The best Mexican soccer player is Carlos Vela
He closed his eyes, held his breath and blew out the 24 candles crowning the chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries. Amid the clapping, the singing, the cheers and congratulations, Carlos Vela forgot to make a wish. "I'll make it later," he thought.
As if to meet a "requirement," San Sebastian side Real Sociedad has received or is about to receive the request from the Mexican Football Federation so that the team may allow the future call-up of one of its players for the upcoming FIFA Match Day.
Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre will once again place the ball in Vela's court.
"No doors are closed on anyone here. Some people close the door on themselves," said the national team manager several days ago.
We still do not know what will happen over the coming hours: Whether Chepo will decide not to call upon Vela or whether Vela decides, again, not to heed the call-up to the national team due to personal reasons. The only important thing here is that the best Mexican soccer player at present will be, once again, far away from Mexico's national soccer team.
Carlos Vela turned 24 a week ago and he did so, no doubt, at the most interesting time in his soccer career. The winner of the Golden Boot at the 2005 U-17 World Cup has become the third best all-time Mexican goal-scorer in Europe, obviously quite far from Hugo Sanchez's 309 goals, but fighting closely with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's numbers. Vela is just one goal away from tying Luis Garcia as the second best Mexican goal scorer in Spain's Primera Division and he is experiencing a situation in which not only are his personal numbers satisfactory, but also the results of his team, Real Sociedad.
After seven years of keeping his nose to the grindstone in European soccer, Carlos Vela is finally established as a soccer player of great talent.
The question now has to do with what lies deep in Vela's mind, with what hides in his thoughts, in his love, his resentment, his hopes and his own dreams. Today's best Mexican soccer player turned 24 years old, but we still don't know what he wished for when he blew out the candles last Friday.
David Faitelson is one of Mexico's most popular sports journalists, having worked for TV Azteca before joining ESPN. He is based in Los Angeles, and co-hosts "NaciónESPN," ESPN Deportes' version of "SportsNation." Follow him on Twitter @Faitelson_ESPN.
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