Snak

One year later, Mexico´s Olympic gold has lost its luster

It has been a year since that sacred afternoon in Wembley, when Mexican soccer decreed that "new times" were coming and that Mexican soccer was capable of breathing among the great powers of the sport. Today, there are people who assure that the arrival of Christian Gimenez and Damian Alvarez will give a new direction to the Mexican national team. That is normal, easy to once again confuse "new times" with the "new horizons" that Mexican soccer always sees.

It has been a year since we felt saved on the podium of the green grass of Wembley. We were not then, and we are not now. We never have been. Mexican soccer is always beginning new processes for finding final salvation.

The yells mingled with the tones of "Cielito Lindo" in the sacred London afternoon. "We are a world soccer power," decreed some people. Mexico won Olympic gold defeating Brazil in the championship game, and for many, the story of Mexican soccer had changed forever.

The champagne, the parades, the tributes, the short films immediately appeared, and at the same time, the opportunity that the soccer industry took advantage of to sell what it had, what it may have and even what it did not have.

I continue to believe that the Olympic gold was the start of something, not the end of nothing.

One year later, the reality is something else: cold, blunt and cruel.

The theater marquees, the reflectors and the lights speak of a "new era" for the Mexican national team, but the message may be completely mistaken.

Two naturalized players who are beyond 30 years of age cannot mark the new times of this soccer era, just as a base of young soccer players who responded in competitive situations were also not able to do before in their own heyday. There had not been a new beginning a year ago just as there is not one today in a convocation to face the final four qualifying games heading into Brazil 2014.

I believe that the problems with Mexican soccer and the national team follow a mental situation more than a soccer situation. Neither Jose Manuel de la Torre nor any other coach can invent something that does not exist in so little time. Gimenez and Alvarez contribute whatever talent -- whether a little or a lot -- that they have on the field. But just at this moment, they could also give a portion of personality, character and spirit to the Mexican team.

Now then, it is not strange that Mexican soccer is thinking about a new beginning, a clean slate and fresh start, a new phase. Historically, Mexican soccer has lived from those apparent new landscapes, new opportunities and new directions without any of them having led to the final road to success.

De la Torre, El Tri face make-or-break friendly

It’s not often that a friendly match takes on overtones of make-or-break, but given Mexico´s poor results of late, that may be the case when El Tri take on the Ivory Coast on Wednesday. What remains to be seen is if Mexican coach, Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre, has brought in energizing reinforcements to aid Mexico´s cause, or scapegoats on which to lay the blame should things continue to go badly.

Obviously, the first step toward correcting any problem is recognizing that one exists. That´s partly why it was both refreshing and encouraging to hear De la Torre admit in his latest press conference that he´s made mistakes and learned from those errors. The change was drastic from his previous defensive posturing, even if he didn´t detail what specifically he did wrong and what he planned to improve.

Some of that can be guessed at, though, by the evidence that De la Torre is now desperate enough to try something drastically different. He has called in two naturalized players - Damian Alvarez and Christian "Chaco" Gimenez.

Though naturalized players have been part of the national team throughout its history, there has always been controversy over the issue. That´s somewhat surprising, given that the game itself is naturalized, in a sense that the sport first grew out of Mexico´s European immigrant populations before being enthusiastically adopted by the population at large.

Yet there are now many Mexicans who simply do not accept the standard of FIFA eligibility for a naturalized citizen. Perhaps they would prefer that the Mexican presidential standard - natural-born citizen, with at least one natural-born citizen parent - also apply to players of the national team. For whatever reason, many of them complain and criticize naturalized players, and the negative attitude is not limited to certain fans. Media, prominent coaches and other players have regularly been vocal in their opposition to naturalized players, often cloaking their animosity in so-called support of "real Mexicans", as if naturalized players are somehow faking their new citizenship.

Alvarez previously saw only sixteen minutes of action last year as part of a 0-2 Mexico loss to Colombia. The left winger felt the blowback of negative attention so strongly, with some sectors even blaming him for the loss, that he publicly stated that he would hesitate before accepting another invitation, mentioning that he did not feel truly accepted or welcomed, but instead felt like more of a target.

Even though Alvarez is a solid player on the flank, De la Torre may have invited him partly to keep Gimenez from feeling isolated in his own debut. It´s likely that Gimenez is the player who can truly have the greatest impact on the national team. He´s the most experienced and talented naturalized player since Antonio "Zinha" Naelson. His distribution may be the missing link that puts the pieces of Mexico´s offensive puzzle together.

One option that Gimenez won´t have, though, is passing the ball to Mexico´s brightest star. Striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has been left out of the match due to a hamstring injury.

The Ivory Coast is a valid test for Mexico´s squad. Not only is the team ranked higher in the FIFA standings, but the majority of their stars, such as Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Salomon Kalou have made the trip to New Jersey to face the CONCACAF squad. The two teams have not played each other at senior international level. However, one of Mexico´s best performances this year came in a 2-2 draw versus Nigeria, another athletic team from Africa which, coincidentally, eliminated the Ivory Coast squad en route to winning the recent African Cup of Nations.

Rumors are currently swirling that despite the Mexican federation´s public support of De la Torre, he is actually on thin ice. A negative result in a friendly, that should merely be a warm-up act for the return to World Cup qualifying, could be his doom. That might explain De la Torre´s contrite admission of fault, as well as his reaching out to Alvarez and Gimenez. These actions could be nothing more than the despairing flailing of a drowning man. If things end badly against the Ivory Coast, De la Torre may have done nothing more for those two than to bring them down with him.

@Kayokay

Det er sgu da dansk humor...

Christian Andersen: “Me gustó que me digan Zidandersen”

Lima. El jugador guaraní la pasa bien en Matute, ya que a su presentación con victoria sobre Juan Aurich, le ha sumado las buenas impresiones que su juego dejó en los hinchas y la prensa, que no demoró en ponerle un apelativo en referencia a lo que mostró en la cancha.

“A quién no le va gustar que le digan un apelativo referido a Zinedine Zidane, él es un ídolo mundial y sabemos quién es él, lo que dio por el fútbol y me gusta lo de Zidandersen”, declaró Christian Andersen en rueda de prensa.

“La la verdad que estoy muy lejos del nivel de Zidane, pero estoy contento porque se trata del primer partido que estoy jugando y ya estoy agarrando ritmo”, continuó el volante creativo de Alianza Lima.

Andersen espera que conforme avancen los partidos, pueda alcanzar su mejor forma futbolística, ya que lo mostrado ante Juan Aurich solo fue un pincelazo.

hehe ja, det er lidt sjovt.

La la verdad que estoy muy lejos del nivel de Zidane

Der er kun en på Zidanes niveau i Peru og det er Andreeeeeeessssssss.

Ja Andrés " Por Qué ? " Mendoza er en ener....

Peru spiller om lit mod Sydkorea...

iøjeblikket spiller Uruguay mod Japan...

start opstilling....

4-1-2-1-2

Muslera, Pereira, Lugano, Godín, Cáceres - Gargano - Gonzalez, Rodriguez- Fotlán - Lodeiro, Suarez

2-0 Uruguay..doblete af Forlán...

Peru stiller op i 4-5-1

Fernandez - Rodriguez, Ramos, Advincula, Retamoso - Yotun, Ramirez, Manco, Cruzado, Guerrero - Pizzarro

pause i Japan 2-0 Uruguay...

Sydkorea burde have scoret et par mål - men redning på målstregen sikrer Peru 0-0....(endnu)

halvvejs gennem første halvleg - peruanerne har overlevet det første stormløb...0-0

total skydetelt i Suwon...koreanerne burde have scoret en 4, 5 stykker...


3-1 i Japan , Suarez med det tredje og Kagawa med reducering...

4-1 Uruguay - Álvaro Gonzalez....