\n
MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mexican national team ahead of the finals is world cup<\/span> It was a matter of who would start at the net.<\/p>\nAre you inexperienced? Raul Rangel<\/span>which player never played in an official match for El Tri? Or a great person Guillermo Ochoa<\/span>the team’s anchor since 2014?<\/p>\ncoach Javier Aguirre<\/span> It turned out to be a wise decision to bet on his youth.<\/p>\nThe 26-year-old Rangel made a spectacular save in the 87th minute against South Korea, helping the co-hosts advance. Dramatic 1-0 victory<\/span> They are the first team to advance to the finals of this year’s World Cup.<\/p>\nRangel already has two shutouts, matching the feat of the iconic Jorge Campos. In the next game between Mexico and the Czech Republic, they will try to emulate Ignacio Calderon, the only Mexican goalkeeper to keep three clean sheets in one World Cup, achieving this at home in 1970.<\/p>\n
“Raul has shown great determination since he was first called up. He was a substitute for Luis \u00c1ngel Malagon, but he persevered and continued to develop,” said Aguirre. “He played well for his club Chivas and improved day by day. Few players make their debut this easily. Usually you have to make mistakes and learn. He looked a little nervous during the match.” first match<\/span>but he did well. \u201d<\/p>\nRangel’s rise to World Cup stardom was highly unexpected. He played in the second division for Tapatio just three years ago and was a starter for Chivas just one year ago. Malagon was considered a likely starter for Mexico after leading his team to CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup titles, but was sidelined in March with a torn left Achilles tendon.<\/p>\n
Still, questions remained as to whether Aguirre would trust Rangel on the world stage or Ochoa, who has more veteran experience. Ochoa, 40, will be playing in his sixth World Cup, starting in Brazil in 2014, followed by Russia four years later and Qatar in 2022.<\/p>\n
History almost repeated itself for Ochoa. Heading into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Ochoa was ready to start, but then-coach Aguirre belatedly placed him on the bench in favor of veteran Oscar Perez. This time, Aguirre went with a young man.<\/p>\n
Despite being demoted to the bench, Ochoa accepted the role of teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to thank Memo for being a true mentor to me. Frankly, he helped me a lot,\u201d Rangel said. \u201cDespite all the World Cups he played in, he taught me the serenity that he brings every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the game against South Korea, Ochoa waited for Rangel to say hello and gave him a hug before heading to the locker room.<\/p>\n
“Having Guillermo Ochoa behind me increases the level and intensity in all aspects, which makes me grow. It gives me a lot of confidence to know that I have someone like him behind me or beside me to support me and fight for positions,” Rangel said.<\/p>\n
Coach Rangel said of the two-win start, “If you feel like you’re the favorite to win, it’s going to lead to complacency, and this team is not ready for that.” “The team needs to avoid overconfidence and focus on one game at a time, knowing they will be playing against a tough opponent.”<\/p>\n
With two clean sheets in his first two games, Rangel matched Ochoa’s own debut record in 2014. Ochoa recorded further shutouts in 2018 and 2022, holding Mexico’s record for most total clean sheets in a World Cup.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Campos, known for his colorful uniform and acrobatic style, posted two shutouts in 1994 and 1998.<\/p>\n
If Rangel can shut out the Czechs, he will match Calderon’s record in Mexico, but he will still be chasing the ultimate milestone. Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga holds the all-time World Cup record with five consecutive clean sheets in the 1990 tournament.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/fifa-world-cup<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mexican national team ahead of the finals is world cup It was a matter of who would start at the net. Are you inexperienced? Raul Rangelwhich player never played in an official match for El Tri? Or a great person Guillermo Ochoathe team’s anchor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\n
Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mexican national team ahead of the finals is world cup It was a matter of who would start at the net. Are you inexperienced? Raul Rangelwhich player never played in an official match for El Tri? Or a great person Guillermo Ochoathe team’s anchor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T22:48:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/\",\"name\":\"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T22:48:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg\",\"width\":980,\"height\":653},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\",\"name\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","og_description":"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mexican national team ahead of the finals is world cup It was a matter of who would start at the net. Are you inexperienced? Raul Rangelwhich player never played in an official match for El Tri? Or a great person Guillermo Ochoathe team’s anchor","og_url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/","og_site_name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T22:48:28+00:00","author":"admin_ok9yktt6","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin_ok9yktt6","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/","name":"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-06-19T22:48:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2F192F512F7d8aebb6c8478492350e2bb4b94d2F3cd3e636e7984b57a7ed729f1be47abf.jpeg","width":980,"height":653},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/young-mexican-goalkeeper-raul-rangel-shows-his-fitness-at-the-world-cup\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Young Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel shows his fitness at the World Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/","name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","description":"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9","name":"admin_ok9yktt6","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin_ok9yktt6"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/eplvip.com"],"url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}