Hecho en México
Posted on August 7, 2012 20:18
I had the pleasure a few years ago of producing Spanish-language Radio broadcasts for the Texas Longhorns. We always broadcast live from the site, so I had a great seat in the Rose Bowl when Texas defeated Southern Cal for the National Championship. It was a great moment for Longhorn fans everywhere, punctuated when Mack Brown lauded not only his team, but also praised high school football in the state of Texas.
I was thinking about that crisp January night in Pasadena today after Mexico defeated Japan, 3-1, to advance to the Men’s Olympic final, particularly how Mack felt about Texas High School Football. The Longhorns would not have lifted the crystal football if it wasn’t for Texas’ high school programs (let’s face it – Oklahoma has been using Texas High School football to build champions for years, but we’ll talk about that some other time) just like Mexico could not have made the final without help from the local clubs.
Then I heard Mexico’s coach, Luis Fernando “Flaco” Tena, praise the Liga MX for producing this moment. “This is a testament to the teams that have made the commitment to produce these kinds of players.” He added, “all we do is pick the best ones for us.”
Indeed.
Mexico’s Olympic side was composed of 18 players, 17 of which were reared in Mexico’s youth systems. The other joined Barcelona’s academy when he was 11 years old. Players like Oribe Peralta, who bounced around the league for a while before blossoming a little later than most in the Sonoran Desert. Few Mexican strikers have scored bigger goals in bigger games than Peralta over the past year, and he did it again today at Wembley to put Mexico in front.
Then there is Monterrey’s Hiram Mier, a defender that has anchored Rayados’ defense for the better part of the past two years, winning both league and continental titles. He is only 22. Mier’s defense partner, Diego Reyes is a undisputed starter at Club América. Over the past year, he has played in league games, the U20 World Cup, and Copa Libertadores matches- and he is still a teenager. We talked at length when last we spoke about Jorge Enríquez, who had another standout game in his breakout tournament. He hand his Chivas teammates Carlos Ponce and Marco Fabian fave been first team Chivas for a while.
I am not gonna lie. I drew extra satisfaction from Mexico’s last goal today, scored by a Pumas product, Javier Cortés. As much as I disliked it at the time, then Pumas coach, Tuca Ferretti played his kids almost exclusively in the Concachampions, and it’s where we saw glimpses of what we saw what Cortés could do. The Pumas midfielder had his coming out party in the 2011 Clausura, with clinching goals in both the semi-finals and the finals. He may have had a down year last season, but the talent was always there, and it bubbled up again at Wembley as he fought off a Japanese defender to ice the game with the third goal.
It’s all we ask for. Give the kids a chance – some clubs have, and the kids are responding. They responded today with authority after going down a goal early. In case you haven’t noticed, Mexico’s youth system has started to haul in some hardware. It is one of the reasons why I am so excited about the new Copa MX. I don’t really care who wins, but youngsters who may not otherwise see the field are going to play… and play a lot. 2nd division players who may not have had a clear path to a top flight career will get noticed. The better the local player, the better the league.
The better the national team.
I have always maintained that if the button pushers in Mexican soccer expended more energy focusing on the sporting aspect of their business as opposed to the economic one, the economic side of things would be much, much easier to maintain. Mexico still has a long way to go, there are still many, many things that can be better about the administration of the sport as a whole. There is no denying, however, that they are moving in the right direction – as evidenced by the impressive amount of hardware they have been collecting over the past few years.
Now they can add an Olympic medal to the haul.
John,
What is the rule in Liga MX about teams having to field youth players? I recall something about Mexican teams being required to field a U-something player. Or maybe I have a fuzzy memory.
The used to have the 20-11 rule, meaning teams were mandated to log a minimum number of minutes for players who were 21. Teams like Chivas and Pumas had no problem fulfilling the requirement, but others struggled to hit the number.
They did away with it last year.
Mexico is definitely coming to play these days.
Whats up with Mexico, they’re beating the crap out of everyone.
They drew Korea, had close wins over Gabon and Switzerland, needed extra time to beat Senegal and came from behind to beat Japan. Mexico’s been good but I don’t call that beating the crap out of people.
Somebody is jealous ^^^
Not really. I’ll be the first to admit Mexicos looked way better than we have, especailly at the youth level. I’m just saying you haven’t been blowing teams out and that wasn’t a super hard path of teams you had to go through. Congrats anyway. You’re getting atleast Silver we didn’t quallify.
laughable
It is not about “blowing teams out”, it’s about winning when it counts.
I’m not talking exclusively these Olympic games. And Korea made it to the semis, what’s wrong with drawing them on the first match? Senegal, Japan, Korea and Switzerland were legit teams and mexico lost to neither.
And they manhandled Turkey, rolled over Netherlands, drew France, killed Morocco… And that’s just Toulon.
Beat Argentina in the PanAm games final, Honduras in the CONCACAF qualifying final, Beat Colombia at their home U20 world cup, and snatched 3rd place from France at the same tourney.
See, this isn’t just the Olympic tournament. Its this generation of players that have been winning it all.
“No other side in the tournament had as much representation from the local league.”
Umm…Great Britain? I also think the UAE and Belarus players were all reared in local clubs. I’m pretty sure Najar, Espinoza and arguably Lozano are the only Honduran players who weren’t developed in the Honduran League system. Given Honduras’s size and resources that is a much bigger testemant to bottom-up development than what Mexico did.
You are right. Made the edit.
well put it this way, no other side using almost 100% local talent made it to the final.
ditto on Copa MX. I am thrilled about this. I am actually enjoying it more than the Concachampions. The intensity that the lower level clubs are displaying is really fun.
I have always been very reserved about my criticism on to the club owners because in the grand scheme of things, they do perform Herculean tasks. Where other nations have a supply line and can rely on government dollars producing talent (athletic programs), Mexican club owners incur those cost. Mexico’s level of investment in high school and college sports is lacking.
For that, I think we should be applauding these club owners.
I was always critical of the press labeling the lower divisions as “shameful” or “hell”….In my opinion, that is where the stars of tomorrow are formed. I am sure every player wants to play in the first division, but it shouldn’t be embarrassing to play in the lower divisions. I think the press had a role in suppressing the lower divisions for a long time by speaking ill of it. The press doesn’t need to be cheerleaders, but they should market the lower divisions in other ways to attract fans.
When the lower divisions get the respect they deserve, the TV deal it deserves, that is the day we will see new investors and I think we are starting to see it a little. Just like investors came in to buy San Luis from Televisa, we need more investors to go in and do big things with some of the lower division clubs. Copa MX may be the way to this.
Good read John
Thanks. I have learned a lot from you and other members of the BSMX community.
Copa MX is not perfect, and it could stand to undergo a few fundamental modifications, but I do think in the long run it will pay off big time for all involved. And then those in the Mexican Media who met the new competition with their expected extreme cynicism will furiously back pedal just like they did yesterday at the end of the semi-final match with Japan.
I just hope they stick with Copa MX. I always wondered why more wasn’t done to help out the lower divisions. It wasn’t just the press that denigrated Segunda or Primera A, I recall a certain prior Puebla owner calling it “un infierno”. And I’m thinking, wow, that can’t be good for business, especially in Puebla, where they’ve always had a great fan-base. Anyway, the FMF is famous for starting something like this and then dumping it.
I understand that the FMF has been known to start something, only to dump it.
But at the end of the day, we don’t see the balance sheet and the financial reports. I can not blame if they have to back out of a project if it is not panning out financially. Think of all the planning, preparation, and work some of these clubs do to start something, only to have it mocked, criticized, and deemed inferior by a no talent hack, disguised as a “reporter”.
I am telling you because I have seen it in person, there are many in Mexico’s press that root for failure and will do anything for ratings.
Like you, I recall numerous times where they refer to the 2nd division as “hell”. Are these reporters stupid? No one is asking them to market the lower divisions as La Liga, but at least for their sake…create some interest with the league and highlight some of the positive aspects of the league from time to time.
Yeah, I sometimes think people forget that the impressive players in El Tri were developed domestically and didn’t need to leave the country to hone their skills. If you’ll notice, the players only leave after displaying their skills in international tournaments.
They should still leave for Europe or elsewhere to learn the various systems used around the world but they don’t *need* to leave Mexico to attain a high level of skill. There are quality opponents playing in the Liga MX. Also, sometimes I think players think that being in Europe automatically bumps up their skill; it doesn’t. They need get playing time in order for that to happen.
Mexico has a potentially great generation of players coming up. Whether or not they can finally move from regional domination to being a major world player (consistently top 10, or even 5) will depend on the players’ ability to stay humble and their ability to deal with the pressure that the expectations of the Mexican public and media will place on them. Good luck.
Interesting that the 4 best prepared teams of the tournament made it all the way to the semis. Mexico had the best process out of those teams and now we’re only 1 game away from the gold.
John como que confundiste a Miguel Ponce con un Puertorriqueño que hace comerciales de seguros para automoviles lol.
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