THIS is Mexico's Football Future

With Mexico's U-23 team struggling to get anything done at Copa America, I was starting to lose hope in Mexico's chances in the 2014 World Cup. But today, my worries were put to rest when Mexico defeated Uruguay 2-0 in the U-17 World Cup final. Uruguay only had 2 real chances to score any goals, but both bounced off the posts. Both of Mexico's goal were unquestionably good and more importantly, the product of excellent teamwork. This is Mexico's 2nd U-17 title, but it's also the 2nd FIFA championship Mexico has ever won on home soil, the first being the 1999 Confederations Cup.

This U-17 team is full of exceptional talent, but the question remains as to how the FMF will handle their futures. My main concerns are how the two best players will be handled: midfielder Jorge Espericueta and goalkeeper Richard Sanchez. Espericueta is probably going to remain in Mexico for quite some time, being on the youth roster for Tigres UANL. But Sanchez is a much different story. He is on the FC Dallas roster in his rookie season and he's also a natural born U.S. citizen. I've been worried for some time now as to what Mexico will do if anything should ever happen to Guillermo Ochoa (who has officially been cleared of the clenbuterol scandal, proving that he, and the other Mexican squad members, indeed ate contaminated meat). Sanchez is a star goalkeeper in the making, but he could very easily be swayed to play for the U.S. instead, which could also use a solid backup to Tim Howard.

It's true that not every U-17 player experiences success professionally, but a handful do eventually go on to have successes either at the club level or internationally. Wilson Oruma and Kanu helped Nigeria win the 1996 Olympics after winning the 1993 U-17 World Cup, Kanu going on to have an impressive career in the UEFA Champions League. At the 1999 U-17 World Cup, future star Landon Donovan made his international debut, winning the Golden Ball award alongside DaMarcus Beasley. CAHLOS TAHVAZ made his debut at the 2001 U-17 World Cup, taking Argentina to 4th place. Continuously rising star Freddy Adu made his debut at the 2003 U-17 World Cup. Giovani Dos Santos made his debut at the 2005 U-17 World Cup, winning the Silver Ball award.

So will Espericueta and Sanchez go on to also be stars like the names listed above? Only time will tell, but if they are bigger names by the time of the 2014 World Cup, it will be a great sign for Mexican football youth development.