Even the shoes don’t fit; We want people to come back, says Javier Aguirre

In the 1986 World Cup, the fans who followed Mexico at the Cuauhtémoc stadium created a collective gesture that transcended the results of the games. They called it the Tricolor Wave and it consisted of people getting up one after another, in the stands parallel to the field. This phenomenon that united people from all over the world today marks a different reality about the national team. With ticket offices selling tickets at 2 for 1, Javier Aguirre’s team will face the Valencia club in a preparatory match towards 2026.

In the absence of finding elite rivals as one of the hosts, the Mexican Soccer Federation agreed to an unusual commitment against the second-to-last team in the Spanish league standings. For 17 years, the team stopped playing international matches at the home of Puebla (1-0 over Panama, on September 9, 2007) and focused its tours on the United States. Last month, in venues where the stands were usually full, the Mexican representative defeated New Zealand and tied against Canada with a third of the tickets sold.

There are things you don’t control. I try to do my homework within the group, see the behavior and discipline of the players, the weaknesses of the rival. I would love to play against the great powers, but I understand that the situation in Mexico, Canada and the United States is complicatedsays Aguirre in a press conference. The people are sovereign, we owe it to them. We will try to reverse this situation. We want them to come back, to come closer, to be with us.

In his second call since returning to Tricolor last July, Aguirre called the country’s main figures who are active in European soccer, among them Guillermo Ochoa (Portuguese AVS Futebol SAD); César Montes (Lokomotiv Moscow); Rodrigo Huescas (Copenhagen); Edson Álvarez (West Ham) and Raúl Jiménez (Fulham). In addition to them, the former Mallorca helmsman gave his first call to the naturalized Mexican Argentine Germán Berterame.

In 2010 it seemed like a joke to come to Mexicoremember The Basque about the current status of your equipment. It gave me that impression as a fan. It should be a pride to be here, especially when a World Cup at home is on the horizon. We have to rescue that sense of belonging, to feel that a player proudly wants to be on his team. Shoes don’t even fit here. We are a team in formation, we really want to give something to our country, but it is not going to be easy. Don’t get me wrong.

The Spanish Valencia does not arrive at the Cuauhtémoc stadium with a positive present. In nine LaLiga games they have one win, three draws and five defeats, which has them in relegation positions. In addition to this, its main figures will be absent, such as striker Hugo Doro and captain José Luis Gayá. Despite this, Aguirre tries to put the points on the table and uses as an example what the Chivas player, Roberto Alvarado, faced after detonating pyrotechnics on the media.

I spoke with Roberto the next day, regardless of what the club has told him. The national team is 24/7. I told him my thoughts as a technician. I do not agree with his behavior and he, like everyone, must have exemplary behaviorhe claims.

I would like to go to countries like Brazil or Nigeria to see the players in complicated scenarios, where they will be subjected to maximum pressure. I want to see their behavior in the face of that hostile scenario, it doesn’t matter that the result is not good..