Mexico national team soccer Juan Carlos Osorio covered a range of topics in an interview promoting his team’s upcoming game against Paraguay at the Georgia Dome.
Since taking over, Osorio has led “El Tri” to five consecutive wins as part of the team’s 17-game unbeaten streak. That streak will be put on the line against Paraguay on May 28 and then again against Chile on June 1 in San Diego. Both games are warm-ups for this summer’s Copa America Centenario, a tournament featuring the national teams from South America, as well as the U.S. and Mexico.
The exhibition against Paraguay should be the last soccer game in the Dome, which will be replaced by Mercedes-Benz Stadium next year. Mexico is unbeaten in its five previous games at the Dome.
“It is a great opportunity to be back in Atlanta,” Osorio said. “It has been a very good scenario for the Mexican national team. We hope that it continues that way.”
Osorio may be familiar to fans of MLS because of his time managing the Chicago Fire and then the New York Red Bulls.
This is the second part of a two-part series that will run on ajc.com. Here is the first part. Questions and answers have in some cases been paraphrased for brevity and clarity.
Q: There have been quite a few different managers of Mexico bring teams to the Dome since 2009. How have you been able to get the team going in such a positive direction so quickly?
A: Besides the football factors, our idea of how the game should be played. In Mexico nowadays, there are very good wingers and very good midfield players. We promoted those types of players. To that end, we have a more offensive-minded team. We don’t want to take anything form the past managers.
Q: Would you ever consider returning to coach in Major League Soccer?
A: Yes I do. Recently, there was a misunderstanding, or something was taken out of context. I did say for any South American player, any Latin player, any player from this country, including MLS, influential players at a young age should look forward to playing in Europe. It's better than the Argentinian league, the Brazilian league, the Colombian league, the MLS, the Mexican league. That was all taken out and it was just put that I had said that any other league but MLS.
I do think that the MLS is a very competitive league and it’s very athletic. I think it’s a very good place to play football. But for any player playing here, or Mexican, their goal should be playing in Europe. Having said that, I would consider coming back to MLS not just for the reason that I mentioned, but because my two boys were born in Queens, N.Y. If they decided to come to university or play sports here, I would like to be with them. Also, I think that by the time, in a few years, MLS will be one of the strongest leagues. They have structure. They have many, many new players, families, cities that have fallen in love with this wonderful game. It’s a numbers game. I think the United States has potential to produce great players. Besides the fact that the United State is a county with so many influences from different countries, they can produce different types of players.
I do think that eventually in the future I will consider coming back.
Plus, I will have to say that I’m thankful to the United States as a country. I went to university, I went to Southern Connecticut State on a scholarship. I worked my way up studying as a fitness coach with the Staten Island Vipers, then the MetroStars, then the Red Bulls. I think this a very well-organized country that are on the right path to become very competent in producing players.
Q: An odd question, but one I’ve thought about. Would you one day like to see MLS and Liga MX combine so that you can have relegation and promotion?
A: If it does happen, it would be a very strong league. Not just because of the rivalry, but any league that has teams going up and teams going down, that generates a very different responsibilities and prerogatives. At the end you will have a very competent league.
Q: There are thousands of soccer coaches and parents in metro Atlanta. As a manager who has had success at many clubs, what’s the No. 1 piece of advice you would give to the youth coaches all over the city?
A: I would say my best advice would be for them to prepare themselves to become the best coaches they can be. There is one remarkable factor about the coaches in the United States – and I meant all the coaches, football, basketball and soccer — should learn from them is that they all coach based on real game situations.
I was so fortunate in 1984 when I first came to this country as an international exchange student, I came to Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa.
When that finished, I went to Chicago. I had the great opportunity to watch the Chicago Bulls training. I watched Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman in their training session. Everything was done through small-sided games and starting from game situations. Back then, I said to myself, “I’m going to do the same thing but in a football way.”
Therefore, if you have played at a decent level, not necessarily at a world-class level, you can understand how you want the game to be played. You can write down sessions where you address those specific game situation.
On top of that, you can add some restrictions to the physiological demands on the players, then you can have training session where you can work. Not only the decision making, which is the most important part inn any activity in life, but you can also task the physical parts: the aerobic parts, the anaerobic parts.
My biggest advice would be to try to understand the game. Design sessions for the type of play you want t have. That will help them to help the players to be better at what they do because the decision-making will be improved. Not only in the amount of time, but better decisions are taking less times. It can be better decisions as far as what that specific play demands at the specific moment.
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