Winning Gold Cup Of Utmost Importance To Aguirre

Mexico manager Javier Aguirre said that winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup is a way for Mexico to regain some prestige.

Jun 24, 2009 9:49:18 AM

More On :  Mexico
Javier Aguirre- Mexico Manager (Tomas Fregoso)
Despite calling up an alternate squad for the Gold Cup, Mexican national team coach Javier “Vasco” Aguirre admitted to have learned his lesson for not having taken the regional tournament seriously in his previous stint with the Tricolor.

“The last time I played the Gold Cup, was as coach, and I must confess we used it as preparation for the World Cup (Korea-Japan 2002), since we were in the middle of qualifiers, and South Korea eliminated us via penalty kicks,” admitted Aguirre.
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Before the 2002 tournament, held from Jan. 18-Feb. 2 in Pasadena, Calif., Aguirre received criticism over the squad selection. In fact, only one player from Mexico's team that tournament - defender Francisco Gabriel De Anda - wound up making the World Cup squad.

In the Gold Cup, Mexico beat El Salvador and Guatemala in the group stage but lost to South Korea in the quarterfinals after a scoreless draw and penalties.

“I returned home after the Gold Cup thinking we had just played preparation games and to my surprise the (media) tore me a new one, asking me when are you quitting and what not,” recalled el Vasco of the treatment he received from the Mexican press. “It was then that I understood that the Gold Cup is indeed important so now our intention is to reach the final and win it.”

Winning the Gold Cup has become a priority for a Tricolor squad that has been suffering as of late. In the words of Aguirre Mexico needs to regain their prestige.


“Aside from making two or five thousand or whatever amount of dollars, aside from all of that is the prestige. Mexico needs to win some silverware and this Gold Cup is a good start,” continued the Tricolor boss.

Still, Aguirre was not without criticism for his squad selection this time around. El Tri's roster is short of European-based talent.

“That has been the perennial question, the European based players,” said Aguirre about his decision to only call up two players from abroad.

“Why are they here, they are bothersome, and now it is the other side of the coin, now the complain is why aren’t they here,” joked Aguirre.

The team has done well to incorporate home-grown talent, Aguirre said.

“Seeing that there is good material to work with in Mexico and in a way players that had been working and are now in pre-season it was easier to work with a home-based group,” explained Aguirre. “The European players are with their teams, in their pre-season, and they are few, each time we are less (Mexican’s abroad), in that sense it was easier to call up two or three players than the other way around."

Joel Aceves, Goal.com

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