“You're not going to load them”: Cuauhtémoc Blanco gave his opinion on Tri's rivals in Qatar

Mexico‘s fortunes were defined to face the first round of matches at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. After the draw, the national team learned that their group rivals will be Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Poland. The European and South American teams look like the most difficult rivals to beat. However, Cuauhtémoc Blanco considered that neither of them will be difficult to beat if Gerardo Martino’s players show personality.

In a talk with Fox Sports panelists, Alberto Lati questioned the governor of Morelos about how difficult it could be for Mexico to face such idealized rivals as Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski. In that sense, with a peculiar gesture, the ex-canteran of the Eagles of America assured that Mexicans can face “whoever, well, what a hell. You’re not going to carry them.”

To argue his position, Blanco recalled his time with the Mexican National Team under the technical direction of Manuel Lapuente. The experience he recalled corresponds to a Copa America match he played against Brazil, in the 1999 edition of Paraguay, when he had to lead a fierce battle against the famous Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos.

“I remember when Manuel Lapuente told me in a Copa America: ‘Hey, it’s your turn to score, go heads-up with Roberto Carlos. ‘ I remember that I was playing far right and I said to him ‘pray where he stop’. He didn’t do anything to me. I marked it, we went back and forth. Even Lapuente congratulated me and I said ‘yes, you have to compete. It will be very Roberto Carlos and whatever you want, but I also have a personality. I am Cuauhtémoc Blanco,” he recalled.

In consideration of the former player, the squad directed by Gerardo Martino is one of the most talented and competitive, so he confessed that “it hurts me to see how the national team plays”. In the same way, he assured that there are players whose football moment is not the best and it is necessary for them to have greater leadership and personality in order to transcend the long-awaited fifth match.

Mexico was assigned third place in Group C. The first step was awarded by Argentina after finishing the classification as the top seed. The draw in Doha determined that Saudi Arabia was the second combined in the group. Meanwhile, Poland occupied the C4 position when it came to see its fate.

The most difficult rival for the Tricolor will be the old well-known Argentina. The albicelestes were champions of the 2020 Copa América and in the qualifiers for the World Cup they stayed in second place, as they were only beaten by Brazil. In addition, they have a competitive squad with players such as Lionel Messi, Nicolás Tagliafico, Nicolás Otamendi, Ángel Di Maria, Guido Rodriguez, and more who will be looking for the third star.

Poland is the second rival in the hierarchy that will face the Tricolor. In their case, they finished second in their group in the European qualifiers, but they won the pass after beating Sweden in the repechage. FIFA ranks them 14th among the best teams in the world, although they have never won the championship.

Finally, Mexico’s third rival will be Saudi Arabia. The representative of the Asian continent finished first in his group during the World Cup qualification round and surpassed teams such as Japan and Australia. According to FIFA, they are the 49th best combined in the world and have not lifted the trophy either.

Mexico must finish, at least, in second place in its group in order to transcend to the round of 16. In that instance, he will face either of the two leaders of sector D, consisting of France, Denmark, Tunisia, as well as the winner of the United Arab Emirates, Australia or Peru.

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