Oblak: “Mexican football has everything it needs to be a force”
Atlético Madrid’s goalkeeper spoke about the virtues of the Liga MX and Mexican soccer in general as well as Sergio Canales’ move to Rayados.
In terms of footballing level, the Liga MX has generated a lot of debate over the past couple of years, although Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak feels that the Mexican soccer isn’t lacking in anything and has the quality to catch up with the world’s top leagues. The Slovenian feels that Mexican soccer in general is improving and one of the main reasons is the increase in the number of players who have moved to Europe and rapidly adapted to a different style of football.
“I don’t think anything is missing within Mexican soccer,” the keeper told reporters ahead of this evening’s pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad. “There are Mexican players in Europe, it is improving every year, the league is getting more powerful with every year and that will help the players when they decide to go to Europe - they will be able to adapt faster and easier”.
Oblak added that he was not surprised at all by Rayados signing Sergio Canales, and thinks the Spaniard’s move is a watershed moment with more players of his stature to emigrate to Mexico in the near future. “Over time, more players will decide to come to Mexico, I’m sure that with all this everything will improve, it will help younger players to progress,” he added.
Ready to play
Turning to issues closer to home and his own fitness, Oblak says he feels ready to return to the Rojiblanco goal after overcoming an ongoing neck problem, and is expected to start this evening’s friendly against Real Sociedad. “When you don’t play it’s difficult. You end up supporting the team from the sidelines but it’s always complicated when you can’t help the team. In my case, it hasn’t been easy for a few months - from the first day when I stopped playing until today. I’ve been recovering day by day, now I am able to train and play perfectly, I am happy,” he explained.
“You don’t want to miss a single game - friendlies, the league, the Champions League... it doesn’t matter. When you’re a kid and you play with your friends, you want to win, you want to win every game, to compete in the best way - that’s how we’ll do it tomorrow against La Real. We’ll do everything possible to win the game”, he concluded.