Mexico National Football Team: What Can We Expect from El Tri's New Era?

A new project was born after Mexico's defeat at the 2010 World Cup. El Tri needed different faces, so a fresh breed of players headlined by young promises became the foundation of a team led by José Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre.

After 14 games, El Tri has won 10 matches and tied four, which means an 81 percent winning percentage. That includes the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup title, where the squad not only showed maturity in the final match, but also a glimpse of what's to come.

The lineup has more youngsters than in previous years. Javier Chicharito Hernández, Giovani dos Santos, Andrés Guardado, Pablo Barrera, Efraín Juárez and Christian Bermúdez are some of the young figures who have taken starting roles, whereas Rafael Márquez, Gerardo Torrado, Ricardo Osorio and Carlos Salcido might as well come on to the field as substitutes.

Another important aspect is that the team has shown more personality, as the coach has said previously. At the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup final match against the United States, Mexico's expectations were pretty much none after 23 minutes.

Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan scored to control the game, but Pablo Barrera and Andrés Guardado made it clear that El Tri wasn't done and tied the match before halftime.

The party was about to begin.

Barrera gave Mexico a mountainous advantage at Minute 46, and dos Santos secured the title with an amazing play inside Howard's area.

The recent European Tour was not only different since friendly matches were held outside Mexico and the States, but also because the team had little practice—which didn't compromise the results.

Once again, the youngsters came to prove they have what it takes to control El Tri. Chicharito and Guardado scored against Poland and Chile, respectively, to keep the "Chepo Era" undefeated.

These players' abilities have been obvious since February 2011 when de la Torre debuted, El Tri has scored 34 goals through 10 players: Hernández (11), Guardado (5), dos Santos (5), de Nigris (5), Barrera (3), Pacheco (1), Torres Nilo (1), Peralta (1), Juárez (1) and Márquez (1). The average age of these 10 players is 24.8 years, and only the latter is above the 30-year-old mark.

Of course the experience in European teams is another factor. Márquez left Atlas at age 20 to play for Monaco, then came to Barcelona at 24. Guillermo Franco was 30 when he played for Villareal,—same age as Pavel Pardo when Sttutgart bought him—Salcido was 26 when he left PSV Eindhven and the list goes on.

Now the Mexican footballers who play abroad are a lot younger. Chicharito signed with Manchester at age 22, Barrera went to West Ham at 23, Guardado came to Deportivo la Coruña at 20, dos Santos debuted with Barcelona at 18 and Carlos Vela was acquired by Arsenal at 16, to name a few.

The future is bright, as this new team has three years prior to the 2014 World Cup, and there are some other young promises who will surely make it to El Tri; for instance, some of those who played the 2011 U-20 FIFA World Cup—like Édson Rivera who was recently signed by Braga, Taufic Guarch who plays for Espanyol B and Ulises Dávila who will wear the Vitesse jersey.