Gilberto Mora shines in the Mexican jersey at the home World Cup. In the round of 16 he shone against Ecuador and took his country to the next round.
Even before the match began, Gilberto Mora involuntarily attracted attention. When Mexico and Ecuador arrived at Aztec Stadium, Mora had to smile. Because the child who was prescribed an enema was almost the same height as himself.
As the players lined up around the center circle, the 1.68m tall youngster looked to the side and realized he had caught the tallest kid on the field. His teammates standing next to him had to laugh at the almost non-existent height difference, especially future scorer Julian Quinones. He then replaced his enema baby with Maura’s because it was much smaller. Maura clearly took this with humor.
Conductor in midfield
After referee Slavko Vinčić started the game, the 17-year-old was back in midfield, dictating the Mexicans’ play from midfield.
Mora created a number of good scoring chances and made several dangerous shots himself. Thanks to their performance, the co-hosts became the team that dominated the game and eventually won comfortably with a score of 2-0 (2-0).
Maura screams after a brilliant performance
In the 59th minute it was all over for the prodigy as Mora was replaced by Brian Gutierrez. When he was substituted, the Mexican fans at the Aztec Stadium rose from their seats and gave him a standing ovation.
With his appearance in the round of 16, he became the second youngest player in World Cup history to start a knockout game, aged 17 years and 259 days. The record holder is Pele at the age of 17 years and 239 days from 1958. About a year ago, Mora made his debut for El Tri and became Mexico’s youngest player at the age of 16 years and 219 days.
El Tri was always Mora’s number one.
The World Cup is a dream come true for him, as he has loved the Mexican national team since childhood. It was not the big international clubs like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Liverpool that came first for Mora, but always El Tri. He is all the more proud that he is currently representing his country on the biggest stage.
After the opening game, Mora once again fueled the euphoria in the country. “Mexico deserves to be on top of the world,” he said, adding: “Together we will get there.” It’s not that far yet. England now face the quarter-finals.
Halb Europe hunts Mora
It is unclear what will happen next to the Mexican after the World Cup. There is obviously a lot of interest in him and top clubs in Europe are keen to sign him. However, Mora is probably not against this, because just before the tournament he extended his contract with the Tijuana club in the domestic Liga MX for another three years. However, a number of clubs will line up for him.