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Hugo Sanchez | All was right with El Tri in early 2007.

The year 2007 was supposed to be known as the year after.  It was thought that once the Mexican player left the comfort of their domestic league, in search of a more competitive environment, that the outcome of Mexican football would change for the better. El Tri was also expecting a golden generation of players that had recently obtained the 2005 U-17 World Championship.  The exodus of Mexican players crossing new boundaries and signing with some of Europe’s top clubs was seen as that threshold into greatness.

For a brief moment, everything was like clockwork.  Everything was in place.  Everything made sense.  El Tri had the right manager.  El Tri had the right mix of players.  El Tri had the right amount of young prospects.  Then, lighting struck the FMF’s clock tower and el Tri was where it started—confused and in dire straits.

Heartbreaking goal | Mexico's Gold Cup final loss was a dagger to El Tri.

It took one bad result for the FMF to change their course of action. The 2007 Gold Cup loss to the United States national team sent shock waves throughout the Mexican football community and prompted an unforeseen panic.  The loss to the Stars and Stripes at the 2007 Gold Cup final was more than just losing a match to their archrivals; the idea of missing out on the FIFA Confederation’s Cup was just adding insult to injury.

The prospect of losing millions in TV revenue, sponsorships, and potential transfer fees had the FMF up in arms.  Shortly after the tragic loss to the United States, el Tri improved their on-field performance at South America’s Copa America. El Tri finished a respectable third place after beating the Uruguayan national team. The Mexican national team was also able to beat a very talented Brazilian team, as well as stomping the Paraguayan national team, with a lopsided 6-0 marker in the quarterfinals.

Enrique Esqueda | Failure to reach China in 2008 was Sanchez's deathblow.

Still, Hugo Sanchez’s fate was forged the night the U-23 pre-Olympic team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  This setback had the FMF locking its doors, shutting its window and unplugging its phones off the wall jacks.

Pandemonium was in the air.  The FMF top brass were counting the days before they had to present themselves in front of a review board set forth by the club owners.  The FMF top brass were all trying to save their hides and Hugo was sacked.  The FMF had no cash cows to sell for the 2008 and 2009 summer seasons. Missing out on the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics had proven a costly affair for the FMF coffers.  One can only speculate as to the millions of dollars that were loss by all stakeholders.

The Mexican media, notorious for its misguided zealous and often skewed self-righteousness, also played a key role in changing the FMF’s course of action.  One can only imagine the revenues that were lost by the networks and the written press as a result of el Tri’s absence from the Confederations Cup and Olympics.  They were responsible for printing numerous stories, which, often were baseless and without any veracity.   

Stage two was soon enacted and Jesus ‘Chucho’ Ramirez was brought in as interim manager with slight chances of permanency. Ramirez, the mastermind behind the 2005 U-17 World Cup title, coached two international ‘A’ matches, as well as the opening qualifying matches against Belize.  The powers to be in all their grandeur and ever-knowing wisdom still had their minds on attracting a world re-known coach to lead el Tri.  Stage three was finalized as former England gaffer, Sven Goran Eriksson, was signed on to lead Mexico into greatness.

Sven-Goran Eriksson | The Swede manager was in over his head.

Unfortunately, Eriksson’s tenure with the national team will be remembered as a farce.  To the Swede’s credit, he had been brought in at the wrong time with World Cup qualifying underway. It was a sink or swim situation that had Eriksson in the brink of early elimination as el Tri came within one goal of missing out on the Hexagonal. The start of the final round of qualifiers proved to be just as disastrous and with el Tri sitting in fifth place of the Hexagonal, the Swede was sacked.

The FMF’s fears of missing out on a World Cup were now turning into a reality that they had helped create. The timely sacking of Javier Aguirre from Spanish outfit Atletico de Madrid would prove to be a blessing for Mexico. The former Mexico coach returned to the national team, much like he had done eight years before, and once again rescued El Tri from humiliation.

The thought of missing out on a World Cup seems to instill irrational fear amongst FMF top brass. Most of the club owners tend to their multinational corporations and assign football duties to their friends and family.  The idea of a club president or executive going to an owners meeting and telling the owners that they won’t be going to a World Cup could be the script of a Hollywood movie.  Ironically, the last time that el Tri failed to qualify to the World Cup was precisely because of the FMF’s display of poor judgment.  Not only did the FMF lose its stronghold over CONCACAF but a golden generation of players also missed out on the 1990 World Cup leaving el Tri fans wondering what could have been.

Hugol | Europe's top goal scorer in the late 80s played no role in Italia 90.

It has been 20 years since the infamous Cachirules scandal that prompted the FMF’s suspension from all FIFA-sanctioned tournaments.  The ramifications from those painful events continue to have a profound effect within the FMF. Cachirules was the term given to the four overage players that made up the Mexican U-20 squad that was competing in the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 1989 FIFA Youth World Cup. The term originated from a children’s television show which aired in the 1950s. Cachirulo was a kid’s role portrayed by an older actor.  The term has now been synonymous in Mexican lexicon as cheating.  Mexico’s use of overage players led to many FMF executives being ousted as well as a two-year suspension for all Mexican teams, which resulted in exclusion of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1990 Italy World Cup.
 
Many speculate that Mexico could have had its greatest showing at the 1990 World Cup.  Mexico’s team comprised a solid mix of seasoned veterans along with the right amount of youth.  Perhaps what is most impressive and disappointing is the fact that five of Mexico’s all-time leading goal-scorers could have been on the squad had Mexico gone to Italy.  Out of the list of all time leading goal-scorers, the name that sticks out the most is Hugo Sanchez.  Hugol, as he was known for his goal scoring abilities, was at the pinnacle of his illustrious career.  He was Europe’s golden boot winner.

With the national team Sanchez scored 29 career goals, the same goal output as Luis Flores.  Benjamin ‘El Maestro’ Galindo, a savvy midfielder who managed to notch 28 goals for el Tri, also lost out on a golden opportunity. Many Mexican futbol aficionados claim that el Maestro is and has been Mexico’s most gifted player in terms of technical prowess. And who can forget Luis Roberto Alves ‘Zaguinho’, the lanky Mexican of Brazilian ancestry who still holds the record for most goals (12) in the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

Another player that was affected from the World Cup ban was Carlos Hermosillo.  The giant from Cerro Azul, as he came to be known, managed to become Mexico’s all-time leading goal scorer with 35 goals.  His record would only be matched by Luis ‘El Matador’ Hernandez’ but surpassed by Jared Borgetti and Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Adding to the list of possible Italy 90 candidates was Javier ‘Abuelo’ Cruz.  Cruz was best remembered for having a goal annulled in Mexico’s 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match against Germany.  Cruz also scored the goal that gave Mexico its qualification to the 1994 World Cup.  Much like Cruz, there were players that had enough gas in the tank to make one last World Cup run, but were left idling.  Unfortunately for Cruz, injuries and father time were reasons for Cruz's absence from the 1994 World Cup.

Copa America 93 | Mexico gave champs Argentina all they could handle.

That golden generation of players showed glimpsed of what could have been when Mexico competed in the 1993 edition of Copa America.  Before 1993, Copa America was exclusively for South American nations.  Many critics thought that Mexico would be the tournament whipping boys, but to their surprise, reached the finals of the tournament and lost a dramatic match against the Argentines. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end for many players of that generation.

El Tri had indeed wasted a great opportunity to showcase a talented generation.  The FMF could have avoided this humiliation had their top brass shown some humility, accept their mistake, and accepted CONCACAF’s original sentencing.  CONCACAF had originally suspended Mexico’s youth team from the 1989 U-20 World Cup. In an act of vacuousness, the FMF went above CONCACAF’s resolution committee and took their case to FIFA.  FIFA ultimately denied their appeal and reopened the case, which promptly set in motion a chain of events that would ever change the face of football in Mexico and the CONCACAF football region. As Mexico watched the World Cup from home, two emerging futbol nations were born— the U.S. and Costa Rica.  Perhaps its only coincidental, but those two football nations have given Mexico the most trouble than any other rival in the region. Some speculate that the World Cup experience that was gained by the US and Costa Rican sides at the 1990 World Cup, were at the expense of the FMF.

Death, Taxes, and and FMF blunder are three certainties in life.  The FMF’s newest blunder could also have repercussions that could be as sizeable as the cachirules incident.

Former Mexican international and Cruz Azul defender, Salvador Carmona is best remembered for testing positive for the anabolic steroid, nandrolone, during the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Salvador Carmona | Banned for life after two doping scandals.

As a result of the doping incident, Carmona was suspended for a year from professional soccer.  Carmona ultimately served his suspension, but was again caught in another doping incident that would lead to his life-long banishment from professional soccer.  To date, Carmona’s silence is allegedly due to a pact that he had with Cruz Azul’s front office.  Carmona filed a grievance against the FMF for a disclosed sum of $USD 5 million, which ultimately was denied.  After the initial ruling, Carmona and his counsel stated that they were seeking an appeal and that if their ruling was not to their favor, that they would disclose damaging information that would jeopardize the FMF.  It has been reported that the FMF knew beforehand about Carmona's results prior to the first match of the 2005 Confederation's Cup.  That sort of negligence goes against Fair Play and if indeed true, could result in further investigations by FIFA.

When we examine the guidance and the direction that the FMF took in 1988, it seems that there lies a parallel world between their world and this world.  It is not a sin to have talent.  It is however a sin to have it and waste it. They wasted the greatest crop of players Mexico had ever produced and one has to think history could be repeating itself.  The year after was suppose to be the FMF’s coming of age, but instead has become concordant with the status quo of previous administrations.

FMF | Need lessons on team administration.

One thing that obvious is how great soccer federations allow for a plans to unfold.  Drawbacks, heartaches, and impulses do not waver in the direction of a plan, but are expected and accounted for.  In many case, there is no reset button. Proceso is a word that is used repeatedly by the FMF’s top echelon.  It is used to describe a plan.  When one looks at the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Espanola) and looks at the definition of proceso, one can become confused as to the literal meaning and how the FMF utilizes that word. The famous procesos in Mexico are as misguided as the think tanks that devise them. Instant results are expected and if they are not attained, a new proceso is next in line to replace the old one. Perhaps it’s the FMF executives that should cross the threshold that was expected of the players.  Perhaps the FMF executives should be the ones to go to Europe's top clubs and learn what it means to administer a club, to devise a plan, to initiate that plan, to give it life, and most importantly, to let it unfold. The FMF wasted Mexico's greatest generation, now the question remains, what will they do with Mexico’s most talented generation?

Joel Aceves and Rony de Luna are contributors to Goal.com.

For more coverage of the Mexican national team, visit Goal.com's Mexico page.