Ricardo Antonio La Volpe, former coach of the Mexico national team in Germany 2006, had no doubts in reaffirming that America goalkeeper Luis Malagon has proven to be the goalkeeper with the greatest arguments to be the starter for the next 2026 World Cup.

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The statement from the experienced strategist with extensive experience in Liga MX and in his country's soccer arose from the doubts that have been expressed on different sports programs about the true capacity of the Aguilas goalkeeper to guarantee success in the next World Cup.

In this sense, La Volpe, in response to a specific question from La Opinion, responded that: "I think that whether there are doubts or not, for me Malagon has shown quite a lot of quality as a goalkeeper. I think he has shown at America at the time that he has the necessary conditions to be a starter."

"Suddenly they say that a goalkeeper is not in good form, those are some opinions, but what I believe is that a goalkeeper should be judged by his conditions and he has shown that he can be the undisputed starting goalkeeper for the national team."

While it is true that there is still a long way to go for what I know about the release of the final list and Mexico's debut in the next World Cup, La Volpe's perspective has not changed, especially because of the knowledge and experience that precedes him having been Argentina's second goalkeeper behind Ubaldo Matildo Flllol in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, he also referred to those who may be fighting for the position with the Americanista goalkeeper.

"But there are also goalkeepers looking for their place, such as Rangel. But they are the coach's decisions, but he has also shown his ability," said La Volpe.

The choice

Ricardo La Volpe also responded in the following way to the insistence of having in his hands the choice of the starting goalkeeper, as happened in the 2026 World Cup,when against all odds he decided that Oswaldo Sanchez would be the starter and Jesus Corona the second.

“I didn’t risk anything against any opinion. For me, Oswaldo always showed consistency and I didn’t have any problems, and the second goalkeeper for me was Corona. So for me too, he didn’t have any problems, it was four years that I was safe where I had both goalkeepers without any problem,” said the experienced strategist and current analyst for the TUDN network.

On the subject, he concluded that: “For me, when I saw Malagon with the national team, he showed his quality. He showed that he was going through a good moment and I don’t know what they say now about there being doubts that he’s going through a bad moment, I don’t believe it, but I respect opinions.”

La Volpe also admitted that there should be no concern about Mexico’s goalkeeping position or the starting position: “For me, the number one could be Malagon, although Rangel is fighting there with his category and well, we’ll have to see the other goalkeepers, who they may be at their best."

Memo Ochoa with age against him

Finally he explained that for Memo Ochoa age plays against him and especially the lack of activity: "Memo Ochoa, because of his age it could be difficult for him, because if he doesn't have rhythm it's difficult, be careful with age, because you can lose a bit of speed reflexes, so if he doesn't have continuity it will be difficult for him."