Skip to content

Mexico pair look forward

Image: Salcido: Looking forward

Carlos Salcido and Pablo Barrera insist they will play their part in Mexico's friendly against Venezuela.

Salcido and Barrera will take part against Venezuela

Carlos Salcido and Pablo Barrera have confirmed they will play their part in Mexico's friendly against Venezuela on 12th October. The pair were among 11 players who were fined by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) for breaches of discipline during a party held after a friendly with Colombia in September. All 11 subsequently sent a letter to the FMF saying they were unhappy the incident had been made public and that the punishments were unfair, asking not to be considered for international duty until directors' attitudes changed. But all 11 have been called up and Fulham's Salcido and West Ham's Barrera insist they will do their best, with Salcido saying he expects the problems to end with the friendly. "I am happy, with all the team-mates, we are together. I am happy because it could be the end of all the bad things that have been said about the national team," said Salcido.

Serious

"The Mexican national team is something serious and it has to be respected." Barrera added: "I am very happy to be recalled to the national team because it is very nice to have the chance to wear the shirt of your country." The FMF general secretary Decio De Maria said this week the federation would not accept conditions imposed by players in order to play with the national team. The federation did, however, say it was holding talks with the players to try and fix the problem and World Cup captain Rafael Marquez confirmed there had been contact. "The issues have to be fixed internally and that's what we are trying to do. We are in dialogue with the federation," Marquez said. Arsenal striker Carlos Vela and Celtic midfielder Efrain Juarez, who were handed six-month bans as part of the incident, have not received call-ups for the friendly.