Simply Dangerous
He is perhaps not the player who takes his club to finals and gives them honours, but ignoring him in the Mexican national team would definitely be a huge mistake for any side facing El Tri. Fresh from his Gold Cup triumph with Mexico subsequent to a dramatic victory over rivals USA—a match in which he scored—Guardado certainly has reasons to look ahead to a good run in Argentina.
As a CONCACAF champion and a World Cup participant, he is very well aware of the pressure that major tournaments can inflict, and handling it is obviously not a difficulty from his prospect. The former Atlas player and midfielder has so far made 72 appearances and scored 12 goals for his country.
Lowlights and Highlights
Lowlights
2006 World Cup: The 24-year-old, then a youngster, was giving his only chance to perform in Germany in Mexico’s last match of the tournament, in the Round of 16. A 2-1 loss on extra time to Argentina ended his hopes of playing further, as he left the competition with nothing really to remember.
2007 Gold Cup final: Despite scoring the opening goal against USA in the final, an injured Guardado saw his country go on to lose 2-1.
Highlights
2007 Copa America Third-Place: A 76th minute goal from the player helped Mexico defeat Uruguay 3-1 to claim the third position in the contest.
2010 World Cup Opener: Guardado became the first non-African player to make an assist at the South African World Cup, when he set up Rafael Marquez for an equalizer against the hosts, who were previously leading 1-0.
2011 Gold Cup final: Guardado was on the scoring sheet, in a crucial match that saw Mexico come from behind to beat their arch-rivals 4-2 and lift the cup.
Awards
Below is a short list related to the individual awards he has won in his career. For readers’ information, youth tournament honours are not included.
- Best Rookie (Apertura 2005)
- Best Wingback (Apertura 2006)
- Best Wingback (Clausura 2007)
Other Awards
- Deportivo Player of the Year (2007, 2008)
Strength and Weaknesses
Guardado is without doubt a fast player with quite an amount of precision in his moves, especially when it comes to dribbling. His passes are very often likely to create attacking opportunities, and he is never reluctant to assist his defensive mates whenever support is needed at the back. His long-range shots are generally accurate, although he hasn’t shown much consistency overtime.
The video below consists of a decent compilation based on his on-field capabilities:
Current Form and Condition
The Deportivo La Coruna midfielder was reported to be struggling with a sprained left ankle prior to the Gold Cup final; however, it now looks as if he is ready to enter the next episode of action in the Copa America 2011. As at now, there aren’t any rumours linking him with a move out of his Spanish club. Impressive displays in Argentina could nevertheless push top managers to target him in later stages of the on-going summer transfer window.
