Mexico, who have qualified for the World Cup finals 14 times, is the fifth time in a row that they have qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Compared with the Belgian team, who are all in and out, Mexico's whereabouts can be described as "hidden", and this World Cup, they have arranged their training ground at Waterston University in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg, which is not far from the stadium, the environment is quiet, and the surrounding terrain is suitable for closed training.

Until then, Mexico had been playing the role of a second-rate team in the World Cup finals, and most journalists would not have been too interested in this "cactus" if it weren't for the Belgian team they were about to face with the popular star Degan.

In the fourth 1/8 final of the World Cup in South Africa, in the last 15 minutes of public training before the game, the Mexican team, which lacked attention, was completely incomparable with Belgium, Argentina and other world powerhouses in terms of the number of reporters and posture.

The 15-minute training session certainly didn't have much content, and the head coach Aguirre was almost walking, not glancing at the players, looking preoccupied, his expression serious, and the two assistant coaches discussing something.

The players were silent and the atmosphere was a little dull, and it could be seen that they were a little nervous about facing Belgium led by Degan.

The biggest player in the Mexican team is Marquez, who plays for Barcelona, who is unsmiling in training, looks a little lonely, and his teammates are all in their own hands, and the Mexican captain seems to be slightly lacking in domineering.

As if to vent this tension, head coach Aguirre made an exception in an interview: "We need to focus on our heads, it's more important than venting our passion, only by staying calm will we have a chance to beat Belgium, against a talent like Degan, we have to be smart, we can't go crazy, if we can play team-based football, then we can deal with Degan's individual skills." ”

Aguirre hopes that Mexico will go far this time at the World Cup held outside of home soil, and thankfully, the team has a wider vision than it did when he was a player.

Ten of the Mexican squad play in the Europa League, including Arsenal striker Velá, Barcelona's Marcos and 22-year-old striker Hernandez, who has just signed for Manchester United.

While he made a youthful transformation of the team and recruited these young players, he also found the 37-year-old veteran Blanco as the team's anchor.

Although the fat "frog jumping man" is no longer as brave as he used to be, and he has been caught smoking by TV cameras, he has always been able to organize the Mexican team's attack in an orderly manner every time he appears in this World Cup, and the seemingly casual pass is deadly. In the group stage against France, it was his penalty that sealed the victory for Mexico.

And for the players and fans of the Mexican team, it is Aguirre himself who can make them look forward to "playing to the fifth game".

It was only after he took over the mess left by Eriksen last year that Mexico finally ended their nightmare in the fourth stage of qualifying, making it all the way to South Africa and reaching the round of 16. Because of Aguirre, they reinvented themselves, no longer afraid of failure, no longer depressed, and no longer quarreled with each other.

Aguirre had said that his team's first and perhaps most difficult goal was to get a ticket to South Africa, and now they had exceeded that task.

When Mexico finished second in their group, they were aware that they were going to face Belgium in the round of 16 final, however, head coach Aguirre said today that they have never been afraid of Belgium: "We have to beat them in this game, we will not be intimidated by them, there is no doubt that this is a strong conversation, we will play against Belgium well, we have been waiting for the opportunity to win against Belgium, now the opportunity has come, our players are in very good form at the moment, we have the quality to win the knockout round." Of course, we have to admit that Belgium are in a very exciting and high state at the moment, the three group games have been played smoothly and easily, they are a strong team, that is very clear, so Belgium will be stronger with excellent form. ”

However, Aguirre doesn't think his side don't have a chance: "Mexico are also full of fighting spirit, there is no strict definition of strength or weakness in football, and we have a clear aim to stop Belgium's attack, and I'm confident in that. ”

On the question of who will defend against Dugan, Aguirre laughed: "The Mexican team is a very strong unit, it will never be separated, the threat of the Belgian team does not come from just one Messi, what we need to do is to think holistically. ”

Although the Mexican team has been very low-key before, it is not difficult to see from Aguirre's words that they have a strong self-confidence, and strong self-confidence is the mental strength necessary for Mexico to win against Belgium.

'We're definitely going to try to get past Belgium, even though they're considered favourites.' Dos Santos, the team's attacking core, said in an interview, "It's not going to be a one-sided game, we're equal in strength, I believe we can win the game, as long as we put our full attention, Degan is the best player in the world, but Belgium has only one Degan, relying on Degan alone, Belgium can't win the game, so we have to be smarter, not run crazy with him, we have to rely on the overall defense to contain Digan's attack." ”

For this game, the President of Mexico, Philippe Lee. Calderón also personally went to South Africa to cheer on the players, and the president of the Mexican Football Federation vowed to their president that the Mexican team would play at least five full World Cup matches.

"That's our commitment, at least five, or more."

Such a promise would be too bold for a team that is not favored by many, and has only reached the last four of a World Cup once in their history.

However, the team's head coach Aguirre is not worried, he said that no matter who the opponent is in the knockout stage, Mexico will give it their all: "Even if it is against Belgium, we have no problem, it will be a very good game, we are not afraid of Belgium, we will prepare for the game against Belgium like any team, I know it will be difficult against Belgium, but we will try to win." ”

Four years ago in the World Cup in Germany, Mexico faced Argentina in the round of 16 and was beaten 1-1 in 90 minutes. Rodriguez's goal in extra-time was a "stunner".

Four years on, Mexico have once again qualified for the knockout rounds, this time against Belgium, the European Red Devils, who are stronger than Argentina.

Although the individual ability of this team is outstanding, the overall coordination, as well as the ability to grasp opportunities, is obviously difficult to compare with Belgium, however, the Mexican team is very good in a small range of cooperation, and the speed of advancement, especially in the rapid counterattack can often through weird crosses, tearing apart the opponent's defense, however, in the face of Belgium with balanced offensive and defensive capabilities, can they make a difference?

Compared with the strong attacking power, the defense is the weakness of the Mexican team, although there is a star like Marquis in charge, but the overall defense of the Mexican team is still not strong, Aguirre sounded the alarm for the players early: "From now on, all it takes is one mistake to send Mexico home." ”

As Aguirre said, the Mexican team will have to make sure that it does not make mistakes in order to go further and achieve the goal of at least five games that the president of the Mexican Football Federation has said.

But no one seems to believe them, unless they can get past Degan's Belgian side in the quarter-finals, and the Mexicans seem to be at the bottom of the game, both in terms of their historical record and the current comparison of the two sides.

At this time, only the Mexican team can give themselves courage and confidence, and they need to use this victory to write a new chapter of their own.

Mexico's best World Cup record was sixth in 1970 and 1986, but on both occasions they were hosts, finishing 11th at a World Cup held away from home soil.

"Well, I admit that Belgium are very strong, they have the best players in the world, but so what? Should we give up our efforts? "Mexicans always have a knee-jerk pessimism, but please give us some credit, we will repay our fans with practical actions, change their pessimistic thinking in the face of strong opponents, if we want Mexico to become stronger, then we have to give strong support, not pessimism, and we also have the confidence to try to win." ”

If they want to win, the Mexicans have a huge problem that cannot be avoided, that is, how to defend him, which has become the key to whether the Mexicans can continue to move forward.

When Belgium faced South Korea in the group stage, even if the South Koreans used the "human sandbag" marking tactic, they could not stop Digan from making a move.

"There's only one way, and that's to give him a shot." Marques, the captain of Mexico, who has taught Deegan several times, said with a smile, of course, it was just a joke from him, "I have played against him a few times in the Champions League, it's hard to imagine, to be honest, he's really very strong, it's very difficult to guard against him, as long as the football is at his feet, it's hard to be snatched away, it's really too difficult to freeze Degan, especially when he dribbles the ball, he can suddenly change direction in any situation, we all know how good Deegan is, he's the best player in the world, very talented, It can change the rhythm of the game in an instant, it is difficult for someone to limit him well, to inhibit his play, in the face of a genius like Degan, we have to rely on the overall cooperation, to limit his technique, what we have to try is to reduce his space for movement, put more players to assist in the defense, since it is difficult to grab the ball from his feet, then we must try to let him contact the ball as little as possible, try to limit his possession opportunities. ”

At the same time, Marques also pointed out that Belgium are not invulnerable: "Attackingly, they are the best team in this World Cup, but they also have weaknesses, they have a lot of players in the middle, they make their wings look thin, we try to use destructive defending as much as possible, look for opportunities on the counter-attack, and I believe we are no worse than them on the ball. ”

"I'm 35 years old at the next World Cup, so there's a good chance I won't be able to fight for my country anymore, so I'm going to enjoy every game in the World Cup and enjoy the time with my team-mates." Marques does not want the match against Belgium to be his swan song at the World Cup, "Mexico has been out of the last eight of the World Cup for a long time, we are only one step away from making history, I think the team is in good shape at the moment, we have to win. ”

In the face of Belgium, a formidable opponent, the Mexican team is likely to make some changes in the line-up, Franco is the main striker of the Mexican team in the group stage of the World Cup in South Africa, starting every game, but the performance is not satisfactory, no goals, both the media and fans have questioned the use of coach Aguirre.

In this game, Aguirre may take the advice of the outside world and take Franco from the starting lineup and replace him with the much-anticipated "Little Pea" Hernandez.

It has been reported that Franco had been on the bench during Mexico's closed-door tactical drill two days earlier, and his starting position was replaced by Hernandez, who scored a brilliant goal against France.

The 22-year-old, who has signed for Manchester United, is a skilful and quick-moving player who came off the bench in all three group stage games, playing a limited amount of time but playing well on a number of occasions, in stark contrast to Franco.

In addition, 21-year-old striker Vela who plays for Arsenal missed the final game of the group stage due to a thigh tendon injury, but he has recovered well from the injury and is now able to train with the whole team and is expected to return for this campaign.

As the fourth game of the quarter-finals is about to begin, the two teams returning to the dressing rooms after their last training session before the game, and fans are pouring into the stands to fill the stadium, with the Mexicans looking to make new history and the Belgians hoping that their teams can make amends for four years ago under the leadership of Degan.