One of the darkest chapters in recent Mexican soccer history was the qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup. The Mexican national team was unable to guarantee its direct qualification to the World Cup and had to play for its place in the play-off against New Zealand. Under the command of Miguel Herrera, and a base made up of players from América and León, El Tri was able to do the job and obtain its ticket to Brazilian lands.
In the play-offs, Mexico won by a score of 5-1 at the Azteca Stadium and 2-4 in New Zealand. Almost 11 years after this tie, and with a friendly against the All Whites on the horizon in September’s FIFA World Cup, it’s a good time to remember which El Tri players who were part of this history are still active.
Gullit Peña’s career has been on the up and down over the last 11 years. The midfielder attended the 2014 World Cup, but after leaving León in 2016, his level dropped incredibly. Since then he has had brief and less than brilliant spells at Chivas, Rangers, Cruz Azul, Necaxa, as well as stints at a second division team in Poland, FAS in El Salvador, Antigua in Guatemala and Vida in Nicaragua. Currently, at 34 years old, he plays in Syria.
Raúl Jiménez is one of the few players who played in the play-off against New Zealand who are still active. The 33-year-old ‘Wolf of Tepeji’ currently plays for Fulham in the Premier League, where he competes for a starting spot. In these 11 years, he left América to sign with Atlético de Madrid. After failing to find continuity, he went to Benfica, where he had more confidence and, in mid-2019, he became a player for Wolverhampton, a club of which he became an idol and top scorer in the first division.
Few people remember it, but Escoboza was one of Miguel Herrera’s players called up to play the play-off against New Zealand and he got some minutes. The full-back/winger is 31 years old and currently plays for Mazatlán FC. He has played for teams such as Tijuana, Chiapas, Puebla, Dorados, Necaxa, América and Cruz Azul in these 11 years.
Although he was called up by Miguel Herrera for these play-off matches, José de Jesús Corona did not play a single minute. ‘Piojo’ opted for Moisés Muñoz as a starter. At 43 years old, ‘Chuy’ is still active and alternates as a starter for Xolos de Tijuana. In these 11 years, Corona managed to achieve the ninth with Cruz Azul.
Miguel Herrera Equihua, 35, was called up for the match against New Zealand, but did not play. At 35, he is still expected to be active in the Neza FC of the Balompié League.
There are other elements such as Adrián Aldrete, Luis Montes, Luis ‘Quick’ Mendoza and Hiram Mier who were part of the call-up and who currently do not have a club, although they have not officially announced their retirement.
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