Famous Mexican Soccer Players

Mexican soccer may not have the impressive trophy room of Argentina or Brazil, but Mexican soccer players always seemed capable of producing the big surprise, regardless if we're thinking about club or national team levels.

As with most other Latin soccer players, their game is based on speed, short passing, technique and offensive gameplay, instead of trying to overcome their opponents through sheer force or hard tackles. Many World Cup winning players suggested that they only felt as real champions after lifting this trophy over their heads, but Mexican soccer players proved that they can stand out of the crowd even without winning any important trophies.

On national team level, Mexico's best performances meant reaching the quarterfinal stage on two occasions, in 1970 and 1986, but they managed to participate in 13 World Cups so far and were always considered a tough nut to crack. And although their main strength was their teamwork, some famous Mexican soccer players managed to shine. Let's take a look at some of the most important names that Mexico can boast about in terms of the game.

Manuel Sanchez (1912-1989)

With Mexico participating in the first World Cup ever to be played, in 1930, Manuel Rosas Sanchez was one of the team's main members, despite being only 18 years of age. He was the first soccer player to score a goal from a penalty kick on the World Cup stage and even more importantly for Mexican fans, Manuel Rosas scored that goal in a match against rivals Argentina.

An interesting fact is that Manuel Rosas and his brother, Felipe Rosas, played together in the offensive line of Mexico's national side as well as in that of CF Atlante, for most of their careers.

Hugo Sanchez (1958)

It will be long until Mexican and Spanish soccer fans will ever forget Hugo Sanchez. He was one of the first Mexican soccer players to make a name for himself in Europe, as he played in the Spanish league for Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.

He scored no less than 234 goals in 347 matches in the Primera Division, being topped only by legendary Athletico Bilbao striker Zarra, who had 251 goals in 279 matches. Most of these goals were scored during his time with Real Madrid, where he even managed to win 4 consecutive Pichichi (Spanish top goal scorer) titles.

After leading the Mexico national soccer team through the qualifying stages of the 1978 and 1994 World Cups, as well as playing in the 1986 World Cup hosted by Mexico (thus they didn't have to go through a qualification stage), he retired and is currently the coach of his national side, with a first goal to reach the 2010 World Cup.

Luis Hernandez (1968)
Until Luis Hernandez joined the ranks of the team, the Mexican national side never really had a top scorer, as most of the successful Mexican strikers up until that point were rather ineffective when playing for the national team.

Luis Hernandez changed that, as he managed to score an impressive 6 goals in the 1997 Copa America and another 4 in 1998's World Cup, becoming one of the top goalscorers of the tournament. He was also named Mexican soccer player of the year twice and at the point of his retirement, he was second in Mexico's all-time leading goalscorers.

Rafael Marquez (1979)

A long time has passed since the Mexico national side had such a charismatic soccer player in its ranks and Rafael Marquez is considered Luis Hernandez' follower from this point of view. "Rafa" Marquez is considered by many the most talented player formed by Mexico, as he is an important member of FC Barcelona and he is currently his national side's captain.

One of Marquez' biggest qualities is that he can adapt on any of the defensive positions he is played in and he often swaps from being center back to a position as defensive midfielder, or even as left or right back.