Last week the Mexican National Team had the rare opportunity to exorcise their World Cup demons and move on with their soccer lives, granted in a friendly game instead of a Round of 16 in the World Cup. For four and a half months, El Tri and their fans have had the image of Arjen Robben diving in the penalty box in their heads. The controversial call has gained its own historic phrase, and twitter handle, “No Fue Penal” (it wasn’t a penalty). The rematch was played 4,600 miles away from Fortaleza in Amsterdam, and while it did not have as much on the line as their previous game, it still was a hard fought game that would help provide a lot of answers about where the Mexican national team currently stands.
Mexico’s last two years have been chronicled well, playing out like a novella (soap opera) going from CONCACAF giants, to almost missing the World Cup, to the merry-go-round of national team coaches before settling on Miguel Herrera (who led the team through the final two World Cup Playoff games against New Zealand while instilling a passionate team of players that some believe may have over-exceeded in Brazil). Now it is time to build on their World Cup run and prepare for the next World Cup cycle while testing their worth in two Gold Cups and two Copa America’s before 2018.
In a performance out of a Hollywood movie, Mexico’s “lost son”, Carlos Vela returned to the team after three years of self-designated banishment from the national team to score the team’s first two goals in last week’s friendly game in Amsterdam. Mexico’s golden child, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, scored the third goal for Mexico to put the team up 3-1 in a game they would eventually hang on to win 3-2. Vela’s return to the national team was a successful one that now leaves many wondering whether the Robben incident would have even been an issue had Vela played for the team in the World Cup.
The fact of the matter is that Mexico has improved under Herrera, the team is more humble after going through their tough stretch in 2013, and the return of Carlos Vela provides the team with a formidable weapon on the field that can score or set up a score at any time. Mexico is not the team they once were, the one that dominated the CONCACAF region for so long and they never may be that team again. The U.S. National team is now a better team that continues to improve their player development as time goes on. The formation of Major League Soccer to help develop American and foreign talent now provides players from Central America and the Caribbean with the opportunity to play and develop against some of the region’s best players. However, even with this new focus on player development in the region, Mexico is still seen as one of the big boys on the block and as long as they continue to find and harness the talents of players such as Vela, Giovani Dos Santos, Hernandez and Hector Herrera, they will always be a formidable foe in the region and against foreign opponents.
Mexico continues their euro trip under the fiery Herrera as they play against Belarus in another European friendly. It won’t have the atmosphere that last week’s rematch with the Dutch had; however, it gives El Tri another opportunity to test their team against a European opponent in potential hostile conditions. They will play in Borisov Arena in Barysaw, Belarus. It will be only the fourth national team game played at the Arena, where Belarus is currently 1-2. The Authoritarian governed state is the lowest rated European country in the Democracy Index and sports has never been a priority, although the country’s most successful club, BATE Borisov, has qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage four times over the last seven years. The conditions may be a bit different from what most players are used to as temperatures in Barysaw are not expected to go over 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mexico will continue to tinker and see which players will be able to contribute in the future with El Tri as they will go into 2015 preparing for the Gold Cup and Copa America next summer in the U.S. and Chile, respectively. Outside of the Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez performances in Amsterdam last week, the youngster, 21-year-old Jesus Corona made quite the impression when he assisted on Vela’s second goal, only thirty seconds after entering the game. The continued improvement of their 22-year-old future center back, Diego Reyes, who plies his trade in Europe for Porto and seems to be a solid contributor to future Mexican National teams. The Dos Santos brothers, Giovani and Jonathan, are an underestimated combination. Both players currently play for Villarreal in Spain and will get a chance to show what they can do on the field together. There were also solid performances from well established players such as Andres Guardado, Paul Aguilar and Hector Herrera. Miguel Herrera has hinted that the Belarus game will give the opportunity for a majority of the Liga MX players on the national team to show Europe that they can compete on their level.
This Mexican team looked like a formidable CONCACAF team and one on the right pace to challenge the U.S. in next Summer’s Gold Cup, however, the noted names that aren’t with the club on this trip shows the depth of El Tri. Miguel Herrera is slowly building back Mexico’s depth, after not having many options in the past when their stars weren’t performing, players such as Javier Aquino, Oribe Peralta, Marco Fabian, Miguel Layun, Carlos Pena, and 21-year-old MLS player Erick “Cubo” Torres were left off this European trip but are still on the national team radar for 2015 nonetheless.
In the cold forestry wilderness of Belarus, Mexico will have an opportunity to show that this Mexican team is not the same one that lost at home to Honduras in 2013 or the one that was shut out in five of their ten hexagonal world cup qualifying games. The players on the team are eager to prove that this is a different team and that they belong in the conversation as a top team. Miguel Herrera has already turned the team around, now it is time to see if he can bring the national team back to respectability, not only in CONCACAF, but around the world.
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