Interest in Mexicans playing overseas at all-time high

As an Englishman living in Mexico, the concept of a section of sports newspapers and websites dedicated to nationals playing football abroad is alien.

The reason is simple: very few British players play or have ever played abroad, so British publications have never had the need.

If you go along with one of the theories outlined in “Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil win …”, by Kuper and Szymanski, the fact England has had so few players ply their trade outside the British Isles is one of the reasons that the team has only ever reached one World Cup final and consistently disappoints in major tournaments.

It is now generally and widely accepted that playing outside your country opens up a player to new experiences, training styles, tactics and, depending on the league, better quality football.

Read American soccer websites or the Mexican press with that in mind and the general consensus is that players from both countries should follow the Argentine and Brazilian model and ship increasingly more players to the Old Continent.

Increasingly that has happened, with Hugo Sanchez paving the way in Mexico, followed by a period in which Rafa Marquez dominated and then a mini-boom over the last few years since Mexico won the 2005 Under-17 World Cup in Peru.

Off the back of that World Cup win, Carlos Vela, Giovani Dos Santos and Efrain Juarez found themselves in Europe. In other words, three of the stars of the World Cup win and three players thought then to be the future of the national team were on the other side of the pond.

Naturally, the Mexican press latched onto that and newspapers started carrying more and more updates of the players´ progress.

Emphasis on Mexicans playing abroad continued to grow with Carlos Salcido moving to PSV in Holland in 2006, being followed from Chivas to the Dutch team by Maza Rodriguez two years later. Omar Bravo also moved to Deportivo La Coruña in 2008.

The momentum of Mexicans abroad took hold, even though the progress of Dos Santos, Vela and Bravo was hardly turning many heads.

The obvious big turning point came in April 2010 when Manchester United signed Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.

The baby-faced goalscorer was splashed on front pages all across the country on the day he signed, but no-one expected him to have the impact he had in his first season.

The Chicharito phenomenon was followed by last summer´s second Under-17 World Cup victory for Mexico and a third-place finish at the Under-20 World Cup.

Interest from Europe in Mexican players is at an all-time high, with foreign scouts scouring from Chilpancingo to Coahuila looking for the next big thing.

With seven regulars of the Mexican team currently playing abroad and a host of talent desperate to make the leap over to Europe, all signs point to the fact that the “Mexicans Abroad” sections in the media will have increasing importance over coming years.

Mexico fans hope that Kuper and Szymanski´s theory was right and the quality of the national team also increases exponentially.