El Vasco and El Tri, together, in a third adventure until their destiny reaches them and competitive death separates them in this 2026 World Cup
LOS ANGELES — Panama and Bolivia, last rivals of the Mexican National Team on his way to World Cup 2026. The waste of useful time or the usefulness of wasted time? Only Javier Aguirre he knows it. Or, at least he swears he knows.
There will be few who appreciate it: Obed Vargas, Luis Romo, Richard Ledezma, Brian Gutiérrez. There will be many who question it: it stopped a tournament that was just in gestation (Clausura 2026) in its tracks. The certainty of uncertainty.
But the route continues. He World Cup 2026 survives despite growing calls in Europe to boycott the competition, given the unstable social climate in the United States.
Ironic and cruel coincidence: the #Vasco3.0 version and the #MéxicoMundialista3.0 version coexist in a realism so magical that it can only be Mexican. Javier Aguirre before his third and last opportunity to transcend as coach of Tri. And surely, the third and last opportunity for Mexican soccer to transcend – by hosting – a World Cup.
Vasco will surely hang up his whistle, his cap and his cross no matter what happens in this World Cup. Mexican soccer will continue to shepherd its blinded offspring, with a broken compass, searching for the Promised Land of the – now – Sixth Game. Yes, selling utopias in a dystopian scenario.
And yes, Vasco and El Tri, together, in a third adventure, one as coach, the other as headquarters, until, inevitably, their destiny reaches them and competitive death separates them in this 2026 World Cup. So the ultimatum is appropriate, but it will be more like an epitaph than a diagnosis.
In terms of Julius Caesar: “Alea jacta est.” Yes, “the die is cast.”
The three. Numerologists would say it is a collision and coalition of opportunity and doom. Three is the culmination of a cycle. Now or never for #Vasco3.0 and #MéxicoMundialista3.0. The ultimatum for both. In both cases, is it reengineering or recycling?
0:36
Hugo Sánchez: Quiñones must be taken into account
“El Pentapichichi” assures that being in the scoring leadership of the Arabian League, along with Cristiano Ropnaldo, is enough merit for Julián Quiñones to be in the Mexican National Team.
And Javier Aguirre knows it well. He repeatedly emphasizes, as if to convince himself and try to convince his troops, about the privilege and the volume of sensations of playing a World Cup at home. He lived it to the fullest in 1986 and confesses that his skin crawls when he remembers how they regurgitated, in infinite decibels and with immeasurable passions, not only the Azteca Stadium, but the entire country.
It’s a shame – for Aguirre – that nostalgia is not the panacea, but rather a sentimental and outdated reference.
And this time the Mexican National Team has two countries to transfigure into the eventual coliseums of their successes or failures. Any confrontation on US territory, with or without ICE, will become their temporary refuge during the World Cup. Come then, let the tribune cover what the field uncovers.
Between those settled in Mexico and the nomads in the United States, Javier Aguirre understands that he will play protected, sponsored by that devotion as foolish as it is loyal and selfless, which awaits a miracle to occur for which, it is clear, and even more so after the balances of 2025 and the passages in Panama and Bolivia, he has only 26 workers, but no messiah. Pure raw clay, not even clay, to face adversaries hardened like ceramic.
This #Vasco3.0 has unleashed its media buggers. “I have 80 percent of the World Cup squad,” he said. That is, 21 out of 26 possible. The truth is that there are no mysteries. In a very poor quality population, like the current one, choosing the 26 is not an act of wisdom, it is an act of desperation and resignation; It is not a Solomonic attitude to choose the right ones, but a random attitude not to choose the worst.
And let no one be fooled: this generation of players that Aguirre has is not better, perhaps it is not even equal to the one that Gerardo Martino had. For Vasco, the task seems simpler: it is enough not to make mistakes as perversely as Tata did in Qatar 2022.
1.- For the first time in 40 years, Mexico does not have an absolutely reliable goalkeeper. From the inconsistency of Tala Rangel, to the emotional hesitations of Luis Ángel Malagón, and the ossified humanity of Guillermo Ochoa, today, more anniversaries than a future.
1:56
Hugo Sánchez tells how he called his players when he was coach of the Mexican team
The legendary Mexican player tells what his experience of being a national team coach was like and says that everyone on the street told him who to call.
2.- The shortage extends to the right side. Ledezma presents a solution, waiting for the improvement of Rodrigo Huescas, but they do not reach the levels of Salvador Carmona, Ricardo Osorio or even Paul Aguilar. The rest of the defense seems, at their level, responsible and reliable.
3.- Vasco will not suffer in the midfield. It is the area where options abound, but, understand this: it is a reflection of the maquila level of this generation of footballers. It has a couple of good restraints like Edson Álvarez and Erik Lira, and talented ones like Marcel Ruiz, Gilberto Mora and Luis Romo, beyond the fact that Obed Vargas and Brian Gutiérrez would deserve more than two guys who are always in debt to El Tri: Orbelín Pineda and Carlos Rodríguez, two souls in pain.
4.- There are plenty of names on the attack, led by Raúl Jiménez and Alexis Vega who is never the satan of Toluca when he arrives at Tri. The Ant González jumps, and the anguish of being eternally waiting for the evolution of Santiago Gimenez, while Germán Berterame enlists in the unknown dimension of the MLS. Julián Quiñones must be worked, persuaded. And the rest, strictly to complete the 26, between Roberto Alvarado and Diego Lainez, figures in their team and statues of salt in El Tri.
That’s what Javier Aguirre has. A little injustice of divine justice. Karma then. He had better squads in 2002 and 2010, and he himself, in a recalcitrant mea culpa, accepts how he wasted those potential opportunities. Yes, on both occasions he made a mistake in choosing his legion, and then he made a mistake in alignments and changes. All yours.
This reference should imply that today there is a wiser Javier Aguirre, but more disarmed than then. The more he knew, the more rustic his artillery became. Karma then.
The reality is that. Numerology has the voice of a prophet but also of an executioner and an ultimatum: Three, conclusion of a cycle, end of a period.
Ultimatum then for both.
1.- #Vasco3.0 before his third and last opportunity to transcend as coach of Tri. Then, the retreat, which can be memorable or confined to the black sanctuary of remorse.
2.- #MéxicoMundialista3.0. Surely, it will be the last opportunity for Mexican soccer to transcend in a World Cup, given the crooked course it has taken at all management levels. It is heading towards collapse and continues to fail to be entrusted to the patriarch of La Rosa de Guadalupe.
Yes, in terms of Julius Caesar: “Alea jacta est.” Yes, “the die is cast.”
