Will Ochoa ever play in a World Cup?

Even with 50+ caps, Ochoa has never played in a World Cup (Getty)

Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa has been that face of Mexican football in his time. From gracing the cover of FIFA 2008 and 2009, to leading El Tri in World Cup qualifiers, there is one thing we have never seen…Ochoa protecting Mexico’s goal in a World Cup.

He has been there before. He was called in 2006, but Oswaldo Sánchez was the one to win the spot. Yet, only at the age of 20, it was not unthinkable to have Ochoa sit back as a reserve.

Moving forward, Ochoa began to shine with Club América, and saw more time with the national team. He gained a lot of attention at the 2009 Gold Cup when Mexico defeated Costa Rica in PK’s in the semifinal. He made a major stop which boosted Mexico to the championship match.

Mexico would go on and beat the USA, 5-0 in the final. Memo would then be the go-to keeper when qualifiers resumed in 2009.

It was unimaginable to think Ochoa was not going to play in the 2010 World Cup. He had been there for Mexico and came up big when he was needed. However, Javier Aguirre decided to start Óscar ‘Conejo’ Pérez in South Africa. Fans over could not believe Pérez won the keeper battle, when Ochoa was a gem throughout qualifying.

Bad luck seemed to hit Ochoa repeatedly. During the 2011 Gold Cup, several Mexicans tested positive for a banned substance (one that turned out to be due to meat consumption), and Ochoa was absent during the Mexicans triumph in the tournament.

Today, in 2014, we are once again in the middle of a debacle concerning Ochoa. Miguel Herrera is about to make his 23-man roster on May 9th, and rumor has it Ochoa is not one of them. Herrera has stated several times that he prefers Corona as keeper, and Fox Deportes claimed Memo Ochoa is a doubtful to make the list. Either way, if he makes the roster, it seems unlikely that he is going to be the starter.

So the question begs…will Ochoa ever see the pitch at a World Cup? He has seemed to do everything right; win the hearts of the fans and take Ligue 1 by storm. But here we are, about to head into the World Cup with little faith that Ochoa will even be present.

Come 2018, Ochoa will be 33, which is not old for a keeper. Thankfully, goalkeepers have longer careers than say a winger or attacking mid. However, will Ochoa still be accepting the calls from Mexico? He wouldn’t be the first, as Carlos Vela has seemed to close all doors to his future as an international footballer.

It is a painful thought for any Mexico fan. Once the golden boy of Mexican football, Ochoa now may never play at a World Cup.

What do you think!?

Rafael Márquez: A Thanks To El Capitán

Rafael Márquez celebrates his goal against South Africa at the 2010 World Cup (Getty)

 

El Kaiser. El Principe de Cataluña. El Capitán. Rafa.

Whichever name you know him by, Rafael Márquez has been a monumental icon in Mexican football.

He began his career in 1996 with Atlas, and his international career in 1997 with Mexico. Even early in his career, Rafa was a hit with the Mexican fans. In 1999, Rafael had a major year with El Tri. In early July, Mexico went to Paraguay to participate in the 1999 Copa América. The Mexicans fought valiantly and came home with a 3rd place finish in one of the most prestigious competitions in international football. Yet, only a few weeks later, Mexico took part in another competition: The 1999 Confederations Cup.

Young Rafael was a giant part to El Tri’s run in the Confederations Cup. He helped the Mexicans reach the final, behind the leadership of another icon, Cuauhtémoc Blanco. It was Rafael who assisted Cuauhtémoc in Mexico’s winning goal over Brazil.

A New X-Factor: Carlos Peña

Peña has shown to be versatile in crucial situations for club and country (AP)

 

Mexico had a rocky 2013…to say the least. Many problems came from the midfield and a lack of rhythm. Late in the year, a new face emerged in Carlos Peña. He made a few cameos in friendlies and the 2013 Gold Cup, but it was in the WCQ in which he started to catch some attention.

His biggest moments came in the playoff against New Zealand. He was a work horse and helped cause havoc for the ‘Kiw’s.’ Moreover, his consistency with Club León became the norm, and now he is a Liga MX champion.

As stated before, El Tri had been suffering in the midfield all throughout 2013. Seeing that Carlos has been proven in big matches, it is time that he becomes cemented in the midfield. He can hustle back on defense and has the speed to counter with the attack. Let’s not forget another major part of his game; age. Carlos will only be 24 by the time of the 2014 World Cup. No longer will El Tri need to look around for veteran midfielders who may have only a year or two left in their careers. Here we have a guy who has at the least two World Cup’s to participate in.

Carlos is now a champion in the Mexican league and is catching major scouting reports from European sides. Miguel Herrera has shown that he trusts Peña, which is a sign that he will be here to stay. Look for Carlos to finally breakthrough in 2014…Mexican fans around know there is no better time for a breakout year.

Vamos México!

Youth vs Senior: Flawed comparisons

Herrera has made several major decisions over the past few weeks in hopes to change the path of El Tri (Getty)

 

Ever since the U17 defeated Italy, the media has been having a field day with comparing the youth to the senior sides. The cartoons flooded social media with jokes about the youth success and the recent slump by the senior side. While it is true that the senior side could take a note or two from the passion of the youngsters, the comparisons, however, are significantly flawed.

As of now, the senior side has reached a major low, and in one week will play New Zealand for a World Cup ticket. But the slump didn’t happen overnight. The senior side had been suffering since the start of the year. Lower tier opposition in the third round of qualification masked this aspect and it was exposed ever since the Jamaica game in Azteca. However, the comparisons are not needed between the teams. The senior side is going to a transition as we speak. The struggles are coming from a result of a shifting of generations, which can hurt any national team.

The U17 deserves all the credit they have accumulated. Their major turn around since the first loss to Nigeria is astounding. Yet, when you look at the senior side, it isn’t black and white. When you have a federation that fails to make changes and then makes changes too rapidly, you get a fiasco. The failure to incorporate several younger players has been felt throughout the Chepo reign, which is where this all began. You can see it with the inclusion of Carlos Peña. He had a few opportunities, but he was cut short anytime he made a mistake which was a result of a growing pain. Now, he has caught a rhythm and has won over the heart of the fans. This too can be seen with Hector Herrera. A guy with a ton of talent who was thrown into games, while Mexico was losing, and expected to be a difference maker.

Now that Piojo has taken over, his controversial decisions have some fans scratching their heads. But if you look closely, he may be preparing Mexico for future success. He has made call-ups of very young, un-tested players, while mixing in a few veterans who are in form. He is experimenting and at the same time adding depth to Mexico, in hopes that it qualifies for Brazil 2014. Moreover, now that Winston Reid (New Zealand’s Captain) will be missing the playoff against Mexico, that hope looks to be even more validated.

When Mexico fixes its slump, the comparisons will be gone. No one was comparing the 2011 senior side to the 2011 U17, simply because there was no need. So comparing the teams now, while one is going through a generation shift and the other is part of a strategic structure…is flawed.

¿Dónde está tu corazón?

Mexico’s WCQ went from picture perfect to a complete disaster (AP)

 

Mexico headed into the Hex with a clear conscious of what was ahead. They trampled the 3rd round with six straight wins and everything looked to be lining up for El Tri. Fast forward to 9/10/2013, Mexico walked off the pitch in Columbus with signs of physical and mental defeat.

What happened? How could Mexico go from raising the Gold cup and Olympic Gold to an unrecognizable team? You could point to overconfidence, but overconfidence is usually remedied after a mediocre game. A spark usually pursues after an unexpected result. 

If I were to point to the obvious, it of course was not letting Chepo de la Torre go when it was the appropriate time. It feels like ages for how long the team was not responding to Chepo, and that my friends, is a cancer. Not necessarily Chepo himself, but the circumstances of a regime going past its expiration date. To be fair to Chepo…it happens. The U.S. parted ways with Bob Bradley, not because he was a bad coach, but because the cycle was over.

This is a direct failure from the FMF and there is no two ways about it. The extra confidence in Chepo was like covering a major gash with a bandaid. This, in my honest opinion, can be traced back about a year ago. After the glory of the Gold in London, a dissension subtly began. There was an obvious separation between two generations. Mexico’s U-23 players, who were worthy of Senior team status, were praised by the country. The Senior side then responded by losing a friendly in our beloved Azteca. A fluke? Possibly, but the repercussions are being felt. The wins in the 3rd round of WCQ were great, but they didn’t do anything but prolong the agony of losing for the first time to the U.S. at home.

Jamaica would then come into Azteca and play as if they were at home. No fear in Mexico, no worry about losing, and walked away with a historic draw. Since that point, Mexico never regained its confidence. Chepo began calling random players, many of which were past their prime, and it showed. His tactics grew stale, Mexico was lethargic, and everyones worries grew exponentially.

The majority of the fan base saw what I saw, and believed what I believed. If things went as planned, we would see a Mexico national team filled with the U-23 side meshed with our Euro stars. Yet, several declined to play under Chepo’s control, and “veterans” continued to get their regular calls.

Chepo being canned wasn’t going to spark a huge 180. The team was already discouraged. The team was defeated. You could see it after the USA’s first goal. The team in 2011 looked angry, wanted revenge after going down…by two goals! The team yesterday team looked around, walked back, and re-kicked the ball.

Tena just recycled Chepo’s coaching, and the dreaded “jugamos como nunca y perdimos como siempre” rang true.

We know the talent Mexico has, which is what hurts the most. Losing games which you know you can dominate in several aspects is gut-wrenching. I can honestly say that I have never seen such a talented team give away their dream.

Mexico is now in a situation that has us all scratching our heads over. Mexico vs Panama is going to be a fight. But not a fight for Brazil…a fight for New Zealand. A new coach will be named, and new era will begin, and we will see if Mexico is ready to possibly right the wrongs. Do I believe Mexico can look revamped and taken on the rest of WCQ/New Zealand without doubts? Yes. I believe so, and we all saw what Uruguay did in 2010 after qualifying through playoff.

However, if we see a similar mentality to that which we saw against Honduras, Jamaica, USA…Mexico will be watching the 2014 World Cup in their living rooms.

Opinion: Ochoa should not be guaranteed to play

FIFA.com Photo

The Federacion Mexicana de Futbol and Jesus Manuel ‘Chepo’ de la Torre released Friday the list of Europe based players that will participate in Mexico’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and the United States.

Surprisingly missing from the list was goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

He’d had a much lauded performance against Paris St. Germain the previous weekend, and his missing name made little sense.

Not much later ‘Chepo’ reveled the reason Ochoa was missing from the list: he didn’t want to come if he wasn’t guaranteed a starting spot.

Mexican NT sex scandal…again

Reports have been circulating around the Mexican National soccer team and their alleged visit to a strip club establishment after the loss to Italy in the Confederations Cup.

This is not the first time that these types of events have occurred.

In the 2011 edition of the Copa America in Ecuador, several players were punished for bringing prostitutes into their rooms. Among those were Jonathan Dos Santos and Marco Fabian.

The party was brought to the team in 2010 after a friendly against Colombia in Monterrey. Several players were fined. It was that occasion when Carlos Vela was suspended for the team and he hasn’t returned since that call.

When should Mexico give up on Carlos Vela?

On January 23, 2013 the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol(Mexican Soccer Federation) released a list of four players based in Europe that were called for Mexico’s first game in the Hexagonal stage for the World Cup 2014.

As expected Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, Andres Guardado, Hector Moreno, and Giovani Dos Santos were on the list. Two names were surprisingly missing from the the list as well.

Ajaccio goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, was missing from the list due to personal reasons.

“I made the decision of Memo not to come because I believe it’s the best for him. His child will be born in the upcoming days, and I prefer to leave him with his club at the moment,” said Josè Manuel de la Torre.

Harry Redknapp out, Giovani Dos Santos in?

Giovani Dos Santos at Tottenham(Credit AFP)

Harry Redknapp was dismissed as manager of Tottenham Football Club on Thursday.

Tottenham player, Giovani Dos Santos, was supposed to hold talks with the chairman of the club and other higher ups after June 12th.

Dos Santos joined Tottenham under Juande Ramos, but when Ramos was dismissed his development came to a halt. Redknapp sent out Dos Santos on loans, but when he was back with Tottenham he mostly remained on the bench or off the team sheet.

Now that Redknapp is no longer there should Dos Santos look for a transfer to the Spanish league, or should he remain with Tottenham and see how his luck plays out under a the future manager?

Vela and Chicharito’s summer vacation; 6 additional players for upcoming exhibition games

The Olympics are the ultimate goal for many athletes. Participation is the pinnacle of their career, and winning a medal an even greater accomplishment.

Lionel Messi fought for the right to play with Argentina at the 2008 Olympics and he was ultimately rewarded with a gold medal to add to his long list of accolades.

So if there are possibilites of Mexico winning a medal of the 2012 Olympics, after an absence at the past few games, why would anyone turn down the opportunity to attend?