Last update 6 April, 2024 by Alberto Llopis
Few teams are as unknown as that of Mexico ahead of the next World Cup in Brazil 2014. The Tricolor attends the American appointment for the fifth consecutive time with more shadows than light and confusion as a general rule. Qualified at the last minute in the playoffs after a stormy qualifying phase until the last moment, nobody knows how to gauge very well what kind of team we are going to see in Brazil.
For talent and players, There is no doubt that the Aztecs have enough potential to reach the round of 16 (round where the last five occasions were) and even some higher. Due to conflict and current situation, Mexico, on the other hand, is a sea of problems., a bottomless pit. Of course everything is more than a question, starting because they don't even know what players Miguel Herrera will be able to count on, the man who assumed the technical direction of the team for the playoffs.
Herrera led the group with players who played in Mexico regardless of the “Europeans” and of course, by Carlos Vela, the Real Sociedad striker who maintains a permanent mess with the Federation. brave decision, but that seems insufficient if the Tricolor wants to opt for greater things.
Framed in group A, Croatia, Cameroon and Brazil will demand the best of Herrera's men. For this reason, Vela's return is eagerly awaited, Chicharito, Giovanni the Guarded. Perhaps with them and with the solidity of a team and not a handful of stars, they can perform at the optimal level even despite having a very tough team from a theoretical eighth.
Strengths:
- A template full of stars. Mexico is a great team full of players of enormous talent and creativity. From midfield up, nothing has to envy the best combined. Sailing, Chicharito, Peralta, Corona or Raúl Jiménez provide quality and a lot of goals. Something of vital importance in a World Cup.
- Youth. Mexico is lucky to have the base of a solid team and a good handful of young people who already know what it means to achieve important things like the World Sub 17 of 2011 or gold in london 2012. Titles that ensure an unbeatable future.
Weak points:
- The bench. Starting because there have been many changes of technicians in recent times, there is a huge doubt around Miguel Herrera. Only two official matches before a World Cup is little baggage to know what and how will make the Tricolor work.
- Internal conflict. The atmosphere is mixed, the press criticizes non-stop and some players live in permanent trouble with the Federation and the selectors. It is well known, that success depends largely on the harmony of the locker room.
- Draw more than hard. Being in group A, Mexico must overcome Brazil, Croatia and Cameroon in the first phase. As if that were not enough, in eighths, Spain or Holland. Almost anything apparatus.
Alignment: (assuming that Carlos Vela and the group of players who play in Europe finally go).
Coach:
Miguel Herrera was a Mexican player of the years 90 who became an absolute international and even won second place in the Copa América de 1993. With only two games, the playoffs, now faces the most difficult challenge of his career: take to mexico in brazil. He also does it with a raging river, without knowing who you can count on but with a very defined style. The one who seeks to keep the rhythm of the game and have the ball. It will be like this, as from the possession the Tricolor will want to do damage.
Honors:
1 Olympic gold in London 2012
8 CONCACAF Cups
2 Copa America runners-up
2 times quarter-finalist in World Cups
