Rafael Márquez: “Hugo Sánchez is the best Mexican footballer ever"
The Former F.C. Barcelona defender says he hates comparisons but confesses that for him Hugo Sánchez is Mexico's best ever.
Hugo Sánchez and Rafael Márquez. Two footballers on anyone's list of Mexico's greatest ever players, in part because they both triumphed at major European clubs. Sánchez made history with Real Madrid, his goals winning over people who hadn't believed in him at first. Márquez meanwhile had success with F.C. Barcelona under ‘Pep’ Guardiola where he won every title going in his time at Camp Nou.
Rafael Márquez admits he shies away from comparisons, but if forced to name the best ever in the history of Mexico, there's only one name for him: Hugo Sánchez. “I hate comparisons because it takes away the merits of other footballers that just want to make Mexico proud by playing in important teams in Europe, but I have to admit that what Hugo did was amazing, he won the golden boot five times, he played for Real Madrid for a long time and that is why I think he is the best in the history of our country,” said Márquez during an Instagram live with Arturo Elías Ayub.
Mexico's former captain, who played at five World Cups, had the opportunity to play alongside many great players during his time in Europe, and drawing on that experience Márquez names Lionel Messi as the best soccer player of all time.
“I was lucky enough to have Ronaldinho as a teammate, had Cristiano and Ronaldo as opponents and played alongside Lionel Messi. For me the Argentinean is the best of the best.”
With VAR Mexico would have eliminated Netherlands in 2014’s World Cup
The foul that Rafael Márquez committed on Arjen Robben that saw the Netherlands awarded a penalty in the quarterfinals of the 2014 World Cup that saw Mexico eliminated from the tournament would not have been called a foul if the VAR was enabled at that time, according to Márequez.
“I don't think it was a penalty kick even though there was contact inside the box - if the VAR was available at that time it wouldn’t have called a ‘pk’. It is just a sad memory that I have because we had the chance to advance to the next round for the first time in our history and it didn’t happen,” said Márquez.