Tokyo —
When Mexico stumbled home from the 2010 World Cup, its national team program wasn’t exactly in crisis. But it was close.
El Tri had fielded an aging team in South Africa, one led by a 37-year-old goalkeeper, two 31-year-old captains and a 37-year-old striker. It made the London Olympics two years later an audition of sorts, with Mexico needing to get younger fast with another World Cup on the horizon.
And it worked. Mexico’s U-23 team beat Brazil and Neymar in the gold-medal match, and 10 of the 18 players on that roster made the next World Cup team.