midfielders Gerardo Torrado and Fernando Arce and forward Carlos Vela are suspended from that game.
It all adds up to potential trouble for Eriksson and good news for U.S. Coach Bob Bradley, but he was not buying into the idea that Mexico will field a weakened team.
“I certainly know from my time at Chivas USA the type of pride that Mexicans have in their teams, the clubs and certainly the national team. There is strong passion and feeling for their team and that’s what brings out those kinds of discussions” about using naturalized players.
“They certainly have a deep pool of talent and [Guardado and Marquez] are good players. Nonetheless, we expect they will come in organized, and ready to give everything they have to make it a hard game. The respect we have for them is always going to be the starting point when we prepare to play Mexico.”
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