FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013: Mexican Players to Watch in the Quarterfinals

Mexico are on their way to defending their U-17 World Cup. El Tri advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Italy 2-0.

Raul Gutierrez will try to secure his 11th U-17 World Cup victory against Brazil. The feat will not be easy, as the Verde-Amarela are the only undefeated team that remain in the competition.

However, as in the past, Mexico have proven to have a strong side that can play brilliantly as a group but that can also resort to individual efforts.

Let’s take a look at five players that will make quite an impact in the quarterfinals. 

Marco Granados

Marco Antonio Granados is a strong and very productive forward. He is 6'0" with a powerful header and an impeccable right-foot shot.

He plays for the Chivas youth team and holds a scoring record in the U-15 category after finding the back of the net 52 times in two tournaments—the Dalecarlia Cup in Sweden, and the Storsjocupen in Denmark and Norway.

In the U-17 CONCACAF Championship, he received the Golden Shoe after scoring four times. 

Ulises Jaimes

He has scored 21 times with Morelia's U-17 and third-division teams since 2011. Jaimes has great speed and superb heading ability, despite being only 5'6" tall.

He has played three games in this tournament and scored in two of them—the last one against Sweden in the group stage.

In the U-17 CONCACAF Championship, he also put it away twice—once against Honduras, and once against Guatemala.

Alejandro Díaz

Diaz has been playing since he was a kid, but it wasn't until he arrived at Club America that he decided to make a living out of it.

He is a member of the Aguilas U-17 squad, but has made a couple of appearances with the U-20 team as well. He has scored 19 goals since his arrival at the club.

Diaz has been key in this tournament. He scored once against Iraq and one more in front of Italy from outside the box to open the scoring for Mexico, showing his impressive ball-striking technique.

El Wero (the blond) is very good leaving the defenders behind. 

Raul Gudiño

The Mexican goalkeeper had a shaky start in the tournament as the team lost 6-1 to Nigeria, but he overcame the crisis.

Gudiño proved to be a stellar keeper in the round of 16 game, where Mexico faced Italy. The Azzurri tested his reflexes with long-distance and close-range shots but he never fell short.

The Chivas keeper was awarded the Golden Glove of the U-17 CONCACAF Championship. 

Jose Almanza

Almanza is a tough defensive midfielder. He was a cornerstone in the U-17 CONCACAF Championship and received the Most Valuable Player award.

He plays for Pachuca, where he wears the captain armband. In 2011, he traveled with the team to England, where they played and won the Manchester United Premier Cup.

He has superb ball-control and knows how to distribute it. Almanza is strong and physically fit, and these attributes help him become a thriving force in the midfield.

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