Orbelín Pineda: “Mexican players are afraid of going to Europe”

The Clausura 2024 is on hold for the next couple of weeks as international football stakes center stage. Mexico will play the Final Four of the Concacaf Nations League - starting with the semi-final against Panama. One of the players who has been called up by Jaime Lozano is Orbelín Pineda, who is enjoying a good run of form at AEK Athens under the command of Argentine coach Matías Almeyda. In the Super League, the Mexican midfielder has missed just three games and tallies a couple of goals and assists so far.

Stagnating by staying at home

At the CAR concentration, Pineda revealed that some national players seem too comfortable in the Liga MX and that several of them are afraid of going to Europe to try something new in tougher leagues. He explained: “They should be encouraged to play abroad. It’s been difficult though because our league has improved and because of that we tend to stay there. But you only end up stagnating. We Mexican players are afraid to go out and knock on doors in other countries to get Mexican soccer going”.

He continued, “In the United States, they have more players and they sell them cheaper. Being in Europe, we have done quite well improving our brand of soccer”. The former Chivas player also spoke about a hypothetical Nations League final where Mexico could end up facing the United States in another edition of the CONCACAF Classic.

“We have not had a good time in our recent games against the United States. But first we have to concentrate on Panama. We have a great game ahead of us and we’ll be taking it is step by step. Panama have improved a lot and the important thing is not to underestimate the team in front of us. It happened to us with Honduras a few months ago and I think that was an experience that will serve us well for Thursday’s game,” he added.

The game between Panama and Mexico will be played on Thursday 21 March at 9:15 p.m. CDT (8:15 p.m. central Mexico time) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Victory would put the Tricolor would into the final and with a chance to win the trophy for the first time. Mexico lost out in the two previous editions, finishing as runners-up when the USMNT were crowned champions in 2020 and ended in third place in 2023.