The — the ''Tricolores'', or ''El Tri'' for short — is the national
Football team of
Mexico , coached by the Argentine national
Ricardo La Volpe and is controlled by the
Federación Mexicana De Fútbol Asociación (FEMEXFUT).
For most of the
20th Century , but especially in the
1990s , they dominated the other
CONCACAF sides, earning them the nickname ''Giants of CONCACAF''.
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 of the . Mexico, nevertheless, then experienced a resurgence in football, vastly improving to its former glory in both the international and club level. With the continuous and overall good participation of the Mexican national team and Mexican club sides as guests in
CONMEBOL tournaments like the
Copa Libertadores , which witnessed an upset as Club
Guadalajara also called Chivas (MEX) defeated
Boca Juniors (
ARG ) by a score of 4-0, Mexican football seemed to once again regain its dominant foothold in the CONCACAF region. Mexico's 1-0 win over
Argentina in the
Copa América , as well as their qualification run for the
2004 Summer Olympics and championship victory in the
2003 Gold Cup , seemed to mark a new turning point in Mexican football.
The participation of the Mexican National Team in the
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup , however, proved to the world the tremendous power Mexico is capable of exerting on the global stage. After defeating the World Cup Champions
Brazil in one of the most dramatic upset victories of the tournament by a score of 1-0, the world suddenly became aware of Mexico's potent capabilities on the pitch. Mexico's surprises would not end with Brazil, however, as Lavolpe's men showed no mercy to South American Superpower Argentina in the quarterfinals, holding them out all the way before losing the game in a highly-contested penalty shootout. Having conceded its chances of winning a second Confederations Cup, Mexico then focused all of its energies on third place. Once again, they surprised another Football Superpower, this time Germany, losing only in extra time by 3-4. Finishing fourth place in the Confederations Cup, Mexico proved to the world that although its players may not be as well known in Europe as they should be, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with.
In the
2005 Gold Cup tournament, however, Mexico did not fare as well, being eliminated by guests
Colombia in the quarterfinal match, 2-1, after conceding a wild goal on a shot from over 100 feet with less than 15 minutes to play. The tournament ended with an American victory, and at present, the rivalry between the two sides shows no sign of cooling, with the USA having secured qualification for the by defeating Mexico 2-0 on
September 3 ,
2005 . Mexico, nonetheless, soon secured their place in Germany four days later when they defeated
Panama 5-0 in
Mexico City .
Heading to Germany in less than a year, ''Los Tricolores'' still remain haunted by the fact that they have not enjoyed much success in any of the 13
World Cups they have participated in, despite the fact that they have qualified more times than most Football Superpowers have. Their most successful runs came in
1970 and
1986 , when they hosted both tournaments. Many observers blame Mexico's global luck on the footballing quality of the area, comparing it to the success of leagues in South America, and the lack of Mexican players abroad, but neither claim can explain Mexico's success in the Confederations Cup hosted by Germany in 2005.
Even though many Mexican players have reached success in international leagues, just a few of them leave the country to participate in Europe. The excessive value that many of them have combined with the fact that their salaries are among the best ones in the world, have contributed to the lack of players in the exterior.
Although ''Los Tricolores'' still have much to improve on before they can call themselves FIFA World Cup Champions, they can certainly take pride in their
October 2 ,
2005 victory, when the under-17 national selection won their first-ever FIFA Championship by defeating Brazil 3-0 in the Peru 2005
Under-17 World Cup . An effective display of football saw Mexico claim the FIFA U-17 World Championship Peru 2005 with an emphatic 3-0 win over reigning champions Brazil.
Mexico is one of seeded teams heading the groups for the final draw of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in
Germany . This is the first time a CONCACAF nation, which is not hosting a World Cup, is seeded. Mexico joins
Argentina ,
Brazil ,
England ,
France , Italy,
Spain and host Germany. They are in group D with
Iran ,
Angola and
Portugal . Recently El Tri played an amistoso or friendly matches in preparation for the World Cup on March 29, 2006 and defeated
Paraguay 2-1 held in the Chicago in the United States. The recent string of friendlies have all been held in the USA to take advantage of the better opportunities to allow Mexicans in the States to watch and also allow fans from the other side, Paraguay, Korea etc. who have fans in the States to also watch.
Mexico currently has a claim to possess the best league outside Europe. It can certainly boast more strength in depth than Brazil or Argentina. The reason is economic;
Oil Prices are high relative to the 1990s and with it the Petrodollars. The South American clubs are exporters of talent. Mexico has the financial strength to import; quality players from Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia and so on are enticed north by higher salaries, and the country can also attract foreign coaches even from Europe. Routinely Argentine and Brazilian players come to play in the
Primera Division of
Futbol Liga Mexicana .
Manager
Ricardo La Volpe has announced his final World Cup roster.
{Link without Title} It does not, include the irascible Blanco. Some observors say that this is due to the more than year long sniping between the coach and the aging star whose form has declined markedly. It should also be remembered that Blanco threatened a teammate if his playing did not improve and this was the final straw for head coach Ricardo La Volpe.
Mexico participated in the first World Cup in
1930 but did not appear in the tournament until 1950. From 1950 onwards (aided by the comparative paucity of the North American region in footballing terms), 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 ). However, they undoubtedly showed measurable improvement in each tournament - only 1 point gained in 1958, 2 points each in 1962 and 1966. Goalkeeper
Antonio Carbajal had the rare distinction of playing in five consecutive World Cups, establishing himself as a legend of the international game. Midfielder Salvador Reyes played in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 tournaments.
In 1970, Mexico was able to make a breakthrough on home soil. Drawn in Group 1, they kicked off with a scoreless draw against the
Soviet Union , followed by wins over
El Salvador (4-0) and
Belgium (1-0). Aginst
Italy in the quarter-finals, they took the lead before going down 4-1.
Unfortunately, progress was not sustained as Mexico failed to qualify for 1974 (
Haiti , surprisingly, qualified from the region) but returned in
1978 only to put in a poor showing with defeats to
West Germany ,
Tunisia and
Poland . A young
Hugo Sanchez played in the 1978 team and later went on to achieve success at
Real Madrid . They failed to qualify for 1982, but hosted the 1986 tournament and reached the quarter-finals once again.
Mexico was disqualified from the 1990 qualifiers due to fielding an overage player in a youth tournament, but have since qualified for four consecutive World Cups.
Starting from
1993 ,
CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship,
Copa América . Mexico has taken part as one of the invited teams in every Copa América ever since.
Goalkeepers (Porteros):
Defenders (Defensa):
Midfielders (Mediocampista):
Forwards (Delanteros):
