[colocolo]

Bolivia squad for friendly with Mexico

LA PAZ, May 9 (DS) - Bolivia national team coach Carlos Leonel Trucco named 19-man squad for friendly with Mexico on May 16.
Goalkeepers: Carlos Arias (Blooming) and Jose Carlo Fernandez (Bolivar).
Defenders: Percy Colque (Bolivar); Miguel Hoyos (Oriente Petrolero); Yonny Nay (Wilstermann); Neil Rivero (Guabira); Oscar Sanchez (Bolivar); and Eduardo Jiguchi (Wilstermann).
Midfielders: Edgar Olivares (Bolivar); Franz Calustro (Union Central); Limberg Gutierrez (Blooming); Raul Gutierrez (Blooming); Diego Bengolea (San Jose); Javier Guzman (Wilstermann); and Miguel Mercado (Bolivar).
Forwards: Gonzalo Galindo (Bolivar); Augusto Andaveris (Wilstermann); Lider Paz (Oriente Petrolero); and Jose Alfredo Castillo (Oriente Petrolero).

 

[hootchio]

!Mexico! chances at the World Cup 2002

Mexico va ganar o va ir al segundo round.

 

[Tricolor]

Is this Bolivia's First team?

 

[colocolo]

Is Mexico going to win ... or advance to the second round ??

Im lost here....Win in the first round and advance ??? Win the Whole Enchilada....Or just advance to the next level ???
Can you rephrase this here again ??? BTW...welcomed to the Boards

 

[colocolo]

Unimpressive Mexico beat experimental Colombia

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -

Mexico, fielding a total of 19 players, scrambled an unimpressive 2-1 win over an experimental Colombian team in their last home match before the World Cup.

Monaco defender Rafael Marquez scored the winner in the 75th minute, only seven minutes after coming on as a substitute, with a header after Cuauhtemoc Blanco had flicked on a free kick taken by Gerardo Torrado.

Mexico gave few clues about their possible World Cup team as a number of players who would expect to start -- including Blanco, Marquez, veteran Alberto Garcia Aspe and midfielder Gerardo Torrado -- all began on the bench.

It was a lukewarm send-off with only around 50,000 people at the 110,000-capacity Azteca stadium, which staged the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals.

Colombia, who failed to qualify for Japan and South Korea, were without any of their top foreign-based players such as striker Juan Pablo Angel, defenders Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Jorge Bermudez, goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba and midfielders Mauricio Serna and Freddy Grisales.

The game was preceeded by a tribute to veteran defender Claudio Suarez, the world's most capped international with 170 appearances, who will miss the World Cup after breaking his leg during training at the start of April.

Suarez, 33, had been due to play at his third World Cup.

Mexico were unable to impose themselves in a scrappy and disjointed first half.

The game livened up after Blanco, who last year threatened to boycott the national team in a row over a plane ticket, came on at halftime.

Seven minutes into the second half, the volatile striker broke down the left and passed to striker Jared Borgetti who opened the scoring.

Oscar Restrepo equalised following a counter-attack before Marquez saved the day for Mexico, who face Croatia, Ecuador and Italy in their first round group.

 

[colocolo]

Mexico player penpics

MEXICO CITY, May 13 (AFP)
Penpics for key players of World Cup Group G contenders Mexico:

CUAUHTEMOC BLANCO
Age: 29
Position: Striker
Club: Valladolid (Spa)
Made a name for himself in France 98 with the 'cauteminha' a trick where he jumps over tackles with the ball trapped between his own feet.
But Blanco is not just a show pony but his country's most dangerous striker - when he puts his mind to it.
He fell out with coach Javier Aguirre and the Mexican Federation earlier this year when he had a row over travel expenses. When he was welcomed back into the squad reports said that the player was overweight.
Has a tendancy to shoot from all angles but has one of the most powerful shots in the game.
Scored in France 98 against Belgium and struck up a fine understanding with Luis Hernandez who bagged four goals in that tournament.
Spent last season with Spain's Valladolid but will be moving in the summer although his destination remains unknown.

CLAUDIO SUAREZ
Age: 33
Position: defender
Club: Tigres
His participation in the World Cup is in doubt after he broke a fibula in April but if he does not go to Japan Mexico will have to do without a player whose experience on the international stage is quite simply unrivalled in the world.
Suarez has amassed more caps than any other player in the history of the game, eclipsing the previous record of Egyptian forward Hossam Hassan and will hope to add to that tally in Japan.
His current tally stands at 170, having made his bow in 1992 against El Salvador for 'the Aztecs'.
His authoritative displays in defence have earned him the nickname 'El Emperador' (the emperor) and in the Mexico national team he has struck up a formidable partnership in central defence with Rafael Marquez, who plays his club football with French first division outfit Monaco.
If he makes the World Cup - doctors are optimistic as the break was a clean one - he will be competing in his third World Cup.
Off the field he is eloquent - his shy understated manner often contrasting with the imperious figure who marshalls the defence on it.

ALBERTO GARCIA ASPE
Age: 35
Position: Midfielder
Club: Puebla
With Mexico's World Cup qualification campaign in jeopardy newly-installed coach Javier Aguirre immediately re-called Aspe to national colours and the midfielder duly lifted his country to qualify for the finals for the 13th time.
Competing in his third World Cup he is the playmaker of the Mexico team in Aguirre's preferred 4-4-2 system and as captain is undisputed team leader - he was recently presented with the national flag by the country's president Vicente Fox.
A fiery charactar the main weakness in his game is his temper which has earned him numerous red cards in his career.
Showed his Jekyll and Hide character in the semi-final of last year's Copa America - Central Americans Mexico were invitees at the South American tournament.
Having scored the winner from the penalty spot he was then sent off for a needless foul in the closing stages and suspended from the final where Mexico lost to Colombia.
Was also recently dismissed in a friendly with the United States. Likes to unveil message t-shirts when he scores - one during the Copa America had the Virgin Mary on it - but that practice has been recently banned by football chiefs.
Has spent most of his playing career in his homeland but did have a stint in Argentina with famous Buenos Aires club River Plate.

:cap:

 

[SZeppelin75]

23 player squad for Mexico

Does anybody know the 23 men that are going to play for Mexico in the WC?

 

[colocolo]

I dont believe the Official Roster is out yet..Im sure Aguirre is waiting for the Libertadores to go into hiatus this week before making the final decision.
At Any rate the info will be FOUND for sure in the Strictly Mexican Nat's thread, where this one is going to.
Check it by the weekend of May 19 ..

 

[colocolo]

05/16/2002.

Bolivia will travel to San Francisco, California, to take on the Aztecas of Mexico. The match will be played on Thursday evening at 3Com Park (Formally known as Candlestick Park). Mexico has begun their World Cup preliminaries matches, starting with a victory over Colombia on Sunday, in the Estadio Azteca of Mexico City. Bolivia is bringing an experimental squad, to help reformat their disappointing performance in the South American World Cup qualifiers.

TEAM NEWS AND FORMGUIDE
Bolivia: FIFA Rank: 70
National team coach Carlos Trucco has called for 19 players from the Bolivian domestic leagues to participate in this match. Some have rumoured that Trucco would contact both Jamie Moreno and Marco Etcheverry, because of they both play in the US. However, the team has been together since May 8th and hasn't been any word from Washington D.C. that the two would play. Bolivia has only beaten Mexico once in their last 6 meetings and that was when the Bolivians hosted the 97 Copa America. This match will be a very difficult for the Bolivians to take the match from the Mexicans.

Bolivian Roster:
Goalkeepers: Carlos Arias (Blooming), Jose Carlo Fernandez (Bolivar)

Defenders: Percy Colque (Bolivar), Miguel Hoyos (Oriente Petrolero), Yonny Nay (Wilstermann), Neil Rivero (Guabira), Oscar Sanchez (Bolivar), Eduardo Jiguchi (Wilstermann)

Midfielders: Edgar Olivares (Bolivar), Franz Calustro (Union Central), Limberg Gutierrez (Blooming), Raul Gutierrez (Blooming), Diego Bengolea (San Jose), Javier Guzman (Wilstermann), Miguel Mercado (Bolivar)

Forwards: Gonzalo Galindo (Bolivar), Augusto Andaveris (Wilstermann), Lider Paz (Oriente Petrolero), Jose Alfredo Castillo (Oriente Petrolero)


Mexico: FIFA Rank: 7
Javier "El Vasco" Aguirre appears to still be tinkering with El Tri, especially after looking very flat in the first half against Colombia. However El Tri, Jared Borgetti and Rafael Marquez, second half substitutions added a little bit of Salsa to El Tri and Mexico was able to defeat Colombia. The situation for Luis Hernandez is looking very bleak, as his contributions are very small to say the least. Now with Francisco Palencia coming into the fold, Hernandez might be going to Japan as a cheerleader.

Mexico Roster:
Goalkeepers: Óscar Pérez (CDSC Cruz Azul), Jorge Campos (Pumas UNAM), Oswaldo Sánchez (UA de Guadalajara)

Defenders: Manuel Vidrio (Pachuca CF), Francisco Gabriel de Anda (Pachuca CF), Melvin Brown (CDSC Cruz Azul), Alberto Rodríguez (Pachuca CF), Rafael Márquez (AS Monaco FC), Salvador Carmona (CD Toluca)

Midfielders: Gabriel Caballero (Pachuca CF), Sigifredo Mercado (CF Atlas), Germán Villa (Club América), Alberto García Aspe (Puebla FC), Joahan Rodríguez (Club Santos Laguna), Ramón Morales (UA de Guadalajara), Braulio Luna (CID Necaxa), Gerardo Torrado (Sevilla FC), Rafael García (CD Toluca)

Forwards: Jesús Arellano (CF Monterrey), Juan Francisco Palencia (RCD Espanyol), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Real Valladolid), Luis Hernández (Club América), Jared Borgetti (Club Santos Laguna)

:cap:

 

[colocolo]

Mexico 1, Bolivia 0

May 17, 2002


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

Mexico edged Bolivia 1-0 Thursday night in its last tuneup before heading to the World Cup.

Francisco Palencia, a halftime substitute, scored in the 47th minute before a crowd of 37,217 at Candlestick Park.

Four days ago, Mexico played at home and beat Colombia 2-1 but drew jeers from its fans for its unimpressive play.

The World Cup runs from May 31-June 30 in South Korea and Japan. Mexico is grouped with Croatia, Italy and Ecuador. In 1998, Mexico was eliminated from the World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Germany.

On Thursday night, the winning goal came when halftime substitute Cuauhtemoc Blanco passed down the left side to Palencia. Palencia sliced between two defenders and beat Bolivian goalkeeper Carlos Eguez.

Eight minutes later, Blanco had a chance from the top of the box with a shot through traffic. Equez bobbled the ball but managed to control it.

Bolivia's best chance came in the 16th minute when Augusto Andaveris had a goal disallowed after he was ruled offside. Another chance came with eight minutes left when Ruben Tufino, who played at the University of South Carolina, fired a 40-yard free kick wide of the goal.

 

[colocolo]

Mexico beats AC Milan in World Cup tuneups

LOS ANGELES, May 19 (AFP)

Braulio Luna and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored two minutes apart early in the first half and Mexico defeated AC Milan 2-1 here Sunday in a final tuneup for the World Cup.
Luna scored on a header in the ninth minute and Blanco followed two minutes later. Serginho halved the margin in the 55th minute but Mexico held on to make a triumphant finish to training matches for the 32-team football showdown.
Mexico will compete in Group G along with Italy, Croatia and Ecuador.

 

[colocolo]

Mexico squad

World Cup 2002
22 May 2002

Goalkeepers: Oscar Perez (Cruz Azul), Jorge Campos (UNAM), Oswaldo Sanchez (Guadalajara).


Defenders: Francisco Gabriel de Anda (Pachuca), Melvin Brown (Cruz Azul), Alberto Rodriguez (Pachuca), Manuel Vidrio (Pachuca), Rafael Marquez (Monaco, France), Salvador Carmona (Toluca).


Midfielders: Rafael Garcia (Toluca), Sigifredo Mercado (Atlas), Ramon Morales (Guadalajara), Gabriel Caballero (Pachuca), German Villa (America), Alberto Garcia Aspe (Puebla), Gerardo Torrado (Sevilla, Spain), Johan Rodriguez (Santos), Braulio Luna (Necaxa)


Forwards: Francisco Palencia (Barcelona, Spain), Jesus Arellano (Monterrey), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Valladolid, Spain), Jared Borgetti (Santos), Luis Hernandez (America).

 

[Carson35]

SA Comment: Mexicans Confident of Group G Success
News Archive

To the second round we go! (Allsport)
05/25/2002. 05/25/2002. Mexican sports programming has spent every night over the past several months examining every aspect of their seleccion in relation to the other teams in Group G. On any given night, a program may comment on anything involving Croatia, Ecuador and Italy, from Boksic's thigh to Ecuador's midfield to Maldini's hair. The programs show the oppositions' press conferences, departing flights, and their friendly match results as if they were Mexico's very own side.

Amid the nightly World Cup hoopla, the Mexican media machine seems determined to get one thing clear; Mexico must advance to the second round. And in fact, most Mexicans seem quite confident that the task will be done.

How can Mexico be so certain of its seleccion, a scrappy team that qualified only through a do or die qualifying finale?

El Tri's resurgence under Coach Javier Aguirre appears to be the leading cause of Mexico's confidence. Aguirre took over El Tri in crisis. Mexico had earned only four points after completing half of their qualifying matches. At that time, earning a spot in the World Cup seemed highly unlikely.

But Aguirre brought instant results; a win against the United States followed by a win against Jamaica brought Mexico back in qualifying range. Under Aguirre, Mexico dauntingly earned 13 points in its final five qualifying matches to secure its trip to World Cup 2002.

Although Aguirre is often criticized for the apprehensive style that he drills into his team, the results would suggest that he knows how to win with the product that is available to him. He relies heavily on his defense to not only defend, but to also initiate attacks.

Aguirre's defensive center piece, Rafael Marquez, may be the true toast of Mexico's squad. At only 23, Marquez just completed his third year in the French First Division at Monaco. He is a tough tackler, terrific on free kicks and can play the ball well too. Real Madrid made an inquiry into Marquez before, and a strong World Cup should make a top level Spanish Liga team takers on his services.

Another reason why Mexican media and aficionados alike are confident of their team's World Cup success is due to their European refined front line. Together, Mexico City natives Francisco Palencia <../04/14088.html> and Cuauhtémoc Blanco <../04/10322.html> make up the strongest Mexican front line in recent memory. Whereas Mexico's sole threat was Hugo Sanchez in World Cup '86, Palencia and Blanco can both play effective striker, support striker or attacking midfielder roles, making them harder to mark than one dangerous striker.

Of the two forwards, Francisco Palencia is currently in better form. He saw plenty of action in Spain's La Liga this year, netting 6 times with Barçelona's Espanyol, and was often a formidable accomplice to bomber Raul Tamudo.

Palencia, 29, earned recognition in last year's Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors. He was dangerous in both legs of the final and scored in the return leg in the Bombonera to carry his Mexico City side to a penalty shootout against the heavily favored Argentines. Although Cruz Azul lost the shootout, Palencia's play earned him a ticket to Spain. Palencia has returned from his year abroad in better physical condition, a more dangerous ball handler and a more skilled finisher.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco too played in Spain's La Liga, completing his second full season at Valladolid. He however found the net only three times in an up and down season. Aguirre received the former Club America (Mexico) player in bad physical condition and seemingly out of form. Since Blanco's early May return to the national side, he has found his sharp form once again. Many consider the 29 year old to be more creative than Palencia, thus making him Aguirre's most valuable asset.

In Group G, however, Mexico finds no easy prey. Making it to the second round will be a testament to the development of Mexican football. The fact that many Mexicans remain confident despite their group being labeled by some "the mini group of death", goes to show how confident Mexicans are as to their football's growth.

Against Croatia, many believe that a draw or a win is a possible result. Mexico was hammered by Yugoslavia in a "Croatian simulation" friendly back in February, but it was without its aforementioned Europe based talent. The loss of centerpiece Igor Tudor along with the ageing Croatian attack has only made the conviction firmer.

Mexico's second round equation is virtually incalculable without a victory against its next opponent, Ecuador. Ecuador finished second in Conmebol qualifying and should be capable of putting up a fight. Still, most expect Mexico to win. The belief is that Mexico will use its World Cup experience to beat the untested Ecuadorian side at a familiar Latin American style game.

Then, many feel Mexico can squeeze out a draw against Italy. The hope is that Italy is already qualified for the second round and plays in its classical "this match means nothing to us" mindset.

If things go wrong and Mexico doesn't reach the second round, the people will be saddened, but they will never give up on their team. Not a chance. And in four years, the confident national press will fuel a confident nation and all will look upon the national team to appease its masses once again.

soccerage

 

[Tricolor]

Thanx for posting this post Carson35. Found it a good read and it is exactly how i feel. I feel very confident Mexico will advance to the next round.

 

[colocolo]

Si se Puede....Without a doubt in my mind.....

 

[colocolo]

Mexico cancels World Cup warm-up match

TOKYO, May 28 (AFP)
Mexico has cancelled a World Cup warm-up match against a Fukui prefecture selection team, an official in their training base said Tuesday.
The match had been set for Tuesday in Mikuni Town in Fukui prefecture, some 320 kilometres (198 miles) west of Tokyo.
"The Mexican side has told us they had to cancel it to adjust players' conditions and tactics," the official said.
Mexico takes on Croatia in their first World Cup match on June 3 in Group G, which also includes Italy and Ecuador.

:cap:

 

[colocolo]

FIFA reduces Arellano suspension !!!!!

30 May 2002, 21:28 Seoul - Tokyo

FUKUI, Japan (AP) - Mexico's Jesus Arellano will only miss one World Cup game, after FIFA reduced the Mexican midfielder's two-game suspension Thursday.
"I've just received the news, and honestly, this totally changes me," Arellano said. "I'm very happy. I could barely sleep while I waited for the ruling. But now it's official."

Arellano picked up the suspension when he got into a shoving match with a Costa Rican opponent in Mexico's penultimate qualifying game. But Mexican officials later appealed the decision.

The Mexican midfielder was included on the final roster although it wasn't clear if he would be available for more than one match.

Arellano will miss Mexico's opening Group G match, but is expected to play in the team's second match against Ecuador on June 9.

Mexico has another player suspended _ the only team in the 32 missing two players. Midfielder Johan Rodriguez will miss the Croatia game after being suspended in the last qualifier against Honduras, which Rodriguez called a "dumb play."

 

[Tricolor]

Great news!!!

 

[IVO]

Tricolor, I guess you're the only Mexican at XT? Too bad, the more the merrier.

Good luck on June 3rd, you guys are confident and we're confident so I'm sure it's gonna be a great game to watch!

 

[Tricolor]

yes i am the only one Im sure more will come eventually:depress: ,

Yes it will be a great game to watch!

Colo Colo makes up for the people that are not here