The failure that consumed the National Team of Mexico in it Qatar World Cup 2022, when he was eliminated in the Group Phase, he rocked Mexican soccer, which caused a series of measures which, among other purposes, has export more players to European football.
The measure was raised on Tuesday, January 31 by Mikel Arriolapresident of Liga MX, who stated that remove the “exit barriers”, so that Mexican players can venture into Europe; however, from said to fact there is a long way.
The problem goes beyond desire, as shown by the three postures to which halftime consulted to know the export complexity of Mexicans to Europe: player, director and representative.
input the Mexican manageryear he is not willing to “give away his work” Y sell cheap to his player, because previously there was a strong investment to train the player; for his part football player recognize that many times prefers the comforts of Liga MX to expose itself to a European exit, while the representative reveals that it is difficult to carry to a tricolor to Europe because the European clubs do not follow the Liga MX.
“In the end Mexican soccer is a business and you live from that; the true owners are the fans and we manage, but the fans also want their team to be competitive and for that I have to sell my players well to invest in structure, in infrastructure for the basic forces”, commented Armando Martinez Patinopresident of Club Pachuca, to halftime.
“You have to give value to the work we do, value to the player, he must know that he has a value for everything it stands for; I love the romanticism of soccer, the passion, but we can’t give away our work“added the manager.
The leader of the Tuzos considered that there is a uneven transfer market and marked by nationalities, a situation to which the clubs and players in Mexico cannot give in.
“It cannot be that because you bring a South American passport the player is worth 30 (million dollars) and if the passport is Mexican the player is worth 3 (million dollars), that cannot be; we have to give it that value so that the team that buys it also gives it that value.
“If a team that buys a player for 3 million maybe doesn’t give him the same opportunities as if it costs him 15 or 20 million; If it costs 20, it’s not so easy for them to let it go, on the contrary”.
Why doesn’t the Mexican player go to Europe?
Marco Fabian He has been one of the Mexicans who has ventured to leave Liga MX to go to try your luck in football from other latitudesas he did with eintracht frankfurt (Germany), Philadelphia Union (United States) and Al-Sadd (Qatar).
“The two things go hand in hand (player-manager); sometimes it depends a lot on the mentality of the player. Sometimes they do offer you (in Mexico) three times more than what you are going to earn in Europe, but if your mentality is small, you prefer something else for not going to fulfill a dream; and it is knowing that if you succeed, after a while there will not be three, there will be six times more (what you will earn), but you are riskingand many do not like to take risks and are fine here in their bubble, in their comfort zone“, explained Fabian de la Mora a halftime.
“Mexican soccer does not attract attention in Europe”
The High prices and the unwillingness of Mexican soccer players for leaving their comforts in the MX League They are not the only obstacles that exist for players to emigrate; according to the representative santiago arbideCEO of Amero Sports, there are a couple more complexities: European clubs They do not follow Liga MX and it’s not media either.
“Mexican soccer does not attract attention in Europe. And one part is that they already know that we’re expensive, so to speak, but the other is that we have no media relevance. In the end, the MLS already gives you other things, stadiums, shows, other figures, to retire if you want, but they are very renowned figures.
“It has to be someone who really loves soccer and goes to see how Toluca-Mazatlán turned out on Sunday and not Boca-Independiente. Mexican soccer is losing that curiosity; every time we talk to colleagues from Europe and elsewhere we don’t get as much attention as before, and we’ve been somewhat overshadowed by MLS.”
To Arbidethe Mexican player should also be willing to compromise financially to go to Europe; For example, the goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoawho at the time has sacrificed salary.
“A specific case that I had to experience closely because of friendship, but apart from that it was a very famous case, is that of memo ochoawhich was the first Mexican goalkeeper to go to Europe. He was winning less, he went to a team that was going to struggle and he made the decision to want to make a difference. That hunger to want to demonstrate and get ahead is missing although the economic aspect is not reflected in that aspect”.
The representative who has players of different nationalities on his agenda, said that in Mexico lack of sensitivity at the time of appraise a player, situation that contrasts with other countries.
“The other part is the appraisals What do Mexican clubs do? Uruguayan and Argentine clubs, outside of Boca and River, are much more sensitive to appraisals. Ecuador and Colombia do not make you these high prices, it is not critical either. When making its appraisal, the club wants to recover what it has invested in the playerand the salaries in Mexico together with those in Brazil are the best”.
