Guillermo Ochoa pays tribute to Mexican football legend Antonio ‘Tota’ Carbajal
The legendary Mexican goalkeeper passed away on Tuesday aged 93. Ochoa was one of the many players to pay tribute.
World football lost another of its legendary figures on Tuesday with the new that Antonio Carbajal had passed away, in León, aged 93. Carbajal is widely considered as the greatest Mexican goalkeeper of all time - in 1966, he became the first player to star in five World Cups, a record which lasted 32 years. ‘Tota’ Carbajal was the country’s first national soccer idol at a time when the sport was still developing.
Tributes have been flooding in from other Mexican football legends such as Jorge Campos, Pablo Larios and Guillermo Ochoa . The Salernitana goalkeeper posted a message of condolences to the Carbajal family through social media. It read: “My deepest condolences to your family and loved ones. Our prayers are with you. RIP Legend”.
In addition to Ochoa, entities such as the Mexican Football Federation, Mexico’s national team and Liga MX clubs have sent their condolences to honor the memory of the goalkeeper who played in five World Cups - Brazil ‘50, Switzerland ‘54, Sweden 58, Chile ‘62 and England ‘66. Club León, where Carbajal spent 16 years of his career between 1950 and 1966, paid their own tribute with several videos on their official social media accounts.
Players who have starred in five World Cups
Joining ‘La Tota’ are three other Mexico players to have featured in five World Cup squads: Andrés Guardado, Rafael Márquez and Guillermo Ochoa. Other football legends to have achieved the feat include: Lothar Matthäus (Germany - 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy - (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), Lionel Messi (Argentina - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).