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Once upon a time in Mexico

April 12th, 2006 | By: Luis Paulo | 35 Comments »

It’s their 13th appearance in a World Cup but still they’ve never passed through a quarter-final. They have surely improved their football lately but they shocked the World when FIFA announced they were heading a World Cup group. It’s time to take a closer look at Mexico.

If I have to choose Mexico’s strength I would choose its preparation. They are gathering today, almost 2 months before the World Cup to start the training. And they are going to need it. If the preparation is their strength, the lack of team’s definition is their weakness. Less the 60 days before the World Cup and Lavope doesn’t have his 11 starters. He is still trying some players out and has a lot of doubts.

I see Mexico as a good team but not a great one. They don’t have too many flaws but not a great strength also. They found a balance between every part of the team and that make them very hard to be defeated but they lack of outstanding players to push them into further phases at this World Cup.

Goalkeeper

Oswaldo Sanchez is a great goalie. He is Mexico’s # 1 for over 6 years and all the Mexicans trust him. He is also very important on the field due to his leadership. Mexico has no problem with its goalkeeper.

Defense

The Mexican defense plays very well as a unit. Here you find one of its best players, the Barcelona defensive midfielder Rafa Marquez, who played as a defender in his national team. He will probably be joined by Salcido, Osório and Rodriguez or Castro. Their defense is very strong and is a key piece for the team’s success. It provides the team the security to counter attack very quickly. But the Mexican defense has a weakness. Their low stature leaves themselves vulnerable on the aerial game.

Midfield

Mexico’s midfield is fast and can either defend or create plays with great efficiency. Gerardo Torrado keeps the defense safe and is improving his pass. Pardo reminds me of the Brazilian midfielder Dunga. He is a leader on the field and helps the midfield everywhere. Ramón Morales is experienced and can be dangerous if he stays out of injuries. The same can be said about the Brazilian naturalized Mexican Sinha. He is a great playmaker and he speeds up the game. You may also find Monterrey’s midfielder Luiz “Lucho” Perez here. I look forward to seeing with which players Lavope is going to start at the World Cup but whoever he chooses you can expect a fine midfield.

Offence

Mexico game style wouldn’t work out if they didn’t have a powerful attack. I am a big fan of Jared Borgetti, who showed us that even at the age of 33, he can still be very dangerous. But he doesn’t have a guaranteed spot on the team. Kikin Fonseca and Guillermo Franco are also trying to get a chance to start. You can even see the Chiva’s striker Omar Bravo on the field due his latest appearances with his club.

As you can notice, Mexico is not a team built by individual talents and yet they made a great team. They know they don’t have the greatest players in the World so their preparation could be decisive to their success in Germany this year. With 60 days of training and a lot of friendly matches they won’t loose easily this year. However, the team needs more consistency. In a World Cup you need to show your best game in many matches in a roll. Last year, in the Confederation Cup, Mexico defeated Brazil and gave Argentina a hard time (after a 2-2 they lost on the penalty kicks). And then, only a few months later they lost for both USA and Trinidad & Tobago at the Qualifies.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Mexico matching their best result in a World Cup. They are very tough to be defeated. Their strong defense, combined with an agile midfield and a deadly attack make them a very dangerous team. However, I don’t see them getting much further than a quarter-final. To succeed at a World Cup you need more than a good team. You need players you can rely on when you are not in you best day. Mexico doesn’t have those players and they surely have some bad days.

You can also take a closer look at Angola and Iran

Tags: Mexico, Portugal, World Cup Preparation

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 35 comments.

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By Massimo | April 12th, 2006 at 1:12 pm

South Korea is also another of those great teams capable of beating Italy. And Portugal, and Spain. Portugal doesn’t count cause they seriously suck donkey balls. Mexico is better than Portugal because they are heading the group.
Yeah Asian soccer is better than Italian soccer.

Posted from United States

By Ceasar Lourenco | April 12th, 2006 at 1:15 pm

What Mexico’s world ranking is or whether they should be heading a WC Group is really irrelevant at this point. What is relevant, is that they are a good team. Historically they have always played well, even though they haven’t won it all. But only a handful of teams have..
I seem to recall at WC02, where a team called Brasil struggled to get past a minnow called Turkey? USA getting robbed by a horrible call against Germany, not to mention the same USA beating our very own PT. WC history is full of ‘big’ teams not taking so called ‘weaker’ teams seriuosly. Remember NK agains’t PT in WC66 and if my memory serves me corectly they also beat a team from Italy that year….:-)
Never ever underestimate your aponent… Man that was deep.;-)

Posted from Canada

By Massimo | April 12th, 2006 at 1:20 pm

True that, Mexico is gonna win the world cup.
Also I donno why people complain about the last world cup. It is the only world cup that no one suffered from bad calls. There were no horrible calls. South Korea is the 4th best team in the world. Watch out Brazil, lucky you got Turkey instead of Korea.

Posted from United States

By Pedro P | April 12th, 2006 at 1:21 pm

Minimo… GoodBye…

Posted from Netherlands

By soze | April 12th, 2006 at 1:22 pm

I think Massimo’s on Crack.

By Pedro P | April 12th, 2006 at 1:24 pm

He still needs those digestive pills… Never went back to the same after 2002… Poor thing…

Posted from Netherlands

By Massimo | April 12th, 2006 at 1:27 pm

I love this blog.
Go Mexico.

Posted from United States

By Ceasar Lourenco | April 12th, 2006 at 1:31 pm

Bye Mimo..

Posted from Canada

By eltomas | April 12th, 2006 at 10:55 pm

Some of you guys REALLY need to stop paying attention to that bogus FIFA ranking system. I’m sorry but right now Italy is in better shape than mexico, USA, turkey, nigeria and netherlands; all of these teams are above Italy in the rankings. It’s easy for the USA and Mexico to be up there when you play at the CONCACAF Vs teams like canada and el salvador. Mexico and the USA are good and tough teams to beat BUT not because they are 5th and 7th ont the rankings. Sorry for being off-topic.

Posted from United States

By Nelson | April 13th, 2006 at 9:47 am

Thank you Luis Paulo

Do you think the team will be weaker with Tiago or Petit playing than with Costinha ?

Is Petit a good player for such an important competition as the world cup ? What are his caracteristics ?

Posted from Brazil

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 10:06 am

Nelson, Petit is a very experienced midfielder. He is probably as good as Costinha. He is better at passing and long shots/free-kicks. Petit played many games during Euro04 and the WC Qualifies so it won’t be a problem if Portugal need him.

Tiago however don’t have the same caracteristics. He is not a typical defensive midfielder although he does help the defense. Comparing with Brazil, start with Tiago and Maniche instead os Costinha and Maniche would be like Juninho and Zé Roberto instead of Emerson and Zé Roberto. To you get what i’m saying?

By Luis Carlos | April 13th, 2006 at 12:28 pm

Mexico is a good team. I am sure we have the ability to defeat any team any time, it’s just a matter of confidence and to be mentaly prepared to do so.

You probably think we don’t have good players, because they don’t play in Europe, but the reason they stay in Mexico,is because they get paid a lot. Mexican league pays better than Portugal, France, Germany, Belgium, and almost any leagu except the 3 big leagues (Spain, England & Italy).

The other reason, kind of selfish, is that the guys that invest and own the league want to make it more competitive by not letting players go and trying to keep them in Mexico.

Mexico’s goal today is to make it to the Quarter Finals round in a WC held in Europe, if we do that we would be happy.

I think that our goal as a nation is to proove we are what FIFA thinks we are a top 8 team. We have to prove we can win any Nation in any given day.

Well that’s that, can’t wait to see the PORTUGAL – MEXICO match.

C’ ya

Posted from Mexico

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 1:12 pm

Luis Carlos, I live in Brazil and I watch the mexican teams at the Copa Libertadores da América. I saw Chivas defeat São Paulo last week. I watched Tigres agains Corinthians and Pumas against Internacional. Your league is not stronger than Brazilian league which is not consider that strong because the best Brazilian players are in Europe. Mexico does have good players but not as good as Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaká, Schevchenko, Henry, Lampard, Ballack and others but yet they can defeat any team.

By Nelson | April 13th, 2006 at 2:47 pm

Luis Paulo,

Thank you for your excellent comments. Could you please tell me what would be for you at the moment the best 23 players for the WC ?

Nelson

Posted from Brazil

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 2:59 pm

You mean the 23 portuguese? Well, wait a little bit and I’ll post it here

By John | April 13th, 2006 at 3:05 pm

Mexico may or may not have deserved to get a seed in this world cup. Truth be told, it probably should have gone to the dutch. FIFA looks at many aspects when it comes to seeding, and one that cannot be overlooked are sets of eyes watching the telly.
Mexico is the 2nd largest TV market in the Americas for the world cup, and it suits FIFA to have them around as long as possible. It certainly didn’t hurt that Mexico performed well at the last confed cup as well as their group performances in their last 3 world cups. Was it merited, probably not. Can it be justified, you betcha.

Posted from United States

By Nelson | April 13th, 2006 at 3:06 pm

Luis Paulo,

We wrote a lot about the defense of the team. What about the organisation of the offensive part ?
I mean : do you think Felipão will select Simão Sabrosa (I hope not), do you think he select Quaresma ? etc… I would like to have your comments about the offensive aspects of the team. Thank you.

Nelson

Posted from Brazil

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 3:21 pm

Nelson, is this some kind of interview. You can give me your e-mail just by writing it on the e-mail box on your next comment and we can discuss in portuguese there since we’re both brazilian.

About the offense. I don’t think Simão will have a chance with Felipão. Has last game for the NT was against Letonia. He will probably just call Postiga, Pauleta and Nuno Gomes for the attack. Quaresma in the other hand might get a chance. He was not called for the u-21 team which will be playing the European Cup at the same time as the WC so that could indicate he has a chance.

Portugal is a very offensive time although its miss an outstanding striker. Therefore Scolari will play with only Pauleta. Cristiano Ronaldo will play as a winger. Figo, C. Ronaldo and Deco made one of the best offensive midfield in the World but they lack replacements. Quaresma, Moutinho or even Tiago can’t do the same job as well as them.

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 3:29 pm

Nelson, I also believe that Simão is not in a as good moment as Luis Boa Morte or even João Moutinho. But that’s only me.

By Ceasar Lourenco | April 13th, 2006 at 3:37 pm

I’m with you Luis, Simao isn’t as good as Boa Morte (who’s in fine form right now) and Moutinho. Even though I am a fan of Simao.
Answer me this guys..
Is Pauleta’s lack of scoring in the really big games because of:

A) Not getting the right service from the midfield.
B) He’s just not able to handle the bigger and better defenders he meets at the WC or EC.
C) The one striker system makes it’s easier to man mark him.
D) Combination of the above.
E) Non of the above – Other!

Posted from Canada

By Luis Paulo | April 13th, 2006 at 4:07 pm

I would say none of the above.

He is just no good enough. The French football is not at the same level as the Italian, spanish or british. When he faces the best defenders in the world, he just don’t have the skill to perform as well.

By Luis | April 13th, 2006 at 6:41 pm

I have to disagree with Luis Paulo on his last comment. I think Pauleta is good enough. While he certainly is not a strong straight-ahead striker (The type BR fans seem to love), like Ronaldo, he does have his own desirable qualities. His timing, technique, and intellect make him a key asset on the pitch for any team. The downside to this kind of striker is that you have to build the entire team around him. Instead of being a spear, he is merely the tip of the spear. Today’s “Portuguese Football” is primarily a game of timing passes. We don’t need Pauleta to be a presence in the game until that last pass and then bing! It’s in back of the net before the defense knows what’s going on. It makes for a nice looking style of play, but it obviously has its downside when PT has its rhythm disrupted by a highly organized defensive team. EC04 nightmares…

Having said all that, I do agree that Pauleta has a tough time in tourneys because he doesn’t have the same physical stature as today’s top defenders, but again, he doesn’t have to brawl with them. He just has to be quicker and smarter with a lethal finish.

As for A), well, he certainly gets good enough service so I don’t think we can blame the midfield.

I think Ceasar is right on C). That’s why Scolari has tried, time after time, to introduce a 2 striker system. It just doesn’t seem to work for PT. It’s also why Scolari is always screaming at C. Ronaldo to play a more central attacking role with Pauleta. With C. Ronaldo terrorizing the defense, Pauleta can exploit the spaces and pick up any garbage.

PT has some obvious chinks in their armor. But, I’m counting on two factors that will hopefully help them be successful in this WC: The first is Scolari’s ability to use tactics to make up for weaknesses. And the second is the level of motivation and desire to win on the part of our players and our people as a whole. The struggle to win a WC runs deep in our national soul. After EC04, Portugal is hungry for this World Cup and that might just turn out to be the most important thing in our favor.

Posted from United States

By Mexico in theeyes of Portugal - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Iran World Cup Team Blog | April 14th, 2006 at 1:15 am

[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

Posted from United States

By Pedro P | April 14th, 2006 at 9:49 am

I agree with what Luis says about Pauleta. I mean, Pauleta is arguably one of the best strikers currently. Not one of the top 10 in the world. He’s also not the type of striker that people are used to see. The type like Ronaldo, Batistuta, any italian or any english, etc… The guy who picks the ball, typically not very skilled but runs faster and puts in in at first shot.

Look at Portugal… How many teams create so many, so good, so brilliant and technically difficult goal scoring oppurtunities? And scores so little when compared to it? Most teams struggle to create those chances but when in one, the striker does it. With this I also mean that, I sorry to those who disagree and feel I exagerate, Portugal is for me by far the team with the best service. Even better than Brazil. There’s no midfield in the world that creates so much top level assistances as Portugal.

About 2 stikers: Scolari did try it, as well as the 3-5-2; or 3-3-4 – would make sense as the midfield has always been our strength, we know have top defenders in all 4 positions and 2 strikers are usefull, in the sense that one drags the defenders and the other has more freedom. Players never really got used to it. The team also clearly performed better with 2 musculated midfielders rather than with one more defensive and another attacking. Thank god Maniche can attack very good and Deco can defend and contain quite good as well. There’s nothing strange about this. The team that has such a system and plays in a style almost like ours is The Netherlands. France wasn’t so different neither. The fact that we usually beat them (NL) shows my point above – strikers importance is diminished and POR has a better service. Is Ruud van Nistelroy better than Pauleta? He’s surelly stronger – he also plays in England, a rather physicall league.

About Simao, Moutinho and Boa Morte: Simao is at a different level than Boa Morte as far as technique is concerned. He is much better. He is also extremelly good at free kicks. However, as a team member, Boa Morte gives robustness, is more goal oriented and goes for scoring more frequently. This makes him, dependind on the adversary, a better piece overall.

Moutinho is neither a winger nor a striker. Simao and Boa Morte are somewhere in between. Moutinho, althoguh very young, is already a world class top central midfielder. You can’t make a brilliant team with guys just like him but no team is brilliant without one like him.

Posted from Netherlands

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Posted from United States

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