Con mas ganas que futbol..

To quote the great Norberto Longo, whom I grew up hearing calling football matches, "Mexico gano con mas ganas que futbol". Indeed, Mexico's two-nil victory over Japan was more will power than a clear display of football prowess in the field. In the end a win is a win is a win.

Miguel Basulto

"The night before the match I had visualized that I scored a goal and the first thing I did, after scoring, was run to the bench and celebrate with my teammates," Miguel Basulto (no.6) told RECORD newspaper after scoring the match winner in Mexico's one-nil victory over Brazil at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Basulto is part of the six man Chivas de Guadalajara contingent in the Tricolor squad. Along with Basulto is team captain Kristian Alvarez, Goalkeeper Jose Rodriguez, defender Jairo Gonzalez, silky midfielder Abaraham Coronado (who was MOTM against Brazil) and Martin Ponce that are sure to one day make their was into Guadalajara's first team.

Marado 10

Looks like Maradona will have his owns suds although he is not involved with the brewery that is making the beer. Marado 10 is a product of Cerveceria Revolucionaria from Guadalajara Mexico and they plan on making more futbol themed beers as part of their liga cervecera line-up.

Unlucky 13

Match Week 13 of the Mexican Torneo Apertura proved to be unfavorable for my beloved Chivas de Guadalajara which fell 1-0 against archrivals America at the Azteca stadium. Chivas have now droped to third place of Group 2 stadings with 15 points and a minus 6 goal differential!

While Chivas is only two points behind second-place San Luis they are only one point ahead of cross-town rivals Atlas and two points of newcomers Gallos Blancos. Group leaders Toluca sit comfortably in first with 26 points. Toluca's coach is of course Jose "Chepo" de la Torre who last guided Chivas to a league title; ironically against the Diablos Rojos.

Needles to say Chivas has not been the same since Chepo was ousted. Worse yet is that the team has missed out in the last two league playoffs and missing for a third time is not out of the question. The question now remains what went wrong aside from Vergara going through a Merry-go-Round of coaches.

The Chivas Supermo already admited that having brough Jared Borgetti and Carlos Ochoa, last season, caused a disturbance in the lockeroom. However, neither Borgetti or Ochoa went to the media or were ever involved in any scandal. The Borg never complained despite being benched and Ochoa never lashed out despite being unjustly sent to the club's reserve team.

Obviously Chivas problem resides in the chaos created with the constant change of head coach. The tinkering with the teams line up, players losing continuity, tactical changes, etc have all led to the clubs downfall. The only hope that remains is that the latest changes; Raul Arias at the helm and Rafael Lebrija as sporting director, will straighten the club's path.

Cesar "Chelito" Delgado

I had all but forgotten about Cesar "Chelito" Delgado who at one time was regarded as the Mexican league's best player. Then he makes his prescence be known with a late goal to give Lyon a surprise 2-1 win over Liverpool FC. "I had scored goals before but none as important as this one," Delgado told uefa.com.

Delgado's most important goal, however, would have been his 87th minute strike against Brazil in the 2004 Copa America final. That goal had all but given Argentina the championship win until Adriano's equalizer three minutes into overtime. Brazil would go on to win the Cup via penalty kicks.

Carlos Pavon

Carlos Pavon Plummer went from zero to hero in the space of a few days whilst juggling the fate of his countries World Cup qualifying hopes. In a must-win home match against the United States the Honduran striker missed a crucial penalty kick shot that would have rescued a tie.

Pavon made up for it in El Salvador by scoring the match winner which ultimately sent the Catrachos to South Africa putting an end to over 20 years of missing out on the FIFA World Cup.

Hector Moreno

The AZ Akmaar defender, who was a member of the Mexican National U-17 team that won the 2005 U-17 World Cup held in Peru, finally managed to get some playing time in Mexico's two-goal draw against Trinidad & Tobago.

Moreno, who has been receiving call-ups since Javier Aguirre took over, patiently waited for his time to take the field. Moreno had a decent showing but his height (185m) and physical presnce should make him a suitable back up for either Rafael Marquez or Ricardo Osorio.

Operation Save Nery

The latest news making the rounds is of Nery Castillo joining my beloved Chivas de Guadalajara, on loan, after the winter transfer window opens. This same news had me reeling in excitement almost two years ago and nothing happened. This time round, however, Nery is in a tight spot and it is more than likely that he will indeed play in the Mexican league..

Nos Vamos al Mundial

Mexico qualifies to the WC.. I shall update later, a celebrar se dijo..

El Gatillero Palencia

Francisco Palencia was supposed to be one of Mexico's top players during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Cruz Azul midfielder had a breakthough performance in the 2000-2001 Copa Libertadores which landed him a contract with La Liga outfit RCD Espanyol.

However, Palencia never got much of a chance to play with the Tricolor during the World Cup. Rumors of a possible meltdown with head coach Javier Aguirre surfaced but neither player or coach ever talked on the subject.

Now, with Palencia's career reaching an end el "Gatillero" has received a surprise call up, for the final Hexagonal mateches, from Aguirre who is back in the Tricolors helm. This time Palencia is not at the top of his game he is not even starting for current club Pumas UNAM.

I would not be surprised if Palencia's call-up is a going away present from Aguirre who feels that el Gatillero deserves a better a proper send off from the national team and what better way than by helping the Tricolor qualify to the World Cup.