The best thing about Mexico in the 2014 World Cup? Not just the brilliant football we’ve been seeing from El Tri, but the celebrations of head coach Miguel Herrera, with an umatched passion among the other managers on the sideline for other teams. So good that a compilation of his celebrations gifs, including some from his days as manager of Club America, just had to be put together.
Despite a rough qualifying campaign, all is well in Mexico, or all is normal. The football is fun to watch again after finding it very difficult to score in the qualifiers. Only four goals in three matches might not seem like a lot, but Mexico finish Group A with 7 points, including a goalless draw against Brazil and two disallowed goals against Cameroon, with a 1-0 win not doing them justice.
There have been some fantastic performances: Guillermo Ochoa made himself known worldwide and not just among Mexico and Evian fans. Hector Moreno has made some brave saves on defense. Hector Herrera almost scored the best goal of the World Cup and has been brilliant in the middle of the pitch. Andres Guardado has been putting together an excellent tournament on the left side with some impressive defending as well. Oribe Peralta has just one goal, but he’s been doing a lot more.
Yet the most memorable thing aside from that Ochoa performance against Brazil has been the face of Herrera on the sidelines whenever Mexico score. A man who was the fourth head coach in a month for El Tri and managed to easily guide them through the playoffs against New Zealand didn’t have an easy job ahead of him but made the most of it. It’s about more than tactics: The players seem happy to play for him, which wasn’t the case under José Manuel de la Torre. But even the damage done under Chepo didn’t last long once Herrera took over.
