World Cup Day 15: Memo and Me

In a World Cup already full to spilling over with remarkable moments, Wednesday night's spectacle at Mexico's cathedral of the sport—the rumbling, melodic fiesta of fútbol otherwise known as Estadio Azteca—will go down as one of the most emotional.

In what is his sixth World Cup as a rostered player, Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa, also known as San Memo, wasn't guaranteed to step on the field. In the aftermath of an injury that ruled out Luis Ángel Malagón, the man that took Mexico's starting goalkeeper job from Ochoa, Mexican head coach Javier Aguirre elevated Raúl "Tela" Rangel to number one.

There was reason to doubt that Aguirre would include Ochoa in his World Cup 26 at all, in part because the 40-year-old's presence might be a distraction for a team under immense pressure to perform well on home soil.

Of course, Aguirre did include Ochoa in his roster, allowing for one of the great moments of the North American World Cup in Mexico's final group stage match. Mexico's 3-0 win over Czechia could have been about achieving a perfect group stage for El Tri (nine points, six goals scores, zero conceded), or the momentum the team now takes into the knockout stage of the tournament. While those things are still part of this morning's story—though not everyone is convinced by Aguirre's approach—what the 80,824 people (and the hundreds of thousands more likely to tell stories of how they were there) will remember about the match is Ochoa's curtain call.

The World Cup writers' room couldn't have scripted it better. Whatever Aguirre's plan going into the match with top spot in the group secured and a heavily rotated lineup selected, he might not have given Ochoa a moment to bask in the adoration of the Mexican people he represented for the last 20 years if not for the burst of second half goals that essentially put the game to bed.

Or, he might have, not caring either way and ready to save one substitution for Ochoa's entry. Rumors before the match bubbled up that Aguirre planned to give Ochoa the start, a defensible decision in light of the team's early qualification for the Round of 32. When the lineup dropped and Rangel retained his place, it wasn't at all clear that Ochoa might appear in this World Cup at all.

In retrospect, I can't help be think that Aguirre conned us (or, more specifically, the Mexican fans calling for Ochoa to start). In the buildup to the game the Mexican manager made sure to reiterate that he isn't interested in sentimentality; that every player that in the team is there for a reason and that every opportunity to play must be earned.

“Lo dije siempre, desde que volví, que no iba a regalar nada, que los 26 están por merecimientos propios. Por lesión perdimos a Marcel , Luis Ángel y Huescas. A la selección vienen y juegan los que están en mejor momento”.

"I've always said, from the moment I returned, that I wasn't going gift anything, that the 26 that are here are here on their own merits. We lost Marcel (Ruiz), Luis Ángel (Malagon) and (Rodrigo) Huescas to injury. The players that are in the team and play are the ones that are the best form."

While Ochoa would have been cheered and celebrated by those gathered to worship in the Azteca on Wednesday night if he had started, putting him on as a substitute gave both Memo and the fans the chance to truly bask in the moment. A moment only for Ochoa and for the people, when love could be reciprocated and—thanks in large part to the scoreline—no one could object.

Aguirre couldn't have known that Mexico would be comfortably ahead in the last third of the match, opening the door to a substitution that would not otherwise be made in a competitive match, but I can't imagine the idea wasn't formulated ahead of time. It's even possible that Ochoa's disclosure of a small injury suffered in training this week was subterfuge to throw off the fans and the rabid Mexico soccer media.

What we witnessed on Wednesday night is something so exceedingly rare I'm not sure it has ever happened before and we may not see ever it again*: A national team legend entering a match as a substitute (and commanding the attention of the entire stadium in the process) to give a farewell performance in a World Cup match in his country's national stadium. That Ochoa is a goalkeeper, that his appearance came as a substitute, and that he subsequently played a long ball forward that led to Mexico's third goal only further gilds what was already a golden moment.

*If you know of another instance of this, please let me know in the comments.

It's no wonder Ochoa entered the field of play with tears in his eyes as the fans chanted his name. "Incredible" doesn't do it justice.

My Mexico-hating credentials are well-established. I'm a USMNT fan through-and-through and have often said that I "wish good things for the Mexican people and bad things for the Mexican national team". Even if the latter of those statements undermines the sincerity of the former, I can't in good conscience support the success El Tri.

And yet, I thrilled in that moment for Memo and felt only joy for the nation sharing that moment with him. My desire to see Mexico bounce from fracaso to fracaso has softened and I'm only mildly interested in examining why.

I've been through some period of what I'll call "distinct dislike" for Ochoa. Like any irrational fan, I couldn't give the man his due plaudits even when he played at incredible levels at the World Cup in 2014 and in the six Gold Cup titles he won with Mexico.

The USMNT-Mexico rivalry isn't what it used to be, either on-the-field or off. A few generations removed from the battles of the aughts we're now a soccer nation less interested in measuring ourselves against our neighbors to the south. The problems that undid the 2018 qualifying campaign and the subsequent rebuild of the program to World Cup quality took attention away from the clash with Mexico for regional supremacy. I, like all of us, got a little older and a little wiser.

I think that's part of the magic of loving this game. Yes, my team's fortunes are paramount and I'll never revere the greats of my rivals the way I do those of my own side. Watching Ochoa take the field from here in the United States via Telemundo's coverage didn't bring me to tears or have me howling like a passionate Mexican fan. What I felt was something broader, less concentrated, but nevertheless akin to the emotion flowing through the crowd in Mexico City and through the millions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans watching across the continent.

I don't like Memo Ochoa, but I respect him. I don't like Mexico (the national team) but me alegra que la gente haya tenido ese momento con su héroe, San Memo. I'm not even a little bit jealous.

Well...

PROGRAMMING NOTES

It's USMNT gameday! I didn't write about the USMNT because I honestly don't know what I want from the game. It would certainly be nice to roll into Santa Clara and the match against Bosnia & Herzegovina (which is a >99% certainty after yesterday's other results) with a head of steam off a perfect group stage (okay, rivalry flare up coming—I don't want Mexico to have that on us), but I understand why Mauricio Pochettino isn't planning to play anyone with a yellow card (that's Tyler Adams, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards, and Folarin Balogun).

What that means for the midfield is hard shrug territory and I'm not going to pretend I have some incredible solution of how to make it work. Maybe Alex Freeman can step in and hold down the defensive midfield role—he's already done everything else the teams has asked from him in two games.

Anyway, that's all prelude to say that I'll be on SiriusXM FC channel 157 tonight with Jamie Watson from 6-7 PM ET and 9-10 PM ET. Come by.