Paco Memo Ochoa has in Tokyo, one more opportunity to line up in the Olympic Games
Guillermo Ochoa will play his second Olympic Games. Years ago the goalkeeper of America was considered by Ricardo La Volpe to go to Athens 2004. However, on that occasion Jesús Corona won the title. For the process of Beijing 2008, he was the goalkeeper of Hugo Sánchez’s eleven, but the Tri failed in the attempt.
La Volpe trusted the youth goalkeepers and he decided to reinforce himself with field players: Israel López, Sinha and Omar Bravo. However, the Mexican team did not make it past the group stage.
Corona, 23, won the title to Ochoa, who days before Athens 2004 had turned 19 years old.
With Corona in goal, El Tri drew goalless against Mali on their Olympic Games debut. For the second game, South Korea beat them 1-0 with a goal from Kim Jung-woo and despite the fact that they beat Greece 2-3, Mexico sealed their elimination by adding four points, one less than the Africans and Asians, selections that They secured their qualification with a draw on the last day of the group stage.
Ochoa had the opportunity to return to the Olympics four years later. Still as a U-23 footballer, he was part of Hugo Sánchez’s team in the 2008 Concacaf Pre-Olympic, to qualify for Beijing 2008.
El Tri failed and was left out of those Olympic Games. Ochoa was the starting goalkeeper of that qualifying contest in which Mexico was eliminated in the group stage. Those led by Hugo Sánchez started with a 1-1 draw against Canada. They then fell 1-2 to Guatemala and in the third match, despite the 5-1 over Haiti, the Canadians took second place after beating the Aztecs on goal difference.
In these 17 years he has experienced two Olympic processes, but in not one he was able to debut. The first lived it as a substitute and the second, El Tri did not qualify, but now Tokyo 2020 could mean Ochoa’s first match in the Olympic Games.