On 10 July 2011, two deafening roars reverberated around the cavernous Estadio Azteca as the young players who captured Mexico’s second FIFA U-17 World Cup™ title were elevated to hero status.
In front of almost 100,000 spectators, Raul Gutierrez’s team secured their seventh consecutive victory at the tournament – and the most decisive one of all – with a 2-0 win over Uruguay that sealed one of the happiest chapters in Mexican football history.
Mexico thrilled supporters across the country, recording victories in Morelia, Monterrey, Pachuca and Torreon, before contesting the trophy in the capital. Far from feeling the pressure of performing on home soil, the players were buoyed by and fed off the enthusiasm of the fans who filled every venue to the rafters.
One of the tournament’s poster boys was Carlos Fierro, a youth player at Guadalajara outfit Chivas, who picked up the adidas Bronze Ball after registering four goals that helped propel El Tri to glory.
Fierro went on to win the Liga MX and Copa MX with Chivas and added another cup to his haul with Queretaro. More recently, he lifted the Liga de Expansion MX trophy with current employers Leones Negros.
“The coaching staff would always say, ‘Look, the stadium is full. They’re getting right behind you.’ That motivated us rather than making us nervous. Seeing the full stands, hearing the olé chants and the roar after every goal gave us an energy boost,” Fierro recalled in an interview with FIFA in the run-up to this year’s competition, in which another generation of young Mexicans will take their first steps on the global stage.
One particularly poignant memory stands out among Fierro’s most treasured recollections from the 2011 tournament. Prior to the opening match, the starlet vowed to his brother that he would net Mexico’s maiden goal of the global showpiece. Having delivered by levelling the score in the win over Korea DPR – after the Asian nation had taken an early lead – remains one of the most meaningful moments of his career. “My brother passed away later that year, but he was still with us during the World Cup. I promised him I’d dedicate my first goal to him and I started that competition full of inner strength.”
Carlos Fierro: Not all the time, but it’s always there. I’ve got the memories, photos and videos. I sometimes tell my team-mates that it didn’t really sink in back then. I was so young and now that I’m older, I think, “How did I not realise where I was at the time? Seeing the Estadio Azteca completely full…” You start to appreciate it more as you get older, but I came away with beautiful memories that’ll last a lifetime.
It was when I started to come of age and made my top-flight debut. Playing in the Libertadores, the Concacaf Champions League and reaching finals is when you think, “Thanks to everything that happened at that World Cup, I’m here now.” You value it more and understand how important that tournament was.
It was such a fun group, and we were always joking around. All the memories are wonderful. When I think back, the words that always come to mind are “love”, “peace” and “family”. That’s just what it was. We became a family that won the World Cup.
We all had the same goal of being crowned champions. It was a four-year process, with psychologists and nutritionists supporting us throughout. Coach Raul Gutierrez instilled in us the belief that Mexicans could also achieve great things. We adopted that mindset for four years and won most of the tournaments we entered. It wasn’t by chance. It was the result of brilliant work by the coach and his staff.
It’s tough. It’s not a case of just making your debut and then being guaranteed a place because you’re young. You have to earn it week in, week out. Only a few of us from that group reached the top flight, such as Marco Bueno, Antonio Pollo Briseno and Arturo Gonzalez. Four or five of us have managed to keep playing professionally, which speaks volumes about the importance of perseverance, dedication and setting goals for yourself.
When you’re young, you have to believe in yourself individually and in the team, which is what Raul Gutierrez taught us. Mexico can give any opposition a run for their money. I’d tell them to go into the tournament believing they can win it. At that age, there are often big differences in size or strength and it’s easy to feel intimidated in such situations, but you have to believe you’re good enough.
