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Football

has been the greatest

and strongest force that I've had

in my life.

It was clear to me as a child

what I wanted to do.

One of the best football players in the world.

Hugo Sanchez

has been the best Mexican football player of all time.

The way he played, the way he scored

was truly incredible.

Hugo Sanchez is an idol.

Hugo Sanchez is a character

tied to the Mexicans' culture and idiosyncrasy.

There is no 20th century,

nor a history of Mexico, without Hugo Sanchez' presence.

An average of 27 goals per year.

Ten consecutive years in Spanish football.

Nobody does that!

Hugo Sanchez is the eminence.

The Miguel Hidalgo of Mexican football is Hugo Sanchez.

It was extraordinary that his left leg

was sensational in terms of getting the goal.

The best player I've ever had, and for Spain too.

HUGO SÁNCHEZ GOAL AND GLORY

I started in Pumas' basic forces

since I was 11, because my brothers were

part of Pumas' basic forces.

So they were in the special reserve,

which was the name of the second team

of the professional team.

I started in the fourth children's,

then the third,

then the first, and that's when I leaped

to the special youth.

They praised him at school

because he always got good grades.

All his friends liked football too.

They played at school.

We went where Hugo lived.

It was a closed street, the typical

coladerita, because there were two sewers

along the street.

So this friend came out, and that one.

"Let's play", and we played on the street.

In Jardin Balbuena,

Place 18,

with his mom, with the family I know.

They had a trampoline, his sister was a gymnast.

And he jumped and he jumped.

And everyday Hugo boom and boom!

Then he arrived to the court in CU and he finished his training

and one, fifty cross, and I shot.

Chucho Ramirez was on the other side, 50 cross and shot.

Training very day, longing every day,

wishing every day,

leads you to a constant.

And it ends up happening,

because this is not about luck.

Hugo Sanchez is exceptional in that he became

in the man of the instant and the definitive decision.

Many of his goals took one hit.

He has a chance and turns it into a result.

What mattered to me was to triumph in football.

What mattered to me was to be successful.

What mattered to me was to reach my goal,

my objectives and I wouldn't stop until I got them.

We always had a ball in the house.

The boys, his brothers,

started in college too,

and through them, he played a lot

with the ball.

I saw my brother Horacio in the press,

on the TV,

and how important it was to go to the Olympic Games.

And I was jealous because I wanted

to go to the Olympic Games.

When I was 14, almost 15 years old,

he tried me.

"I want to go," he said.

Since he was short, his brother Horacio

said they wouldn't take him, because he was a small kid.

His dad didn't want to send him away,

that he should stay, and I was in charge of him.

So I left him

and they took him.

A boy came,

an actual child, he was 14 or 15.

We played in Amecameca against the Amecameca selection.

He was there in a tiny stadium,

it housed around 3000 people, but it was full.

They were fat, potbellied, shot.

They mopped the floor with us.

They beat us! We got in the truck

and the only one that was crying

was Hugo.

So I said, "Hugo,

why are you crying?"

"For the first time in my life

I didn't score a goal!"

And I said, "Hugo,

this is Amecameca. No one will know."

"But I will."

I got accepted in the Olympic Team,

to play in different international games,

like the CANNES tournament,

where I got nicknamed "The Golden Child,"

the Tulum Tournament, in '75, '76,

then the Pan Am Games in '75,

and, finally, the Olympic Games of '76.

Goal!

It was a dream

that I wanted to come true,

and at that age,

12 years old, I thought how I'd love

to be able to play with the National Team

shirt on

and play in the Aztec Stadium.

Those are dreams that you harbor as a child

and, luckily, you attain them.

Hugo arrived at the right time,

at the correct hour and the perfect place.

University Pumas, in the 70s and 80s.

The best quarry in Mexican football at the time.

MEXICO CITY UNAM, 1976

Gold and blue

are traditional colors, it's very prestigious,

it has a seal of approval, you are proud to be there

or to belong to a successful community.

I saw a young man who talked about things

we weren't used to listen to.

A 17, 18-year-old Hugo Sanchez who said

not that he would be the best Pumas player,

nor the best Mexican player,

but the best player in the world.

When you entered the Pumas' dressing room at that time,

you entered and saw the players who back then

were whole figures, were already cracks.

In my Monterrey versus Tigres debut

I arrived with the illusion and the energy

of living my dream of being a pro.

I was fortunate to make Cabinho

a pass to score the winning goal

and we won Tigres as visiting with my debut.

And the coach back then, Jorge Manrique,

may he rest in peace,

he was gradually helping me and got me in as substitute

and I hung around those

who I knew that could help me

to achieve my next target, which was to be a starter player.

Muñante was the forward,

a spectacular Peruvian, Cabinho, an impressive scorer,

and Candido, a young Brazilian. Hugo replaced Candido,

and he slowly took over Candido's place,

until Hugo Sanchez stayed as starter.

When I became the Pumas coach

during the '77-'78 season,

it was my destiny

that a boy named Hugo arrived

and I was lucky to work with him

training in the basic forces.

He scored amazing goals.

Hugo Sanchez' great launch in Mexican football

came when, in March '77,

at the Aztec, scored with a free kick

when he came as sub, Pumas scored against America,

and people got to know Hugo Sanchez.

I celebrated greatly

because it was my first professional goal.

And it was right here, in this beautiful stadium.

Bora was who explained me

that last season finished with the same score.

So my job is to tighten up a little bit more

in this second round.

I tried to convince him to play center forward,

because, due to his qualities,

it would be better for him to be close to the goal.

He didn't like the idea. He hardly agreed

to play that game against Potosino.

He scored three goals and in the press conference

people asked, "Hey, Hugo,

today you played in a new position.

You played center forward with Cabinho,"

and he said, "It was hard to convince Bora

to put me in this position."

We played a game, Pumas versus Atlante,

and I scored three goals.

I see his profile, turning his back to me.

He was not going to head the ball,

but he'd attempt a scissor kick.

It was not Chilean, it was a scissors.

I was standing well, I swear,

and I even touched it.

Goal! Sure!

Imagine the press, Hugo scored a goal against me,

I was no one next to him.

Not anyone has that resource.

Only the great ones.

Coincidentally, during the next season

I scored three goals again.

We defeated Atlante in Ciudad Universitaria

and I scored with a "Chilena" again.

After the game, they ask you questions.

And there was a moment of genius, it was genius,

where I said a little mad, after the game,

I said, "It was a lucky goal."

I scored six goals in two games.

I don't know if it goes without merit,

because it was easy to me.

HIS ARRIVAL TO SPAIN

I wanted to be in an important team in Europe,

and Atletico de Madrid offered me that possibility.

I concluded the World Cup is in '82,

here in Spain.

The eyes of the world will be set on this country.

It was wonderful to embark on the adventure

of going to Spain, I was single,

and being young at 23,

I married Emma Portugal.

Four years later, Hugo was born.

that helped me value family.

I didn't value it when I got married

because, more than marrying Emma Portugal,

I married football.

And she was the partner that helped me

through difficult times.

When Hugo was born first,

and Hemma three years later, was fantastic

because I reaffirmed what it is

to live with a family and to have a family,

and to have a responsibility

as a father, and as husband too.

So I

wanted to achieve goals

and very large objectives

and their mother wasn't

very thrilled with the idea.

So we both agreed

to split.

And Hugo and Hemma understood it later.

To have a family and being married

did not affect me,

and it didn't stop me from asking myself

what do I want, the family

or the football?

If they had asked,

what comes first family or football?

I would sadly say

that football.

As a 4, 5-year-old girl

you don't understand

why dad isn't here.

Until later you start to realize,

badly, because you get used

to things being like that.

Why there are cameras around him.

You don't understand why all the time

people ask for an autograph, a photo.

And you understand that your dad is working.

And I thought and said, "I'm achieving

another dream, another goal"

which was to come and play in Europe,

in a great team like Atletico Madrid.

But the preseason started

and I suddenly hear

and find out that

the coach that had hired me,

with the technical secretary, were gone.

My support

in the board and with the coach were absent.

They brought another coach,

named Luis Cid Carriega, who had me as substitute,

He didn't give me a chance to prove myself.

FAILURE IN HONDURAS 1981...

The definitive game came,

Mexico stumbles in some matches. It was hard.

They played in Honduras.

The field...

is complicated the audience is aggressive,

the referee was biased.

There, he had to take the blame for a bad selection.

I was starting again my training adventure

when I returned to Spain,

I received the great news

that the coach who had hired me was back.

I met Alfonso Cabeza,

who was the president then,

He said, "Hugo, if you really want to stay here,

you have to waive 50%

of your contract."

He tried to break my contract with Pumas

with the engineer Guillermo Aguilar Alvarez.

And Alvarez said, "They won't give him back to us.

Hugo will fulfill his dream.

There is a contract and you can't return him."

Pumas fully supports Hugo.

I don't care to earn the half,

just to prove that I will succeed,

and I will show my capacity and my talent here in the field.

Indio! Indio! Indio!

Indio! Indio! Indio!

I was in Camp Nou,

watching Barcelona play against Atletico Madrid,

when Hugo had just arrived to Spain.

Those mean enthusiasts shouted

"Indio" at Hugo Sanchez. It's hard to overcome

this emotional lynching

that was reproduced in every stadium.

Hugo armored himself against that,

losing certain charm, a certain charisma

that the Mexican enthusiasts would have preferred.

But you must understand his history within this context.

It was surprising that everyone agreed

and said,

"Indio! Bastard!"

Outside the Molinon, for example.

It was one of the chants the whole stadium made.

And they thought that shouting "Indio" at me

they would bring me down or I would feel less.

I turned those insults into something positive,

and it motivated me. And dignity and pride

gave me strength because I knew they were aware of me.

And their being aware made me feel more important.

I received a Spanish journal

and the front cover said, "Hugo, a failure."

He didn't measure up to the first games.

His first year in Madrid, was really hard.

A Mexican player succeeding in Europe

back then, was unheard of.

It was difficult for him,

in the center of the field, to make a good play,

because it was not his thing,

but from three quarters up, he was lethal.

He had it in his head that he could not leave Mexico

and come back without succeeding, right?

And that ambition led him to try and work with the utmost interest.

And then his conditions,

conditions as a goal scorer,

I have never seen another one in my life,

in the way he acted,

in the way he looked for the goal, right?

He changed those, "Go back, Indio!"

for white handkerchiefs

that the Spaniards waved everywhere

Hugo returns and scores goals.

There was an As journal front cover

that said, "That's the way, buddy."

With Atletico Madrid

I had the chance to win

my first Pichichi

and then the Copa del Rey.

I got a call from Ramon Mendoza,

who'd become Real Madrid's president.

He wanted to interview me

I observed the importance, the greatness,

and the mindset of always winning titles

in Real Madrid.

And what I'd like is to win titles.

When I received the proposal from Real Madrid,

I was heading to Vicente Calderon's office

and, to soften him up,

I took my little son Hugo in my arms

to tell him, "Please, don Vicente, help me.

I want to go with Real Madrid,

because it's the team where I want to get more titles

and I have the chance to be there. Please."

Until he said, "Hugo, it's okay. I'll help you.

But I can't negotiate directly."

I thought of taking the Pumas president,

engineer Guillermo Aguilar,

to help me out

by having Pumas buy me again

to supposedly sign with Pumas,

but then Pumas would sell me to Real Madrid.

The Club Atletico Madrid president agreed

with the Real Madrid president

to manage it that way

because Hugo wanted to come with Real Madrid

and to do it directly was a slap in the face

to the Club Atletico president.

Finally Ramon Mendoza, Madrid's president, came

and had the idea to carry over

three or four stronghold players.

We came from rage, a football with no discourse, aesthetic.

When Franco dies, the transition starts.

Spain feels European, feels free.

And football, which usually translates

the social pulse, brought a generation

with an amount of players,

that played very well, a very delicate football.

We represented intuition,

intelligence, creativity,

inspiration, something different.

They complemented very well.

Maceda, Gordillo and Hugo Sanchez,

who were the pillars

on which that team was built.

They made such an important team

that they called it Real Madrid's Second Golden Age.

Little by little, they were realizing

that he was important, necessary, vital

for a group, even if it was Real Madrid,

and that made him get more involved

and deliver greatly, as always.

Hugo was not surrounded by his countrymen.

He was miles away from Mexico,

in a terribly demanding club,

with a different football concept than America.

But he got over all of that.

He came to Madrid and there he succeeded.

He won over the Madrilenians,

he won the followers, the people's hearts

for his dedication, his conviction, his character,

and on top of that,

an extraordinary performance as a goal scorer.

An aggressive attack player who has fun.

The goal of my dreams

was a goal with a "Chilena", from my father's influence,

for he was the reason I practiced since I was 4.

I practiced a thousand times.

and I made that kick my favorite

and I perfected it.

Goal!

Again in Santiago Bernabeu,

sporting the Real Madrid shirt,

I scored with a "Chilena"

and I made my dream come true.

That goal went down in history

and its aesthetic, because

it perfectly showed what kind of forward

and what possibilities he had.

It's not a coincidence that 38 goals or a right touch,

left, head, penalty,

does not make any sense,

because he made no sense.

He was a star. He was gifted.

He scored 38 goals in a season, with first intention.

That's a phenomenon.

As a player, as a center forward,

there's hardly anyone better.

WORLD CUP MEXICO, 1986

The '86 World Cup

meant a return to the World Cups for Hugo Sanchez,

go back to his country as a triumphant idol in Spain.

It was a hard to beat team.

We lost very few games.

A well-coordinated team in its playing style,

and we were missing the important piece

who couldn't be with us, who was Hugo Sanchez.

It was totally shameful

for the rest of the players

the treatment they gave Hugo Sanchez.

Imagine a Hollywood superstar

and the rest of them were mere mortals.

If you have a guy that wins every year

the scoring championship in Spain,

which is a world-renowned league,

will you spare him from your team?

Will you tell Hugo Sanchez,

"Don't come. I have a group of friends

that have a good time and play in Mexico."

When you have a goal with your team,

the least you can do is agree

on how to defend or attack,

where is everyone going.

There was none of that.

And that screwed the group.

He showed in the field and in training

that he's one of the best,

but the people

say this,

Bora gave him advantage.

He didn't want to blend in the group,

but the group to accommodate

to his way of being, thinking, playing.

There were many unspoken clashes,

but of course there were clashes.

I remember a National Team player

said before the World Cup, "Hugo come, let's see what he finds."

He took a Spanish accent.

That annoyed some teammates.

Even the coach.

He asked me to talk to him,

which I found to be a ridiculous request,

because it was like not respecting

the way he was.

Bora gave instructions,

"We'll run this way,"

and Hugo, and I'm telling the truth,

naturally said, "Bora, can I make a suggest?

In Real Madrid, Butragueño gives me the ball

and I rely on Michel, who centers."

The group said, "Son of a gun!

What's with this guy?"

Hugo, as an icon, arrived

acting like team captain.

He deserved it.

But there were people who had

worked for three years, like Tomas Boy.

They asked me to please,

be more humble, down to earth,

they said they talked

and that I wouldn't be made team captain,

because, if I was made team captain,

there would be more envy and jealousy.

It's unbelievable they didn't let me be captain

because of their mentality and jealousy.

I think they should have asked me politely

to be the leader, the captain,

because I was succeeding outside of Mexico.

Tomas was the captain who wore the badge,

and we sat down and I remember that in that meeting

Tomas and I commented

that the group was a little restless

regarding Hugo's behavior.

And Hugo

said the same. "This is sad.

I thought it was a different group," he expressed,

because he had been in two previous

World Cups, '78 and '82,

where he perceived, I wasn't there,

factions, jealousy, insecurities, small team,

and he clashed with that, and he felt that '86 was,

finally, a competitive, winning,

protagonist team.

The World Cup '86 is for Hugo

the Cup at home, where he is and idol,

and he's expected,

and he arrives with an injury from a game in Europe.

He had a different commitment from everyone else.

So, surely, the coaching team decided that Hugo

would be granted certain concessions.

They were asking me to lower

my performance to their level.

And I said, "Why don't you rise up to my mentality,

my football level,

and that leadership I've earned,

why don't you have it too?"

He said, "It's too hard.

We are not like you.

We are limited and we have problems."

I said, "That's not my problem. It's you problem."

Hugo was here

at that time

and the rest of us were here.

There was no one here

in the middle, or close

to Hugo in that competition sense.

Hugo, you have to understand

that we decided that the eldest is the captain.

We think it's the most convenient.

The eldest, back then, was Tomas Boy.

I didn't know he wanted to be captain.

Bora kind of mentioned

that Hugo asked to be captain.

but, as I understood,

Bora said he chose me as captain

and the rest of the team chose me as captain.

The decision to make Tomas Boy captain

becomes a diplomatic move

from Bora Milutinovic, to avoid another kind

of issue.

He chooses a talented guy with leadership,

which is what you need

to carry the captain band.

They're all the same to me.

Tomas Boy had a lot of merits.

He is captain. Hugo is third.

Hugo never protested against it.

What does that show?

That the team was important to him,

the team's spirit,

no matter who was captain.

Later I knew that he thought,

since Maradona had been chosen

by his great Argentinian colleagues,

he had to be chosen too,

like him.

I didn't get that part.

No.

It's not like,

"Stop pretending, Tomas."

They always think that.

I never knew he wanted to be captain.

"Being captain or not,

it doesn't matter to me.

But their way of thinking is really sad.

They have a mediocre mentality."

The Coca Cola company made an important

where there was a minute left and Hugo Sanchez

shot a penalty and scored.

And he played against Paraguay,

there's a minute left, it's made for TV.

I ran because we went live

and I go out, there's a stand, Coca Cola and the shot.

Hugo Sanchez was that ad in front of my eyes

with a different ending.

I remember Hugo took the ball.

Aguirre could have shot, Tomas could have shot,

I could have shot, Luis Flores,

if he was there, I forgot.

But the important thing

is the confidence to stand up in there.

Not anyone does it.

When I failed at that time

and it was a tie,

I felt human.

How would you feel when a player like Luis Flores,

is told, "Go to the bench,

because Hugo Sanchez is taking your place"?

Imagine.

I'm not ousting anyone.

I'm part of a 22 players list.

A process that takes up many years,

and there's a decision that leaves you out.

You'll be starting?

That depends on the coach.

They will hang Bora in Mexico City's Zocalo.

Exactly.

He will assume that responsibility

and he will take the risk, if that happens.

We played the fifth game against Germany.

We played really well.

We had many chances to score. The Colombian referee

canceled my goal, Aguirre was really close.

When we get to penalties,

none of us believed that we would arrive to that.

When Bora asked, "Who's shooting" Nobody stepped in.

Everyone cramped. Tomas cramped.

Quirarte cramped. Hugo Sanchez cramped.

Nobody shot the penalties.

They look like defenses shooting penalties

in front of a goalkeeper like Schumacher.

The possibility of Hugo reversed what he had done

in that World Cup, shooting the penalty

and scoring, helping Mexico to go over Germany,

would have changed the rest of History.

Despite that,

from my outside point of view,

as a journalist that watches the Cup

and broadcasts it, I always saw him

give his all in the World Cup.

The World Cup is also politics.

They always say,

"The referee helped the local team, because they're local".

But the referee didn't help here.

Mexico didn't help itself

protecting its own interests since the schedule design.

Who always has the preference? The local.

It wasn't the players' fault,

nor Bora's, nor Hugo's, nor anyone else's.

You just take them out of their fortress,

the Aztec, and they become vulnerable.

Any player who performs below expectations

gets disproportionate criticism.

And no one garnered more expectation than Hugo Sanchez in Mexico.

I met Isabel,

my current wife, in '90. It was love at first sight

and we haven't been apart since.

Hugo made me feel the most wonderful person in the world.

I was a princess

and all he wanted was that I was happy.

The rest of the world disappeared for a while.

Hugo is very protective.

The priest that married us came at the end of the ceremony

to say goodbye,

and he says, "What's your problem? She's my wife.

Why are you talking to her?"

And he says, "Sorry, Hugo!

I was just saying goodbye."

"I'm sorry, but she's my wife."

You can't be jealous of the priest

that just married her.

We waited a few years,

to enjoy a childless marriage

until she got pregnant. And,

thank God, they were two.

Isabela and Hana.

I was lucky to find him at a time

when he had practically achieved everything he ever dreamed of.

Imagine the euphoria.

He was conquering the world, at that time

it belonged to him. He was the center

because, in football,

being Real Madrid's center forward

is the center of the world.

He was that back then and he was scoring

two or three goals every week.

He felt that rush you get when you do everything right.

When things you thought of doing turn out right.

He had the traits of a born winner,

and he fundamentally showed the ambition,

a determination out of the ordinary.

I confronted Hugo

and he had no friends.

He was a

killer. If he had to step on you,

elbow you, spit on you, threaten you

and score, he would. He had no remorse.

Many of the things he accomplished

were because he said, "I'll be the best."

When you say, "I'm the best one here,

or I want to be or will be the best,

or I'm the best,"

it seems wrong, it hurts

and we vent national miseries that burden us.

Since I was a child, I didn't

have such a strong personality, temper,

but when I became a pro ad went to Spain

and I lived outside my country,

away from my surroundings, my family, my friends,

it hardened my temper

and my personality became more defined.

For the first time in Mexican football's history

someone crossed the borders and wasn't

shy enough to be great.

In Mexico, success divides people.

We have this attitude of feeling beneath

and if someone goes away

to triumph, they have abandoned us.

It's the apostate leaving the tribe.

It's called envy.

It's the pain of not being.

Envy, seeing another succeed while you don't.

It blinds you

and you don't see why such person succeeded.

Sure! You have to be blind, crazy and sick

in your head, and boiling with envy and jealousy

to not see the work

of Hugo Sanchez.

In that trade, you can't project weakness

or gratitude.

He was competing next to big players

and he had to feel that way,

with a certain dose of arrogance.

The Hugo from Jardin Balbuena is the same as now.

That's what's magic about him.

He's a guy that has no need

to show people that he's wealthy or that he's powerful.

He never carries that flag.

He's a person that has done.

He's had like a script

of his life, since he was a child.

And he followed it,

and to get what I want

I will do this."

He decided he wanted to be the best player in Mexico

and he achieved that.

The truth, it is something that...

many people admire, I admire him,

it is something very difficult to achieved

it is a source of pride for me.

He must relax and not be so...

like...

anxious, controlling.

He exerts an excessive control.

It's excessive because he wants to control everything.

Everything. And some things are not for him.

He does not think of himself, he thinks of the good of all.

I just want to thank him for...

helping me to be the way I am now.

I love him very much, he is my father.

"Dad, I can't be the best at everything.

I will try, but no.

I can't be the best at everything."

"Well, try and do your best

to at least get close to perfection."

The mindset plays a big role

in wanting to be different

and standing out.

That guideline, that awareness

that my mother gave me, she wanted me to be the best,

it helped me and I took it seriously.

I won't be the best at everything, but I will be closer

than others who don't try to.

The second and third years helped me improve

my productivity in goals and in playing.

And Leo Beenhakker left

after winning the third title in a row.

Before the championship was over,

it was like warning the manager

to bring another forward instead of Hugo,

because Hugo was getting old in football.

BACK TO MEXICO CLUB AMERICA 1992...

America offered to pay me the same

that Real Madrid was paying me.

I accepted looking forward to the '94 World Cup.

I thought it was

a good way to return to Mexico.

Do you remember the day of your debut

in Leon, America?

We were losing 1 to 0.

He scored the goal.

It was a foul and Hugo is cunning.

He tried to screw the goalkeeper

and it was a free shot and it was a 1-1 tie.

As an Americanist it was unthinkable that a Pumas player came to America.

An iconic Pumas player came to America.

Without trying, I'm responsible of the National Team

and it's part of my fate and I embraced it.

That's when I invited Hugo

and I tell him, "In the National Team,

through history, for many reasons,

you haven't done well or quite matched.

You have a lot of influence with any group of people.

I know this generation, and they are

talented young people and you are an example

and you, certainly,

will boost that group.

Miguel Mejia Baron, who always had a close link

with Hugo Sanchez, specially in the beginning,

he had a kinship with Hugo,

not only because they had

the same career, football, Pumas,

dentistry, but there was a kinship.

Miguel felt a great respect for Hugo,

they had good rapport and talked a lot.

Miguel always expressed

that Hugo Sanchez was his friend.

What we lived in Honduras was like a war.

They gave us awful treatment since we arrived,

they threw rock at the bus,

they wouldn't let us train, and they told Hugo,

"We will break your leg." And they looked for him.

And he was so sly they could never beat him.

And Hugo transmitted that slyness in every sense.

They celebrated, for first occasion,

the '93 American Cup, which cost a lot

to achieve that Mexico could go to an American Cup.

I told him, "In appreciation to

your whole story

and this last stretch you accepted,

I'd like you to retire in the American Cup as captain."

His football quality, his background, his history, his all,

he automatically, and unwillingly, put a distance.

He is the best. You can't deny it,

nor, "I'm taking your place,

or give me a good pass."

We even joked, some of us made lewd jokes

about the mom and the sister, and the girl and the wife.

He didn't cross the line, but he fooled around.

He was very affectionate in those circumstances.

I had Luis, Hugo and Zague,

and I only wanted to play with two.

I told Luis, "I have this problem."

Zague was the apex, he was the fastest.

I needed speed.

"It's between you and Hugo."

Miguel comes to my room and says,

"You won't play. I will be with the two forwards.

They want me to ditch Hugo."

He literally said, "They want me to push

Hugo aside."

I would never do that.

He says "I'll screw you."

"Don't do that, Miguel."

I said, "Yes. Your time is the future.

Hugo is retiring

and this is part of the appreciation."

He got very upset. He threw a tantrum.

"You are still starting forward in '94, the World Cup,

but I must back up Hugo Sanchez

and he will play in your place."

It was not just about having a star,

or to play accommodating the player.

And everyone, including Hugo,

always understood the collective effort

where everyone has to participate.

In that Hugo Sanchez generation,

the best group of players' history combined

to support the idol.

And that Miguel Mejia Baron's team,

of '93 and '94, I believe,

along with Lapuente's in'98,

are the best in the National Team's history.

Miguel Mejia Baron, before the final, said.

"Hugo, the time has come to leave like the great ones,

in the final we always dreamed of,

leave like a God."

Unfortunately, we got to the final against Argentina.

We had an extraordinary performance

and we didn't get the title.

That would have been my last game with the National Team.

We had a great game.

Hugo liked what was happening with the team.

Maybe he didn't think

we could play so well as a team,

or be the protagonists, like we were.

That commitment was over and Hugo says,

"I'd like to go to the World Cup."

I said, "Hugo,

we agreed this was the end."

After some time

between the American and the World Cup,

Miguel said, "I have to leave America,

because I feel a very bad attitude

from the America's board.

They wanted me to sign an image contract,

and through that

I wanted to earn an amount besides the sports contract.

They wouldn't pay that. It was peanuts.

So I deftly told my manager

to add a clause

where, if a foreign team

was interested in me, I could leave.

Hugo Sanchez did two things when he left America.

One, he valued himself and he looked independent.

And to fulfill another dream, return to Madrid

with a very popular team like the Rayo Vallecano.

WORLD CUP USA 1994

I distinctly remember

that the trip from the hotel to the stadium

was really long.

We were all very quiet,

save Jorge Campos,

who narrated his own game

in the backseat.

And in his own game

he made frequent mistakes.

So everyone laughed.

An almost nervous laugh.

Hugo starts the process.

He plays center forward

and gets the nine and is a starter.

He plays as starter the whole game.

One of the clearest occasions I had was a "Chilena" where

center came fantastically,

And it passed by the post.

So that was

a critical moment for my future,

because I'm convinced

that if I had scored,

I would have played as starter in the next game

and it could have been a tie or we could have overcome.

But the result was we lost

and that was my last

official game with the National Team.

And that cap,

which is my favorite,

in that case, didn't help me

in the end.

Miguel...

lost that confidence

in Hugo's image

and doesn't regard him for the next games.

At that time,

it was like a castle crumbling,

like a castle that I had created

and formed, crumbled.

Like I didn't deserve

to end my trajectory with the National Team in that way.

Miguel realizes, in my opinion,

that he could forego Hugo Sanchez in the games.

He played in such a way

where he had two fast forwards

and Luis Garcia was scoring 17 goals

with Atletico Madrid, 16.

I think Miguel

didn't want to change the structure,

but the team was practically

pushed to the background.

That day, the Bulgarians were really worried

because they couldn't catch Zague.

You couldn't change a player to change your game scheme

when you controlled the game in other way.

I wanted to keep Zague with the possibility

of arriving with his speed,

but someone had to play Galindo's role.

Tuca was on top. It took him so he

would see what I couldn't from below.

And I tell

Memo Vazquez, "Ask Tuca what he thinks about Galindo?"

While he found out, I talk to Hugo.

I said, "Warm up, because you'll probably take

Galindo's place."

He comes from the bench.

"Tuca, what do you think about Hugo as a possibility?"

I said, "Instead of who?"

There isn't. "What do you think?"

"The three centers are containing well.

Benjamin Galindo is perfectly

projecting Zague.

And Hugo wasn't still the protagonist of the story.

That was terrible for Hugo.

It was terrible for him.

He was used to the limelight,

he was used to be the protagonist,

to play the lead.

He was used to score.

For him, it was,

and I daresay, unbearable to be on the bench.

In a game that went into overtime

you have to have changes.

It was strange for us that there were no changes,

but they were warming up.

Those two were warming up.

It was obvious to Hugo that there would be a change.

And Hugo feels from outside

that if we go to the front, we will beat Bulgaria.

When Miguel finally decides

I forgot the minute,

he says, "I'll bring Hugo in."

He gets up confidently and goes to Hugo.

He wanted me as midfielder to replace Benjamin Galindo.

I have never played there.

And right now in the game

I said, "I can go get them."

If everyone does everything right,

why do I have to change that?

Because they think of refreshing.

What is refreshing?

It's taking out a player

that's been doing fine for 80 minutes

to put one that you don't know if will work.

And that's why you have to refresh.

It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Wait a minute!

If they are doing thing well,

why do I have to change someone?

When he warms up, I go by the stripe and ask, "What?"

That dialogue on the bench

was me trying to convince him

to be more daring. "Think it through.

I have to come in as forward

to score the goals and win the game."

"You know what? I'd like it too

if you came as center forward, but right now,

if I leave midfield,

we're standing against a very good team

and we'll be in trouble."

"But keep warming up."

I then decided he wouldn't get in.

He comes back five or three minutes later

and says, "Hugo won't play.

Period."

You enter as midfield and move forward.

The player rules the field.

"I'll enter midfield." "Yes."

"You go back, I go forward."

But a center forward was missing.

I'm completely convinced.

That's what the whole country was clamoring.

The Mexicans said, "Isabel, what's wrong?

Tell Hugo to come out." You know the Mexicans.

I was like, "What can I do?"

"You tell him! Sure you can."

"Tell Miguel."

And, sadly, for many fans

and for the football world

the only one who could decide

at that time was I, and I exerted that power.

He didn't come out.

It was one of the saddest episodes in Mexican football,

because we felt we had the man

that could take us

to the next desired round...

Football generates, during games,

many scenarios.

One of the most important it generates

is what you can provoke in your rival

with the players you have.

Don't get the player in, get his name in,

and you disturb them. That was the dilemma.

Maybe Miguel Mejia Baron did it to take care of him.

Who knows.

To bring Hugo in,

as people think,

just to kick a penalty

is ridiculous.

Not because he can't.

Ridiculous

because he shot his last penalty

with his team Rayo Vallecano and he failed,

and his team went to Second Division.

That was his last penalty.

I saw the Paraguay one,

in '86.

I lived the moment when Hugo told Bora,

"I have cramps against Germany."

At that time, everything came over me

and I thought, "Why should I bring him in?"

Such a big responsibility, just to do that.

I thought all those things and said,

"Not even for penalties."

I meant no disrespect.

It was a coaching decision in a given time.

If he had wanted to come in,

of course we would have won, just for his presence.

Not because he'd have scored three of four goals.

Hugo's presence in the field,

in the penalties,

he would have been the first shooter

and we would have felt confident.

Maybe...

I should have seen before Miguel.

He asked me if Hugo...

I said, "It's unnecessary."

I didn't promise him anything.

I had no obligations.

He and I had obligations as sportsmen

that represented Mexico, that's all.

There was nothing more.

I didn't break any commitment.

I'm not guilty of that.

I would apologize

in regards to realizing now, as a coach,

that my stance was wrong.

As a coach.

But a star and player, undoubtedly,

I think I wouldn't have developed my qualities

unless I played where I always played.

I loved him dearly.

Are you not friends anymore?

We're not friends.

Yeah.

It happens to everyone, specially at my age.

I'm sure it does.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END 1997...

Hugo!

Hugo!

Hugo!

We'd all have liked that he left at that great moment,

but it's really hard.

I think everything football gives

makes it impossible

to do it on time, according to all of us

who surround the empire of sportsmen.

I decided to retire

on May 29th, '97,

in the tribute match Real Madrid threw for me

against Paris Saint Germain.

Those were my last three flips

my last three goals.

He didn't train once in Real Madrid,

not because he didn't want to train.

Real Madrid was not doing well in the League.

Hugo said, "The tribute is approaching.

To train under pressure with the team

will only make me distract them."

It's incredible

that he went to Majadahonda,

close to his home, to run in the woods.

And then he kicked any amount of balls

against two trees that were the goal.

And he refined his aim.

They took him everywhere

in Madrid to give midnight interviews

and the next day he scored three goals.

The front cover reads, "Real, there's your solution"

Only Hugo Sanchez can do that.

He scored in pregames

two or three goals.

All Michel and the midfielders and above

were obsessed with was to try

to make Hugo happy.

What made Hugo happy?

Scoring goals.

When I woke up that morning,

with my bride by my side,

I said, "I wouldn't have liked to wake up

from this beautiful dream."

I didn't really realized what he was going through.

He was just like now.

It was the same effect.

For the rest of the civilization, it was the same.

For me, I realized it was obviously a hard time.

A little bit of the nose,

those big, beautiful eyes,

the big eyelashes and the eyebrows.

- The mouth. - Not the mouth.

You don't want my mouth?

He keeps everything inside.

I think he doesn't want to share his sadness

or his fears with others,

I mean, with his closest family members, because

he prefers, somehow,

to suffer on his own and his pain to others,

like when he shares that suffering with us.

I mean,

the time I saw him suffer the most

was when my brother Hugo died.

It was very sad.

My wife, my daughters and I got ready

to take a flight from Tijuana

to Mexico City.

And suddenly

my wife's phone rang,

because I turned my phone off,

because we had boarded the plane,

and my wife didn't turn it off.

The call came in

and it was my manager's wife, Jose Manuel Sanz.

She has my wife's number and called her.

She said, "We are calling Hugo and he doesn't answer.

But I call you because we need to find him."

"We're on the plane to Mexico City.

We'll make a stop to go to Pachuca, for the Hall of Fame."

She says, "Jose Manuel wants to talk to Hugo,

can you give him the phone?"

So she gave me the phone.

It was on that damn November 8th, 2014,

when Jose Manuel told me

that they...

They informed him that

they had found two bodies

in Polanco

and it seemed like one of them was Hugo.

So I was paralyzed and...

I couldn't speak.

Isabel asked, "What happened?"

I said,

"They told me it's possible that Hugo

is one of the bodies they found in Polanco,

but it's not confirmed yet."

So

I was speechless.

They...

Isabel, my wife,

and my daughters in the next seats,

didn't know what was going on.

So I told Isabel,

"It's not confirmed, but it might be."

I couldn't hold myself.

That was the most

fucked up flight...

I've ever taken.

That one.

A three goddamn hour journey

to Mexico...

From Tijuana to Mexico.

And I spent

the whole trip crying,

my wife too,

and thus my daughters. They couldn't believe it.

I arrived to the airport

and the first thing I did...

was pick up the phone,

call Jose Manuel

and ask him to please investigate

while I was in the flight,

to investigate,

and please confirm

if it was Hugo or not.

So I arrived to the airport,

descended the escalator,

which I'll never forget,

it seemed eternal.

I went to the men's

room, and my wife and my daughters went

to the women's room,

and when I called Jose Manuel,

he confirmed

that it was him.

I wanted to leave before.

The normal thing is...

that grandparents leave first,

then the parents

and then the children.

But I don't understand why he left first.

I wanted to go before him.

That's it.

When I knew that...

my life

has been another.

It's not the same.

God...

God has supported me in everything.

And I accept fate.

Every time I see my dad

I feel my brother close.

I don't know why Mexico doesn't have

forwards up to par with Hugo Sanchez.

Forwards like Hugo Sanchez

don't exist anywhere in the world.

Nowadays, societies' new gods,

as in ancient times, in the Roman Empire,

were warriors.

They are football players,

the sportsmen

the nations' ambassadors,

the characters that

can easily be more recognized than a president.

And that's what happened with Hugo Sanchez.

He became an ambassador

where everyone in the world know who he is.

Hugo started to turn

Mexican football into globalized football.

He helped give Mexico an important type of identity,

as an exporter of Mexican culture.

I pictured myself being Hugo Sanchez,

playing in Europe too.

If back then Hugo Sanchez

hadn't been there,

I wouldn't have had anyone to look up to

and have that dream.

Hugo should be next to Cantinflas,

with Pedro Infante.

It's a popular matter.

Hugo Sanchez doesn't belong to himself.

Hugo Sanchez is society's heritage.

Whether you like him or not, he's Mexico's heritage.

Whoever thinks it's easy that the master Hugo Sanchez

was five times Pichichi,

lifted Pumas up to be a champion

two seasons in a row,

that he made all those guys that spread hate

eat their own words

when he played in Atletico,

that he made Real Madrid champion

who knows how many times,

it seems easy,

but only the Indian

knows the weight he carries.

I'm very lucky to have been

exactly in the same field, kicking the same ball

and sometimes defending the same team

with the greatest guy that Mexican football gave us.

What would I say if we played together?

"Make a pass to score a goal."

No. For me, obviously,

I love to play with top players, and Hugo Sanchez

was in the top, a legend and I'd be proud

and I'd love to play with him,

because good players must play together.

The cracks, the legends must play together.

What I said is not a dream,

it's the truth. It would be a pleasure to play with him

and we'd surely make a top duo.

I'm grateful to Sanchez

because he has made me feel proud

as the Mexican I am.

For everything that Hugo Sanchez has represented to us

and everything he's given to Mexico.

Despite everyone.

Without Hugo Sanchez football would be different.

I can agree or not.

He might be arrogant or not.

Whatever he is.

He is a necessary guy.

A guy that football needed

and I think we enjoyed him a lot.

When you start in football

or want to become someone,

there's no better example than Hugo Sanchez,

Mexican, triumphant, scorer.

Everything he achieved in Europe

is something

not anyone can reach.

Due to the magnitude of Hugo Sanchez' figure

and all he planted in the collective unconscious

we will always expect that what Hugo Sanchez does

in any walk of life is triumphant.

That's not Hugo's fault.

Our expectations.

Hugo Sanchez is a character in Mexican history,

not football only.

I think Hugo transcended

beyond our borders

and Hugo is a Mexican icon.

Despite that many things have happened

and many years have passed

since his days in the field,

the Mexican boy that wants to be a football player

still identifies with Hugo Sanchez.

When I was a child,

maybe I was 4 or 5,

I came to my house from the street,

one Saturday, and my father was with his friends

playing domino,

and when I came in, he sat me on his lap

and asked his buddies, "Do you know who this child is?

This boy will be the best football player

of all time in Mexico".

HUGO SANCHEZ STARTED HIS TRAJECTORY

AS A COACH IN THE YEAR 2000.

IN THE YEAR 2004, HE ACHIEVED THE DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH UNAM

AND GOT THE TITLE SANTIAGO BERNABEU.

IN THE YEAR 2006 HE TOOK THE REINS

OF MEXICO'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

FOR ONLY 13 MONTHS

PLACING THIRD IN THE AMERICAN CUP.

HE CURRENTLY WORKS AS ANALYST FOR ESPN.

So, Atletico de Madrid has the opportunity

to take three points, which would be...