Mayan Journey | patriotism | today

Patriotism > Sport

Alberto Aceves

In the Mexican League, Mexican coaches know that they can lose their jobs at any time. In addition to the fact that they gesticulate, shout, and put on show acting, clubs tend to get along better with foreign-led sports projects, even without a proven track record. The number of national coaches in the Premier League has been reduced to seven following the departure of Rafael Puente del Rio, whose six-month contract at Pumas fell through and he was replaced by Argentine Antonio Mohamed.

Of this small universe that dominates domestic football, only Ricardo Ferretti (Cruz Azul) and Guillermo Almada (Pachuca), as well as Mohamed, have achieved successes in previous tournaments. The rest is a mixture of experienced and young helmsmen not born in the country, who remain in their posts regardless of whether they take the last places, such as Brazilian Andre Jardin (Atlético de San Luis), Mauro Gerke (Queretaro) and Rubén Omar Romano ( Mazatlan FC).

“Many of these biographies are wrong,” Javier Martinez, a 51-year-old Mexican who has led football in Central America and Africa, assured Jornada of the lack of opportunities in the league. “There are foreigners who have championships they’ve never won and sell more when they get here. For the tricolor it’s more difficult, even to finish a contract. It’s not appropriate for clubs to do that with a foreigner, because they can go to FIFA and then start a dispute.” Legal, due to their high salaries.

Assistant to Cruz Azul’s U-17 team between 2014 and 2016, as well as coach of the Mexican Army team, Martinez worked his way up the Uganda Premier League at the helm of Vipers SC thanks to one of his 200 job applications. That he sent a week to the odd leagues. Like him, other national representatives knocked on the doors of lesser-known clubs, convinced they had been relegated to the top of the local circuit.

“In Mexico, the places where he should be a coach are closed,” says Antonio Torres Cervin, after leading the Pumas in 2013, he found an oasis in Guatemalan football with Antigua and Club Municipal.

“Guatemalans turn to us, because we have produced results with patience. For example, there are cases of Luis Fernando Tena, Marvin Cabrera or Raul Arias, people who have come here to cooperate with the growth of football in the region.”

Recently, Tijuana’s Benjamín Mora was able to open up a new safe path for his teammates through his nine tournaments in Malaysia by signing with Atlas. “His great advantage was leading the winning team,” Martinez explains. “However, the situation becomes more difficult for us who do not have a representative. The managers know that they can do good business with a foreigner, because the sports director or even the president can get a good cut in their employment.”

In addition to Moura, the Mexicans who are still active in the Mexican League are Eduardo Arce (Puebla), Victor Manuel Vucic (Monterrey), Ignacio Ambrez (Toluca), Eduardo Ventanes (Santos), Miguel Herrera (Tijuana) and Marco Antonio “Cima Ruiz, who moved from coaching Temporary to coach Tigres after the departure of Diego Coca to the Mexican national team.

Editing: I’m Ordaz