Ecuador 1993. After many efforts, Mexico had managed to be invited to the Copa América, a competition previously reserved only for South American nations. The hopes were many, after having been absent from the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the Tricolor’s expectations were great.
There was an important base of players, mostly from the Pumas quarry, which was at that time the maximum supplier of players to Mexican soccer, among them Hugo Sánchez, who after his successful time at Real Madrid, had returned to Mexico to play for América.
Miguel Mejía Barón was the national coach and in the Copa América he intended for Mexican soccer to look good, but above all, to have a good preparation for the tough qualifying rounds heading to the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
Those chosen to travel to Mexico’s first adventure in the Copa América were Jorge Campos from Pumas, Nicolás Navarro from Necaxa, Claudio Suárez from Pumas, Juan de Dios Ramírez Perales from Pumas, Ignacio Ambriz from Necaxa, Ramón Ramírez from Santos Laguna, Miguel Herrera from Atlante, David Patiño from Pumas, Alberto García Aspe from Necaxa, Hugo Sánchez from América,
Luis García of Atlético de Madrid, Luis Roberto Alves ‘Zague’ of América, Alejandro García of América, Miguel España of Pumas, Carlos Turrubiates of León, Luis Flores of Atlas, Juan Hernández of América, Benjamín Galindo of Chivas, Guillermo Muñoz of Monterrey , Daniel Guzmán from Atlante, Abraham Nava from Necaxa and Raúl ‘Potro’ Gutiérrez from Atlante.
This is how elegant the new uniform of the Mexican National Team looks
The first game was against Colombia in Machala and doubts appeared immediately, as El Tri lost 2-1 with the goal of the coffee growers known to this day as the ‘Ghost of Machala’, since apparently the ball never entered the goal , but there was no VAR and the referee’s decision was irrefutable.
Then came the 1-1 draw against the powerful Argentina, which made the Mexican team dream, adding this to the goalless draw against Bolivia, which gave the tricolors a pass to the quarterfinals, where they would face Peru, whom they defeated. 4-2 and the host Ecuador, whom they defeated with a surprising 2-0 in the semifinals.
Mexico, the ‘Cinderella’ team, reached the final. The illusions grew when the advantage was taken, but a somersault came and the charm ended. The Mexican National Team lost the final 2-1 against Argentina, but earned the respect of all participants.
