March 23, 2007 TRICOLOR TUNE-UPS Mexico eyes summer tournaments
By Joel Aceves LASoccerNews.com
Mexico's all-time leading scorer, Jared Borgetti has scored just twice in league this season. Photo by Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
Mexico’s upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Ecuador, on Sunday and Wednesday respectively, will allow head coach Hugo Sanchez to fine-tune El Tricolor in wake of upcoming regional and South American cup competition.
“We are planning, the coaching staff and I, so that these two games will serve as practice for Copa de Oro and Copa America, which will cross paths in the calendar,” Hugo Sanchez explained at a press conference. “We will be calling in between 27 or 28 players for these match ups, which will be on FIFA friendly dates, allowing us to count on all the players, including those that play abroad, concluded Sanchez.”
With CONCACAF Gold Cup scheduled from June 6-24 and CONMEBOL’s Copa America slated from June 26-July 15, the Mexico boss has decided to put his current squad to the test, calling in the same players he used in his first two encounters, against U.S.A and Venezuela.
To the dismay of many Tricolor fans, who were hoping for a rejuvenated squad given the success of the youth national team, Sanchez has opted to give the old guard one last run.
The likes of Ramon Morales, Israel Lopez, Joaquin Beltran and new old addition Oscar “Conejo” Perez – who replaced the fallen Oswaldo Sanchez – will all receive another chance at international glory.
Perhaps the most questioned of the old-timer call ups are those of Jared Borgetti and Francisco Palencia, both strikers have only managed to score twice in 12 league games.
Still, there is a fair amount of young talent that is set to take their respective roles in the national team. Leading from the back will be Club America keeper Guillermo Ochoa, followed by Chivas upstart defender Jonny Magallon, Atlas midfielder Andres Guardado and fast-paced winger Alberto Medina. Sadly, Olympiakos striker Nery Castillo opted to sit out the matches due to personal problems.
The core of the Mexico squad will revolve around captain Rafael Marquez, PSV defender Carlos Salcido, Stuttgart duo Ricardo Osorio and Pavel Pardo along with no-nonsense midfielder Gerardo Torrado.
The only question remains up top, where Mexico has suffered in past years. With Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Borgetti well past their prime and Francisco “Kikin” Fonseca struggling to find his form, Sanchez is left squandering to find their replacements. His best bet for now apparently lies at the feet of Omar Bravo, one of the best Mexican league strikers who nevertheless continually comes up short in important matches.
Thus, it is easy to see why Sanchez has been so protective of Castillo.
“Please, let us not dramatize the Nery Castillo situation,” Sanchez said regarding Castillo’s unavailability for the upcoming matches.
“He has made enough merits to get a call up and he is the only striker that we can count on outside of Mexico. It is not fair that he does not receive the opportunity to prove himself with the national team, and instead the press invents lies,” Sanchez told reporters. “It is not true that he is asking for money.”
Completing the list of call-ups are Tecos goalkeeper Jesus Corona, towering defender Francisco “Maza” Rodriguez, speedy right back Jose “Gringo” Castro, Morelia’s Fernando Arce – who scored an impressive goal against Venezuela – as well as Chivas duo Adolfo “Bofo” Bautista and Gonzalo Pineda.
Sanchez said he hoped the players understood the importance of the matches, which will not only serve as testing grounds to see who makes the team for the summer tourneys but also to help Mexico regain their FIFA top 10 status which was lost after the 2006 World Cup.
“What we desire is to be amongst the top 10 teams, and to be there we must win every match,” commented Hugo.
More importantly for the Mexico coach is winning the Gold Cup.
“For us there is no other alternative than to win the Gold Cup because it grants us a ticket to the Confederations cup, which is the road we are paving,” Sanchez said.
Indeed, the Mexico boss aims high and expects his players to have the same expectations.
“We want to win every match, winning the Gold Cup will be the start and then we can look ahead to the Copa America,” boosted Sanchez.
