It's hard sometimes to think that there are still players around on the Mexican national team that were key parts of the 1998 World Cup team. So much has changed since then with just the national team alone. Manuel Lapuente was coach then and left in 2000 sometime after a crappy 1-0 win over Panama. Then, Enrique Meza took over and one of his first games in charge was a 2-0 win over Ecuador in San Diego. Jared Borgetti joined the team, and he was a big star in the league then who hadn't had much of a chance on the national team.
Then, Meza flamed out and walked away in mid-2001. World Cup qualifying was a dud and Mexico lost 4-0 to England and then was bombed in the Confederations Cup. After him, Javier Vasco Aguirre stepped in and saved the team from a huge, HUGE embarrassment and got Mexico into the 2002 World Cup. After the loss to the U.S., Vasco left and Ricardo Lavolpe took over and beat out Carlos Bianchi and Luiz Felipe Scolari for the job (though not sure if those others would have taken it had they been offered the post). Lavolpe had a little thorn on his side named Hugo Sanchez, who won his first game as Tri coach last night.
Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Francisco Palencia earned their first caps well before the 1998 World Cup while Ramon Morales got his first taste of the national team in 2001. All three played yesterday.
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