“They are going to love him for two years and then he will have to leave,” the warning of a Paraguayan historian before the possibility that Guillermo Almada assumes command in Mexico

In these moments of turbulence in the environment of the national team, the legendary Toluca striker, the Paraguayan José Saturnino Cardozo said that the best option to lead the Tricolor for the 2026 World Cup is Ricardo Antonio La Volpe, “I think there is no better option, I remember that he is the only one who has said that he would qualify walking and he did it, so I think that we should not look for more, but give him the responsibility, either alone or together with five or six young coaches around him ”, stressed.

Who would you give the selection to, Miguel Herrera, Guillermo Almada?

For me, in my opinion as a fan, my candidate and where I had to decide as a fan, I would think that Ricardo La Volpe is a good option, he is the only coach who qualified walking.

But do many people already consider Ricardo La Volpe as obsolete, do they say that he is already great, when he has demonstrated his ability?

You have to see that in soccer the joke is knowing, it’s not age, what does age have to do with it, he’s ready, he knows soccer. Ricardo La Volpe when he talks to you convinces you, his work convinces you. He is a guy who works very well and he was the only coach who said I am going to walk the team out and he did it, but then he was eliminated and they decided to run him instead of putting up with him, because here one does not go beyond a World Cup and that was the bad, because we always seek to play the fifth game.

Why, beyond the elimination, did people keep the pleasant taste in their mouths of how Argentina was played in 2006?

It was impressive how he played that game, and there they practically played one-on-one, back and forth. Ricardo likes this football like this, he likes to attack, he likes to have the ball, he likes to have dynamics, he never respects his rivals, I was with him for a year and he sets up the games the way he likes, so as a fan I would think that Ricardo La Volpe would be a good option.

Also, would credibility already be recovered for the 2026 World Cup?

Of course, but also my opinion is that young coaches should be placed around Ricardo, as Argentina did, which has four or five coaches around him, where there is Walter Samuel, Ayala, Aimar, who played in a World Cup. For me that would be the most viable solution, Ricardo at the helm and three or four coaches around him, like the case of Jaime Lozano, Rafael Márquez. There are many youngsters in Mexico who can grow with Ricardo, four or five youngsters who surely with him can achieve a more competitive national team by 2026.

There is also talk of Guillermo Almada, the coach of Pachuca, how do you see it?

For the same thing to happen, two years of falling in love and after that he goes to Uruguay. Of course he is a good coach, but it will be the same.

What does the elimination of the National Team in Qatar tell you? 40 years ago he was eliminated in the first round…

I saw all the games in Mexico. The truth hurt us all that Mexico did not get past the first round, because since 1978 it had been a regular team in the following phases, it has always been the protagonist, always getting past the first round and leaving very good soccer sensations in the World Cups that it has participated. Lately we all analyzed and said that Mexican soccer has grown a lot and what has always happened in the national team has happened.

But it’s incredible that Mexico always happens that the first two years everyone loves the coach when he arrives, he’s the best, he’s going to take us to the fifth game, they say he’s the ideal coach and the last two years everyone hates him. There are statistics, I’m not lying, it’s not that I’m saying it. When ‘Chepo’ was there, when Meza was there, when Aguirre was there, I think the only one who did it was La Volpe, who said ‘I’m going to walk by’ and he did it. Then Miguel Herrera arrived, then Juan Carlos Osorio arrived, and just the same, everyone said that he was the ideal coach, that he was a very intelligent coach, a coach who seemed to be the only one studying. And then what happened? The last two years the whole world ended up hating him, he said that he better not return to Mexico, that he leave the country. Everyone criticizing.

That’s why I ask why we changed so much. It was the same with ‘Tata’ Martino and the numbers don’t let me lie, everyone said that he was the ideal coach, he was the fantastic coach, a spectacular press conference upon his arrival. ‘Tata’ very well with the press and the last eight qualifying games, what happened? It is incredible what happens in Mexico. (D)