Mexico

Aguirre Looks Ahead To 2009 Gold Cup

Mexico manager Javier Aguirre said Mexico's early-July calendar will be important for several reasons, and will be among the first opportunity U.S.-based Mexico supporters will have to see Aguirre's Tricolor side in person.

Apr 16, 2009 5:44:46 PM

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In 2001, Javier Aguirre took over a near-dead Mexico national team and breathed some life into it, and helped El Tri reach the 2002 World Cup.

But he also performed some magic in an international tournament as Mexico reached the Copa America 2001 final before losing 1-0 to host Colombia.

Back in charge of El Tri, Aguirre will have the task of revitalizing Mexico's chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup but will also try and restore Mexico's place atop CONCACAF. Aguirre will guide Mexico in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup as Mexico will try and win their first regional title since 2003.

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Aguirre's goals will be several: aside from making a run at the Gold Cup title, Mexico will have an ongoing qualifying campaign and will likely play before tens of thousands of their die-hard supporters.

“This year’s Gold Cup is key for the Mexican national team," Aguirre said in a release. "Apart from being the most well-known competition in the region, it will be part of a very important summer for our team, which has not only the Gold Cup, but also two World Cup (qualifying) matches and friendly games, finishing with a World Cup (qualifying) game against our archrival, the United States, at the Estadio Azteca on August 12. Also, we know for a fact we will have a lot of fan support in the cities where we’ll play in the United States.”

Mexico will play Gold Cup matches in Oakland, Houston and Phoenix during the group stage. Aguirre played a friendly in the Bay Area - at San Francisco's Candlestick Park - in 2002, while preparing for the World Cup. The match was Mexico's penultimate send-off game as El Tri beat Bolivia on May 16, 2002, by a 1-0 score - Francisco Palencia scored the only goal.

El Tri also played in the Bay Area earlier this year, a 1-0 loss to Sweden in January, and will return to the scene of the crime when El Tri play Nicaragua.

“The game against Nicaragua on July 5 will be very important because it will be our first game," Aguirre said. "It’s in the Bay Area, which has treated us very well in the recent past. Nicaragua will come very motivated, and in a tournament of this level we have to face each rival with a lot of respect.”

Mexico will play Panama in Houston, a venue Aguirre did not guide Mexico in during his first tenure as national team manager. Mexico and Panama will meet in Reliant Stadium on July 9.

“We have faced Panama’s national team on many occasions. This team has grown a lot in the past years, and it plays well," he said. "In a stadium like Houston, where there are a lot of fans, it will be important to get a good result in order to not leave everything up to the third game.”

Meanwhile, Mexico will close out the group stage with a match against Guadeloupe on July 12 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glenadale, Ariz. Aguirre has played in the Valley of the Sun before, when he led Mexico in a friendly encounter against Yugoslavia at then-Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. Yugoslavia won, 2-1.

Aguirre said he is looking forward to a return visit to Arizona, particularly against an opponent that gave Mexico fits in the last Gold Cup.

“Guadeloupe was Gold Cup’s surprise team in 2007 when it reached the semifinals," he said. "That’s why we know they will come extremely motivated to repeat history in this Cup’s edition. We are returning to Phoenix after a couple of years; we know that the support will be strong there as well.”

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