Tony Sanneh, the former US national who hated El Tri and now has a Mexican family

The US World Cup in 2002 shares that his sister-in-law and nephews are Mexican, with whom he lives in total harmony even though they wear the rival team’s shirt

Tony sanneh, ex soccer player of the Selection of USA, recalled exclusively for ESPN that at some point in his life he came to feel hatred for Mexicans due to the football rivalry, however, today he lives in harmony within a Mexican family.

“Mexico has too much credit for developing USA because he was a true champion right next door, so it’s like having an older brother, you always turn to see Mexico, you aspire to beat it, that is your goal, the objective. It was a hot rivalry because we knew we weren’t going to have respect until we could play Mexico, and they were here close to us. Too many Mexican Americans here made it more chaotic in some games. They (Mexico) having such a strong team made it easy, but it was passionate and I told people that I used to hate Mexicans for the rivalry and now my brother’s wife is Mexican so my nephews are (Mexican). Now the only challenge is when we see United States against MexicoThey wear a shirt from each team, we are a family now, “he mentioned.

Sanneh was part of the team that eliminated El Tri at the 2002 FIFA World Cup South Korea and Japan, in a round of 16 match that was defined 2-0 for the northern neighbors. In that meeting, Sanneh He remembers begging Cuauhtémoc Blanco for his shirt a few minutes from the end, a situation that ‘Cuau’ took in the best way.

“The last great memory was in the World Cup (South Korea and Japan 2002) facing the end of the game it got too rough, we played very well and I was scoring Cuauhtémoc (Blanco) and he was starting to get angry and I I turned around and said, hey, can you give me your shirt after the game? He sees me and he was so mad about the game but he knew it was a sign of respect and he said, “Ok, ok” so we both last minutes of the game ended in peace and without injuries. “

Sanneh He assured that Cuauhtémoc was the most difficult player to score “because you can’t prepare for a player like him, some players are fast but if you’re playing against (Jared) Borgetti, for example, you just have to hold on to him, don’t let him enter the area and don’t let him to jump, it’s easy. With Cuauhtémoc you never know what he is going to do, if he is going to shoot or pass, he tried things that you will not see again in 20 years playing, for me it was the most complicated challenge I have had and it was a test for me mentally. “

The ancient lair of USA against him Tri was Columbus, with cold even for local players, however, this time Sanneh do not expect temperature to affect Mexico in Cincinnati, but he hopes that the Mexicans have a hard time on the field for what they live in the stands.

“The game in Columbus was complicated for everyone, I was the only fool who came out there with short sleeves and that was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life., I think the game in Columbus was complicated because it was very cold, at this time of year it will not be so cold and the reality is that I think we have more fans of USA that before, in the past years they moved the games to those cities where they hoped there would not be so many mexicans in the stands because they wanted to make sure they had a great support system, I think there will be a lot of Mexicans in the stands, but I think the fans of USA It has grown strongly and it will feel like a home game for us, in that aspect it will be difficult because Mexico is going to play against a country in its territory, “he concluded Sanneh.