Why the Mexican idol does not close his professional career despite having played his last game at the Atlas stadium?

One of the best players in Mexican history is about to retire from professional soccer. This is Rafael Márquez, central defender who knew how to triumph in the Mexican National Team and in clubs like the Atlas and the Lion of Mexico, the AS Monaco of France, the New York Red Bulls of the United States, and the powerful FC Barcelona of Spain. The 39-year-old, whose sporting life was plagued by titles and several sports successes, decided to end his professional career in 2018. However, fans throughout the Aztec country claim that the player plays in the 2018 World Cup Russia.

Leer en español: ¿Rafa Márquez jugará su quIGNORE INTO mundial?

There is doubt whether Rafa Marquez will be with Mexico in the World Cup as part of the Technical Coach of Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio, or if he will do so as a player and captain. In the Aztec country they have expressed vehemently that Marquez disputes the World Cup as player, since he would dispute the fifth World Cup in his professional career, equaling the record that possess the German Lothar Matthäus, the Italian Gianluigi Buffon, and the Mexican Antonio Carbajal.

Playing his fifth world cup, he would not only obtain a memorable record, he would have an exemplary way to close with a flourish his impeccable career, which is remembered with great emotion by Marquez. "This week I also received a present, a detail, from some friends, who send me a t-shirt from the school where I started playing. There, my skin got a little bit tired of remembering how I started playing on the ground, of getting up at seven in the morning, of having scars on my legs from sweeping the earth, many things, many anecdotes", said Márquez after playing his last game at the Estadio Jalisco de Atlas and beating the Chivas de Guadalajara classic on April 20.

The historic central defender is loved throughout Mexico because he was one of the best exponents of soccer in the world. For this reason, clubs throughout the Mexican league showed support on social networks with the hashtag # RafaEnRusia2018, so that Márquez is in the World Cup as a player. Clubs like Pumas, Queretaro, Toluca, Leon, Veracruz, Pachuca, Chivas, Necaxa, Monarcas, Morelia, and their Atlas, added to millions of people, sent messages on social networks to congratulate Rafa Márquez, to encourage him, and especially to ask his presence as a player of the Selection of Mexico for the World Cup Russia 2018.

For now, Rafa Márquez is leaving professional soccer as an idol, after having shared a dressing room with players like Ronaldinho and Messi, among many others. The player will leave the courts after having achieved, with the clubs he played, a total of 16 national titles, four international titles, two Concacaf Gold Cups, a Concacaf Cup, and a Confederations Cup with the Mexican National Team. The player said goodbye, half-heartedly, because he will continue to train while waiting for a call from his beloved national team.

Latin American Post | Javier Aldana
Translated from “ ¿Rafa Márquez jugará su quIGNORE INTO mundial?”