World cup 2018 Preview - Mexico
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Team: Mexico
Manager: Juan Carlos Osorio
Group: F
Other teams in group: Germany, Sweden, Korea Republic
THE SQUAD
Mexico have an exciting group of players for this years World Cup competition. Hirving Lozano, Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela are the main A listers the South Americans have in their squad but they should not be under estimated going into Russia having made it to the knockout stages in the last two World Cups. Mexico’s national league the Liga MX may not be the most world renowned league but 8 out of the 23 man squad will represent their home grown league in Russia while 8 leagues and 16 clubs are represented in the squad.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca), Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul)
Defenders: Diego Reyes (Porto), Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hector Moreno (Real Sociedad), Miguel Layun (Sevilla), Jesus Gallardo (Pumas), Hugo Ayala (Tigres UANL), Edson Alvarez (Club America)
Midfielders: Hector Herrera (Porto), Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Rafa Marquez (Atlas), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Marco Fabian (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy)
Forwards: Javier Aquino (Tigres UANL), Jesus Corona (Porto), Raul Jimenez (Benfica), Oribe Peralta (Club America), Javier Hernandez (West Ham United), Carlos Vela (LAFC), Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven)
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Mexico first had to advance from a 4 team group in the CONCACAF Fourth Round qualifiers, a 3-0 win over El Salvador in the opening game followed by a 2-0 win over Honduras and another 3-0 win this time over Canada had them looking in control in the early stages of the group. They later went on to record back to back wins over Canada and El Salvador and finished qualification with a scoreless draw against Honduras which saw them into the Fifth Round.
Then in the CONCACAF Fifth Round, Mexico won 6 out of the 10 games, drawing 3 times and losing once to familiar foes Honduras. 11 wins in 16 games and only suffering one defeat along the way looks to put El Tri in a good spot for this Summers championships.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Hirving Lozano
More commonly known by his nickname “El Chucky”, yes like the dreaded doll in the horror movies, but this nickname describes perfectly how Lozano plays on the field. He’s quick fast and agile and can terrify any defender that gets in his way. Since his first call up in 2016, Lozano has gone from strength to strength for his national side scoring 7 goals in 23 caps with 4 of those goals coming during qualification for the World Cup. Lozano also guided PSV Eindhoven to their 28th domestic league title this year scoring 17 goals and managing 9 assists in 29 games.
Javier Hernandez
Now at the ripe old age of 30, Javier Hernandez has been Mexico’s go too striker since making his debut back in 2009 where he impressed early on and would later make the 2010 World Cup squad. Since 2010, Hernandez has featured in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2016 Copa América Centenario and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and has also became his country’s highest ever goal scorer with 49 goals. Hernandez managed 3 goals during the qualification campaign for Russia.
Hector Herrera
A box to box midfielder is a great addition to any team and Hector Herrera has filled that role for Mexico since his first cap in 2012. The 28 year old Porto man has appeared 65 times for his country netting 5 times in the process. Herrera had a fantastic World Cup debut in 2014 playing in all 3 group games and in the quarter final loss to The Netherlands. These performances earned his a spot on the top 100 best footballers in the world.
WHERE THEY ARE PLAYING AND STAYING
17/06: Germany V Mexico, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
23/06: Korea Republic V Mexico, Rostov Arena, Rostov-On-Don
27/06: Mexico v Sweden, Ekaterinburg Arena, Ekaterinburg
After the draw Juan Carlos Osorio acknowledged how tough the group will be for his side but still feels Mexico can have a strong tournament. "It is a difficult group, but a very good one for Mexico, we are going to be going up against Germany, ranked first and the reigning World Cup champion. I don't think I am stating any big discovery. We faced them in the Confederations Cup and we didn't have our entire squad, but now we are going to be competing against the best. They are very well coached. I think we have very good possibilities and we are going to prepare very well so we can advance.
"Sweden beat Netherlands and Bulgaria, and that is no small detail, along with the fact that in the playoff they eliminated Italy, they come into the World Cup with a great chance. They will be bringing a well coached and very experienced team.
"And last is Korea, a rival that represents the Asia continent well. Their coach has been with the team since their youth days and is very familiar with all of his players."
Mexico will be staying at the training facility of Moscow's FC Dinamo in Novogorsk.
THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM
Mexico will make history in this year’s World Cup as 39 year old midfielder Rafael Marquez will become only the 4th player ever to be selected for 5 different World Cup campaigns, joining an exclusive club with the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Lothar Matthäus and fellow country man Antonio Carbajal who all have been included in 5 different World Cup squads, if Marquez plays he will only be the 3rd player ever to play at 5 World Cup’s as Buffon did not play in one tournament.
Mexico are one of only two nations to ever be banned from a World Cup for cheating, during a 1989 World Youth Championship qualifying round Mexico fielded players who were over the age set by FIFA, as a result Mexico was banned from Italia 90 after FIFA raised the sanction higher. The other country was Chile who were kicked out of strangly enough Italia 90 also after goalkeeper Roberto Rojas came up with a plan to get Brazil kicked out of the World Cup. The plan involved a flare hitting the pitch and him using a razor blade hidden in his glove to fake an injury, it did not work and they were kicked out of both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
Mexico have the 3rd oldest squad going into the World Cup, the average age of the squad is 29.4 with Panama and Costa Rica ahead of them with an average age of 29.6. They also have the 9th highest number of homegrown players in their squad with 8 playing football in Mexico.
THEIR RECENT FORM
Mexico have won 5 out of their last 9 games, wins over Trinidad and Tobago (3-1), Poland (1-0), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-0), Iceland (3-0) and Scotland (1-0) have them in good form going into this summer’s competition. They will have one final warmup game before the World Cup when they take on Denmark on the 9th of June.
First game: The Mexicans play Germany in their opening Group F fixture on 17th June in Moscow.
