Chapter 126 Low-key Mexico

Chapter 126 Low-key Mexico

The Mexican team has advanced to the World Cup finals 14 times, and this is their fifth consecutive World Cup knockout round. Compared with the much-anticipated rival Belgium, the Mexican team appears to be very low-key.

Compared with the Belgian team, which is always coming and going, the whereabouts of the Mexican team can be called "secret". For this World Cup, they arranged their training ground at the University of Waterston in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. Not far away, the environment is quiet, and the surrounding terrain is very suitable for closed training.

Prior to this, the Mexican team had been playing the role of a second-rate team in the final stage of the World Cup. If they were not about to face the Belgian team led by the popular star Digan, most reporters would not have too much interest in this "cactus" .

In the fourth 1/8 final of the World Cup in South Africa, the last 15 minutes of public training before the game, the Mexican team, which lacked attention, was completely incomparable with Belgium, Argentina and other world powers in terms of the number of reporters and their posture.

Of course, the 15-minute training will not have too much content. The head coach Aguirre is almost walking without looking at the players. He looks full of thoughts, his expression is serious, and he is discussing something with the two assistant coaches.

The team members seemed very silent, and the atmosphere was a little dull. It could be seen that they were a little nervous about facing Belgium led by Digan.

The biggest player in the Mexican team is Marquez who plays for Barcelona. He is unsmiling during training and looks a bit alone. His teammates are also in charge of their own affairs. The Mexican captain's domineering seems to be a little lacking.

As if to vent this tense atmosphere, head coach Aguirre made an exception in an interview: "We need to focus on our minds, which is more important than venting our enthusiasm. Only by keeping calm can we have a chance to beat Belgium. With a talent like Degan, we have to be smart and not let ourselves go crazy, if we can play team football, then we can deal with Degan's individual skills."

Aguirre hopes that this time the Mexican team can go further in the non-local World Cup. Thankfully, the current Mexican team has a wider vision than when he was a player.

In this Mexican team, 10 people played in the European League, including Arsenal striker Vela, Barcelona's Marcos and the 22-year-old striker Hernandez who just signed with Manchester United.

While he rejuvenated the team and recruited these young players, he also recovered the 37-year-old veteran Blanco as the team's pinnacle.

Although this fat "leapfrog man" is not as brave as he used to be, and he was caught smoking by TV cameras, but in this World Cup, he can always organize the Mexican team's offense in an orderly manner every time he plays. An inadvertent pass is deadly. In the group match against France, it was his penalty kick that sealed the victory for Mexico.

For the Mexican players and fans, it is Aguirre himself who can make them look forward to "playing to the fifth game".

Since he took over the mess left by Eriksson last year, the Mexican team finally ended the nightmare in the fourth stage of the qualifiers, going all the way to South Africa and reaching the top 16. Because of Aguirre, they reinvented themselves, no longer afraid of failure, no longer depressed, no longer bickering with each other.

When he was ordered in danger, Aguirre once said that the team's first goal and perhaps the most difficult one is to get a ticket to South Africa. Now, they have overfulfilled the task.

When the Mexican team won the second place in the group, they had already realized that they would face the mighty Belgium in the round of 16 finals. However, coach Aguirre said today that they were never afraid of the Belgian team: "We will fight against Belgium in this round of competition." Beat them in the game, you will not be intimidated by them, there is no doubt that this is a strong dialogue, we will compete with the Belgian team, we have been waiting for the opportunity to beat the Belgian team, and now the opportunity has come, our players are currently in state Very good, we have the strength to win the knockout round. Of course, we must also admit that the Belgian team is in a very excited and high-spirited state. The three group games played smoothly and easily. They are a strong team. It's very clear, so a Belgian team that is in great form will be stronger."

However, Aguirre does not think that his team has no chance: "The Mexican team is also full of fighting spirit. There has never been a strictly defined strength or weakness in football. Our purpose is very clear, to block the attack of the Belgian team. One point, I'm pretty confident."

Regarding the question of who will guard Digan, Aguirre said with a smile: "The Mexican team is a very powerful whole and will never be divided. The threat of the Belgian team does not only come from Messi. What we need to do is Consider it all."

Although the Mexican team has been very low-key before, it is not difficult to see from Aguirre's words that they have strong self-confidence, and strong self-confidence is the mental strength necessary for the Mexican team to defeat the Belgian team.

"We must strive to surpass the Belgian team, although they are considered favorites to win the championship." Dos Santos, the team's offensive core, said in an interview, "This will not be a one-sided game. We are evenly matched in strength, I believe We can win the game if we put our minds to it, Degan is the best player in the world, but Belgium has only one Degan, Belgium can't win the game with Degan, so we have to be smarter and not run wild with him, we Rely on the overall defense to contain Degan's offense."

For this game, Mexican President Felipe Calderon also personally went to South Africa to cheer for the players. The president of the Mexican Football Association vowed to assure their president that the Mexican team will play at least five World Cup games.

"That's our commitment, at least five games, maybe more."

For a team that is not favored by many people and has only reached the semi-finals of the World Cup once in their team history, such a promise is obviously too bold.

However, the team's coach Aguirre is not worried about this. He said that no matter who the opponent in the knockout stage is, the Mexican team will go all out: "Even if the opponent is Belgium, we are fine, it will be a game. Very good game, we are not afraid of Belgium, we will prepare for the game against Belgium like any other team, I know it will be very difficult against Belgium, but we will try our best to win."

In the World Cup in Germany four years ago, the Mexican team played against Argentina in the round of 16. In the case of a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, the opponent's Maxi Rodriguez's goal in extra time " lore".

Four years have passed, and the Mexican team once again advanced to the knockout round. This time they have to face the European Red Devils Belgium, which is stronger than Argentina.

The performance of the Mexican team in the previous group stage was mediocre, and the goal was always not accurate enough. Although the individual ability of this team is outstanding, the overall coordination and the ability to seize opportunities are obviously difficult to compare with Belgium. The small-scale cooperation is very good, and the advancing speed is fast, especially in the fast counterattack, they can often tear through the opponent's defense line through weird passes and cuts. However, facing Belgium, which has a balanced offensive and defensive capabilities, can they gain something?

Compared with the strong offensive power, the defense is the weakness of the Mexican team. Although there are stars like Marquez in charge, the overall defense of the Mexican team is still not strong. Aguirre sounded the alarm to the players early: "From Starting now, one mistake can send Mexico home."

Just like Aguirre said, the Mexican team must first ensure that they do not make mistakes in order to go further and complete the goal of at least five games as stated by the President of the Mexican Football Association.

But no one seems to believe them, unless they can pass the Belgian team led by Digan in the quarter-finals. The Mexicans seem to be at a disadvantage.

At this time, only the Mexican team can give themselves courage and confidence. They need to use this victory to write their new chapter.

Mexico's best record in the World Cup was the sixth place in 1970 and 1986, but they were the hosts in those two times. Their best result in the non-local World Cup was only 11th. This time, Facing the menacing Belgian team in the quarter-finals, how easy is it to get through?

"Well, I admit that the Belgian team is very strong, they have the best players in the world, but so what? Should we give up trying?" said Mexico captain Marquez, "Mexicans always have a Subconscious pessimism, but please give us some trust, we will repay our fans with practical actions, and change their pessimistic thinking when facing a strong enemy. If we want Mexico to become stronger, then we must give it a strong Support, not pessimism, and we also have the confidence to work hard to win."

If they want to win, the Mexicans have a huge problem that cannot be avoided, that is Degan. How to defend against him has become the key to whether the Mexicans can continue to move forward.

When Belgium faced the South Korean team in the group stage, even if the Koreans used the "human sandbag" marking tactics, they could not stop Degan from showing off.

"There is only one way, and that is to give him a shot." Mexican captain Marquez, who has had teaching experience with Degan several times, said with a smile. Of course, this was just a joke of his. I have played against him a few times, it is unimaginable. To be honest, he is really strong. It is very difficult to guard him. As long as the football is under his feet, it is difficult to be snatched away. It is really too difficult to freeze Digan. , especially when he has the ball, he can change direction suddenly in any situation, we all know how good Degan is, he is the best player in the world, very talented, can change the rhythm of the game in an instant, it is difficult for someone It can well limit him and restrain his performance. Facing a genius like Degan, we must rely on the overall cooperation to limit his skills. What we have to try is to reduce the space for his activities and invest more players To assist the defense, since it is difficult to grab the ball from his feet, we must try to let him touch the ball as little as possible, and try to limit his possession opportunities."

At the same time, Marquez also pointed out that the Belgian team is not invulnerable: "In terms of attack, they are the best team in this World Cup, but they also have weaknesses. It's very thin, we will use as many destructive defenses as possible, look for opportunities in the counterattack, and, I believe our ball control ability is not worse than theirs."

"I will be 35 years old in the next World Cup. I may not be able to fight for my country anymore. I want to enjoy every game in the World Cup and enjoy the days with my teammates." The game became his swan song in the World Cup, "Mexico has missed the top 8 of the World Cup for a long time, and we are only one step away from making history. I think the team is in good shape now, and we must win."

Facing the powerful opponent of Belgium, the Mexican team is likely to make some changes in the formation of troops. Franco is the main striker of the Mexican team in the South Africa World Cup group stage, but his performance is not satisfactory. , No goals, both the media and the fans questioned the employment of coach Aguirre.

In this campaign, Aguirre may adopt outside suggestions and take Franco out of the lineup and replace him with the much-anticipated "Little Pea" Hernandez.

It is reported that when the Mexican team conducted a closed tactical exercise two days ago, Franco had entered the substitute side, and his position was replaced by Hernandez, who scored a wonderful goal against the French team.

The 22-year-old Hernandez, who has signed for Manchester United, has outstanding skills and extremely fast speed. He came off the bench in all three games of the group stage. Although his playing time is limited, he has repeatedly played well, which is in stark contrast to Franco. .

In addition, the 21-year-old forward Vela, who played for Arsenal, missed the last game of the group stage due to a thigh tendon injury. However, his injury has recovered very smoothly and he is now able to train with the whole team. comeback.

The fourth game of the 1/8 finals is about to start. The two teams who finished the last training before the game returned to the locker room. Fans began to flock to the stands, filling the entire stadium. The Mexicans are looking forward to creating a new history. The Belgians are looking forward to their team under the leadership of Degan to make up for the regrets of four years ago.