Victor Manuel Vucetich has been designated by the FMF as the new Head Coach for the Mexican National Team, which finds itself with one foot out of the World Cup. The experienced Mexican coach will come in to lead the national team with just one month to go before the decisive match against Panama at the Estadio Azteca.
Vucetich has won 14 titles in his career as head coach, and his call-up to the Mexican National Team was well deserved. Although this season he was released from his post at Monterrey, he is still a very capable coach. After the dismissal of Chepo de la Torre, it was rumored that 3 coaches were in the running for the open spot, Miguel Herrera, Tomas Boy, and Vucetich. It appears that the FEMEXFUT decided to go with the well-respected Vucetich, instead of more fiery managers like Boy or Herrera.
Another interesting development in today’s news, was that Vucetich will announce a roster on September 23 for Liga MX based players. These players will train with the National Team from Monday through Wednesday until the time of the match against Panama. A second, and final roster, which will include European based players, will be announced at a later date. With the World Cup ticket on the line, it appears the owners of the Liga MX teams will allow to have their Seleccionados gone for half the week in order to train with the Mexican squad.
Vucetich also made it clear that he will not call up players simply due to their name, or past performances. He will only call players that are in great form, and willing to give 100% for Mexico. With the terrible performances this year, it is expected that Vucetich will shake up the roster a bit, including the possible additions of Vela and Ochoa.
Mexico has two do-or die matches against Panama and at Costa Rica. If Mexico wants to go to the World Cup without the need of a playoff against New Zealand, it must win both games, and hope Honduras earns less than 3 points in its last two matches. Due to the schedule, the most likely scenario is that Mexico will be going to Auckland in November. Hopefully, the FMF made the right call with Vucetich.
