Growing up, making friends and meeting people from around the world is part of being a footballer. When they arrive at a new club, they look around and wonder who these new team-mates will be, what adventures they will have, and whether they will become lifelong friends or simply be acquaintances and go their separate ways without leaving much of a mark. It is important to find role models and team-mates with whom you have a friendship, because that makes life much easier. Sometimes friendships are just for a season of life, but in other cases the friendships stretch back into childhood and even lead down the road to the .
That is the case with 's Cesar Montes and Johan Vasquez, whose footballing journeys have been intertwined ever since they were very young. When they met, they clicked almost immediately, perhaps because they were from the same region and because it is comforting to have someone who comes from the same place as you to rely on when things get tricky. “I think I was about ten or 11 years old when I first saw him. We met at Pachuca, and that’s where we realised we were from the same state, the same region, the same area,” Vasquez told FIFA.
The two boys climbed through the ranks, their paths crossing over the years, before they were called up to play for their nation: no mean feat made all the more remarkable by their unique journey. “We met again when we were at Cimarrones de Sonora, then at Monterrey, and now we’re both playing for the national team,” Vasquez said.
That shared history carries meaning in their everyday lives: “Being from the same place, you tend to look after each other. I would move to a new club and wouldn’t know any of the other guys. You end up gravitating towards the person closest to where you’re from. When I first arrived, he welcomed me and helped me with lots of things. It felt familiar, we’ve been friends for many years and know each other very well,” explained the Mexico centre-back.
One particularly happy milestone in their shared story was winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. That joyful moment was shared by a number of other players who have helped the current Mexico team reach the . Many of those players came through Cimarrones de Sonora youth system, including the two defenders.
“Not all of us, but quite a few came through the system. We’ve become a family in the national team. We’ve known each other and played together for years. That’s the key. At the Olympics we won a historic bronze medal. It’s one of the best competitions I’ve ever played in for many reasons. At around that time, I was also able to fulfil my dream of going to Italy,” recalled Vasquez.
All of this has resulted in one of the tournament’s most formidable defences. El Tri have many achievements to be proud of in this edition of the global showpiece, but perhaps the most striking is that after four matches, they have still not conceded a single goal.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to give the team a sense of security and for the team to trust you. We try to do our job, but just because you haven’t conceded a goal doesn’t mean everything is perfect defensively. The two don’t necessarily equate; there have been times when a team-mate, the goalkeeper or someone else has saved us, and all the credit goes to the defence. But it’s really a collective effort,” Vasquez said ahead of . “We’re all aware of the different match phases, we’ve known each other for a long time, and we know each other’s limits. I think that’s what makes us such a great defence.”
Vasquez’s successes closely resemble Montes’s because life has brought them together so many times and the two understand each other instinctively. You only have to watch a Mexico match to see it.
Sources: FIFA Official
