2010 FIFA World Cup - Mexico
2010 FIFA World Cup - Mexico National Team
2010 FIFA World Cup Mexico National Team:
Goalkeepers:
1 Oscar PEREZ, 13 Guillermo OCHOA and
23 Luis MICHEL
Defenders:
2 Francisco RODRIGUEZ, 3 Carlos SALCIDO, 4 Rafael MARQUEZ, 5 Ricardo OSORIO,
12 Paul AGUILAR, 15 Hector MORENO, 16 Efrain JUAREZ and 19 Jonny MAGALLON
Midfielders:
6 Gerardo TORRADO, 8 Israel CASTRO, 18 Andres GUARDADO and 20 Jorge TORRES
Forwards:
7 Pablo BARRERA, 9 Guillermo FRANCO, 10 Cuauhtemoc BLANCO, 11 Carlos VELA, 14 Javier HERNANDEZ,
17 Giovani DOS SANTOS, 21 Adolfo BAUTISTA and 22 Alberto MEDINA
Coach:
Javier AGUIRRE
Top Players Cuauhtemoc Blanco (MEX), Rafael Márquez (MEX) and Giovanni dos Santos (MEX).
2010 FIFA World Cup Schedule & Scores
The star players
Veteran playmaker Cuauhtemoc Blanco is perhaps the player Mexico fans should thank for their side's turnaround. Lured out of retirement by Aguirre, the uniquely talented 36-year-old became the symbol of a revitalised team, helping younger team-mates such as Guillermo Ochoa, Efrain Juarez, Andres Guardado and Giovani dos Santos to find their best form. Along with skipper Rafael Marquez, they are sure to provide the nucleus of the squad that will travel to South Africa 2010.
The coach
Javier Aguirre is Mexico's most successful coach of recent times. After guiding the unfancied Pachuca to the league
championship in 1999, El Vasco was handed the job of reviving the national team's faltering bid to qualify for
Korea/Japan 2002. After doing just that, he then took the Mexicans to the top of a challenging group that contained
Italy, Croatia and Ecuador, though their Asian adventure came to an end with a last-16 defeat to USA.
After the tournament he signed a contract with Spanish club Osasuna, taking them to the UEFA Champions League in
2005/06. That impressive achievement led to a switch to Atletico Madrid, and though he steered Los Colchoneros into
fourth place in 2007/08, he was dismissed halfway through the following season, the wheel turning full circle again
when he took over a crisis-stricken Mexico. And having come to his country's rescue for a second time, the wily
Aguirre is eyeing a lengthy stay at South Africa 2010.
Previous FIFA World Cups
Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals 14 times in all, more than any other side from the CONCACAF Zone.
Mexico's achieved their best-ever performances in the finals as tournament hosts in 1970 and 1986, reaching the last eight
on both occasions.
South Africa 2010 is their fifth appearance in the finals in a row. On all four previous occasions they have bowed out in
the Round of 16.
Records
Under Javier Aguirre, Mexico went an impressive 12 games without defeat before losing 2-1 to Colombia in a friendly, a
game in which they used only home-based players.
The Mexico squad that earned qualification for South Africa 2010 contained four players who won the FIFA U-17 World Cup
Peru 2005: Giovani dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Efrain Juarez and Hector Moreno.
Surprisingly, there were no Mexicans among the top 20 scorers in the CONCACAF qualifying competition, although no fewer
than 18 Tricolor players found the back of the net at least once during the qualifiers.
Mexico - 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 - Mexico
The Favorites 2010 will be El Tri’s fifth successive finals appearance and they exited each of the last
four events in the second round. Opening the tournament against the hosts will be no small task, but a budding
crop of youngsters such as Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela may give the side enough pep to reach the
quarter-finals for the first time since 1986. Mexico, who were a seeded team at Germany 2006, went out to
Argentina in the second round yet only after Maxi Rodriguez’s extra time Goal of the Tournament.