This Saturday, in the friendly against New Zealand in Los Angeles, Rafael Márquez Álvarez begins his journey as assistant coach of the Tricolor in the process leading up to the 2026 World Cup and with a view to leading the project for 2030.
The “Kaiser” from Michoacán, a five-time World Cup player, resigned as technical director of Barcelona Atlétic, in the third tier of Spanish football, to join Javier Aguirre on the bench.
Rafael Márquez signed a contract with the FMF for the next six years, in an apparent demonstration of the confidence they have in him. However, just on Monday Hugo Sánchez expressed on ESPN that the decision of the Michoacan was wrong. “I say that Rafa was wrong because he should have let Javier (Aguirre) take over the position from here to the World Cup and then, regardless of the result, then Rafa should take over the National Team as the person in charge. If the results are not very favorable in 2026, it could be that he will be blamed for that bad work,” he said.
The rival, for now, does not seem to be a very big challenge for the Mexican National Team. New Zealand is ranked 94th in the FIFA ranking. In fact, Rafa has a good history against this team.
His most memorable matches were in the World Cup Play-offs on the road to Brazil 2014 and in the 2017 Confederations Cup. In that reclassification, which the Tricolor miraculously reached thanks to that dramatic victory of the United States over Panama, Márquez Álvarez was the Tricolor’s experienced man, a veteran who the interim coach Miguel Herrera turned to to rescue the ship. The Mexican team won 5-1 in Mexico City and 4-2 away. The “Kaiser” even scored one of the goals. Rafa had enough fuel to go to his fourth World Cup. He was also part of the World Cup process on the road to Russia 2018 and even participated in the 2017 Confederations Cup, with minutes in that victory against the New Zealanders, 2-1, in the Group Stage. Márquez Álvarez, 45, played 158 games for the Mexican national team from his debut in 1997 until his retirement in 2018. The FMF had offered Jaime Lozano a demotion, from coach to assistant, and then to be the main helmsman until 2030. Jimmy rejected the offer, for obvious reasons. Now it is Rafa who occupies that position.
#Márquezs #process #begins #eye
