Mexico national football team

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Mexico

Nickname

El Tri (El Tricolor)

Association

Federación Mexicana
de Fútbol Asociación

Head coach

Hugo Sánchez

Captain

Rafael Márquez

Most caps

Claudio Suárez (178)

Top scorer

Jared Borgetti (37)

FIFA code

MEX

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

4 (May 2006)

Lowest FIFA ranking

20 (November 2006)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

6 (June 2005)

Lowest Elo ranking

47 (February 1979)





Home kit





Away kit

First international

Guatemala 2 - 3 Mexico

(Guatemala City, Guatemala; 1 January 1923)

Largest win

Mexico 13 - 0 Bahamas

(Toluca, Mexico; April 28, 1987)

Worst defeat

England 8 - 0 Mexico

(London, England; May 10, 1961)

World Cup

Appearances

13 (First in 1930)

Best result

Quarterfinals, 1970 and 1986

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Appearances

8 (First in 1991)

Best result

Winners, 1993, 1996,
1998, 2003

The Mexico national football team — El Tri — is the national football team of Mexico and is controlled by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FEMEXFUT). The team is currently in 20th place, and has never been outside the top 20, in the FIFA World Rankings.

Since the 1990s, Mexico has been one of the most consistent nations in the world having qualified for four straight World Cups, and reaching the second round on all four occasions. They have also had strong showings in the Copa America ever since their first invitation from the CONMEBOL in 1993 (although they are under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF).

1 History
2 Current squad
3 International Competiton Records
4 Notable former players
5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Origins to 1990

Mexico participated in the first World Cup in 1930 but did not appear again in the tournament until 1950. Mexico qualified for six consecutive World Cups including the hosting of the 1970 tournament.

Before 1970 Mexico struggled to make much impact in the World Cup when compared to European and South American teams and won only once in five tournaments (in 1962, a 3-1 win over Czechoslovakia). Goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal had the distinction of being the first player ever to appear in five consecutive World Cups. Midfielder Salvador Reyes played in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 tournaments.

In 1970, Mexico was able to make a breakthrough. Hosts for the tournament, they kicked off with a scoreless draw against the Soviet Union, followed by wins over El Salvador (4-0) and Belgium (1-0). Against Italy in the quarter-finals, they took the lead before going down 4-1.

Mexico was disqualified from the 1990 qualifiers due to fielding an overage player in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying youth tournament for 1988 Summer Olympics in Guatemala, but have since qualified for four consecutive World Cups.

[edit] Recent years

In the 1990s, Mexican football began experiencing more consistent international success. An important turning point was its participation in the 1993 Copa America, where they surprised many by finishing second in the tournament in only their first appearance, narrowly losing to Argentina 2-1 in the final. Bouyed by this success, Mexico went on to win its group in the 1994 World Cup, emerging from the tournament's "Group of Death" composed of itself, Italy, Ireland, and Norway. Although Mexico eventually bowed out in Round 2 to Bulgaria, this performance began a string of successful showings at football's premier event, as the team also moved on to Round 2 in the each of the Cups of 1998, 2002, 2006.

Since their second place finish in the 1993 Copa America, Mexico has been a regular participant in the South American tournament and has fared very well. It earned third place in 1997 and 1999 and another second place in 2001. In fact, Mexico has never failed to reach the quarter finals of the Copa America and twice has had the leading scorer in the tournament, Luis Garcia in 1995 (sharing the title with Argentinian striker, Gabriel Batistuta) and Luis Hernández in 1997. The amazing growth and success of the national team during the 1990s reached its zenith when Mexico hosted and won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. Mexico won its first official FIFA tournament trophy by beating Brazil, no less, in an exciting high-scoring final with a final score of 4-3. Mexico's star, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, shares the tournament's Golden Shoe award as top scorer with Brazilian player, Ronaldinho.

In the 2000s, the United States have proved a credible challenger to Mexico's dominance on the continental football scene, winning the 2002 Gold Cup and disqualifying Mexico from Round 2 in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Despite the disappointing loss, Mexico again hosted the Gold Cup in 2003. In addition, Mexico exacted their revenge on the United States by eliminating them during their qualification run to the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2005 Gold Cup tournament, however, Mexico suffered a disappointing early exit, as they were eliminated by guests Colombia in the quarterfinals on a goal with less than fifteen minutes to play.

The parallel emergence of the United States and Mexico on the international stage has helped elevate the status of the CONCACAF region. More importantly, however, it has provided a natural rivalry that has benefited the development both national teams. In fact, Mexico and the United States ran neck and neck during qualification for the 2006 World Cup. Mexico beat the United States 2-1 in Mexico City on March 27, 2005. The Americans then returned the favor by defeating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio, on September 3, 2005 thus earning their place in Germany before their archrivals. Nevertheless, Mexico secured their place in the World Cup four days later with a 5-0 defeat of Panama in Mexico City. Ultimately, the two nations finished the qualification campaign with an identical 7-1-2 record — the Americans held a slight advantage in goal differential in the games between both teams.

The participation of the Mexican national team in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup confirmed Mexico as a rising football power. Mexico began the tournament by defeating defending World Cup Champions Brazil by a score of 1-0 with an impressive display of tactical intelligence and discipline. Mexico garnered further accolades with impressive performances against traditional heavyweights Argentina and Germany. Although Mexico was leading Argentina in extra time of their semifinal match, they ultimately lost in a highly contested penalty shootout, 6-5. In the third place match, Mexico twice came from behind against Germany, eventually losing 4-3 in extra time.

The notable growth experienced by the Mexican national team since the early 1990s could arguably be attributed to the increased competitiveness of its domestic league, the Primera División de México. Due in large part to lucrative television contracts, Mexican football clubs are amongst the richest outside of Europe. This has made Mexico an attractive destination for many quality international players, in particular from South and Central America. In addition, Mexican clubs have done very well in international tournaments such as CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores. In fact, in four of the last six editions of the tournament, a Mexican club has finished among the top four, including Cruz Azul's second place finish in 2001. The influx of high level foreign players, together with increased participation in international tournaments has helped compensate somewhat for the fact that traditionally, Mexican players have not sought opportunities in other countries. Still, a few Mexican players have enjoyed distinguished careers in European leagues, notably Hugo Sánchez with Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid in the 1980s and 1990s and more recently Rafael Márquez, who won a title with France's AS Monaco and is currently a key member of the two-time defending La Liga champion and current UEFA Champions League winner FC Barcelona and with Francisco Fonseca of SL Benfica being what many consider the two best players in Mexico's squad.

Further evidence of Mexico's bright football future is the title obtained by the national team in the Under-17 World Cup held in Peru in the 2005 Under-17 World Cup. A crop of emerging Mexican stars, including Giovanni Dos Santos and Carlos Vela, defeated reigning champion Brazil by an emphatic score of 3-0, thus claiming the first FIFA Youth World Championship for the North American continent (and CONCACAF).

After Germany 2006, El Tri has become one of the most regular teams in the world stage, having secured their passage to Round 2 in the last four World Cups. However, the goal of reaching the latter stages of the tournament, and thus equal or surpass their best showings when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1970 and 1986 tournaments on home soil.

[edit] 2006 World Cup

Mexico played a series of friendlies in preparation for the World Cup in the United States of America, seeking to maximise revenue by appealing to Mexicans living in the USA.

Mexico was one of eight top seeded teams in the first round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. This was the first time a non-hosting CONCACAF nation was seeded. They were put in group D with Iran, Angola and Portugal.

Mexico won their opening match 3-1 against Iran, with two goals from Omar Bravo and one by Antonio Naelson. In their second match, Mexico played in a 0-0 draw match against Angola. Mexico joined Portugal as a qualifier in the Round of 16, despite losing to the Portuguese 2-1. During the match, Mexican striker, Omar Bravo missed a penalty shot.

In their final match of the tournament, Mexico played against Argentina. The Mexicans scored in the 5th minute with a goal by captain Rafael Márquez. Four minutes later, an own-goal by an injured Jared Borgetti allowed Argentina to equalize. The score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes, and in extra time, an exceptional volley by Maxi Rodríguez in the second period of extra time brought about a 2-1 win for Argentina.

Argentine-born coach Ricardo Lavolpe stepped down as coach after the tournament.

After 144 days since Lavolpe stepped down, Hugo Sánchez was named the new head coach against other candidates, such as Américo Gallego and Luis Fernando Tena.

[edit] Current squad

See also: 2006 FIFA World Cup (squads)

The following players have recently been called up to the Mexico squad as of July 24, 2006.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB/Age	Caps	Club
1	GK	Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra	21 September 1973	74	Guadalajara
2	DF	Claudio Suárez Sánchez	17 December 1968	178	Chivas USA
3	DF	Carlos Arnoldo Salcido Flores	2 April 1980	36	PSV
4	DF	Rafael Márquez Álvarez	13 February 1979	69	Barcelona
5	DF	Ricardo Osorio Mendoza	30 March 1980	43	Stuttgart
6	MF	Gerardo Torrado Diez de Bonilla	30 April 1979	59	Cruz Azul
7	MF	Antônio Naelson Matias	23 May 1976	36	Toluca
8	MF	Pável Pardo Segura	26 July 1976	129	Stuttgart
9	FW	Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría	14 August 1973	77	Ittihad
10	FW	Guillermo Luis Franco Farcuason	3 November 1976	10	Villarreal
11	MF	Ramón Morales Higuera	10 October 1975	48	Guadalajara
12	GK	Jose de Jesús Corona Rodríguez	26 January 1981	6	U.A.G.
13	GK	Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña	13 July 1985	1	América
14	DF	Gonzalo Pineda Reyes	19 October 1982	34	Guadalajara
15	DF	José Antonio Castro González	11 August 1980	14	América
16	DF	Mario Méndez Olague	1 June 1979	36	U.A.N.L.
17	FW	José Francisco Fonseca Guzmán	2 October 1979	33	Benfica
18	MF	José Andrés Guardado Hernández	28 September 1986	8	Atlas
19	FW	Omar Bravo Tordecillas	4 March 1980	36	Guadalajara
20	MF	José Rafael García Torres	14 August 1974	52	Cruz Azul
21	MF	José de Jesús Arellano Alcocer	8 May 1973	70	Monterrey
22	DF	Francisco Javier Rodríguez Pinedo	20 October 1981	33	Guadalajara
23	MF	Luis Ernesto Pérez Gómez	12 January 1981	54	Monterrey