Grondona: Future's bright for Mexico

Grondona: Future's bright for Mexico
(FIFA.com) Friday 18 June 2010
Grondona: Future's bright for Mexico
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by Humberto Grondona

I met Giovani Dos Santos in 2001 when I was working with the Mexico youth teams. We'd heard about this Mexican kid who was at Barcelona and so we decided to go and pay him a visit. It was well worth the journey. He's a great lad; very level-headed and talented with it.

I remember he couldn't come and train with us but we chatted a lot on the phone and I told him the No10 jersey was his. Now, nine years on, I'm proud to say that everything they said about that little kid was right. And if he keeps on playing the way he is at the moment then he's going to be the revelation of the World Cup. The thing is, he's not the only one of these youngsters who's doing really well. Carlos Vela came up through the youth system and he's another great forward in my opinion. There are others too like Javier Hernandez, Efrain Juarez and Jorge Torres Nilo, and seeing them all in action here is very exciting for me. They've come on so much and if they keep developing, then Mexico will have a great team in the future.

They showed how strong they are again in the France match yesterday. Mexico have a very young side and the pace of their play and their energy really catches the eye. If they can bed down at the back and make the most of their backbone of experienced players then they'll have every chance of making it to the quarter-finals at last. I think Javier Aguirre is the right man to lead them too. He's a hard-working coach with a conservative style but he is prepared to take risks, like yesterday, when he fielded no fewer than four forwards.

The team's future depends on where they end up in Group A. If they finish top they'll have every chance of reaching the last eight and beyond. But if they take second, then they might find it tough because they could come up against a very strong-looking Argentina team. But regardless of the result against South Africa, I am sure of one thing: Mexico have a fantastic future ahead of them with this wonderful generation of players.