Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Americano (FMFA) and head coach Raul Rivera have announced the final 45-man roster that will represent Mexico at the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship.
The IFAF Senior World Championship is held every four years having first been contested in 1999 and eight nations from four continents – Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico and United States – will compete in Vienna, Innsbruck and Graz in the fourth edition from July 8-16.
“We believe we have a team that will be able to fight one on one with any of the other teams at the Senior World Championship,” said head coach Raul Rivera. “We know that there will be strong opponents, but as far as I know it will still be 11 to 11 on the field and that gives us the ability to defeat any opponent.”
Mexico has developed several players who have been members of the NFL International Practice Squad Program and spent time in NFL training camp and on the practice squads of NFL teams – many of which have been selected to the Mexican Senior National team.
Linebacker EDUARDO CASTADENA (Arizona Cardinals), defensive tackle MAURICIO LOPEZ (Oakland Raiders), linebacker MANUEL PADILLA (Denver Broncos), tackle RAMIRO PRUNEDA (San Francisco 49ers) and defensive tackle SALOMAN SOLANO (Baltimore Ravens) all excelled in their native Mexico before progressing to the NFL.
Solano played college football at Tamaulipas. He played with NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire in 2006 and then went on to be a member of the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions practice squad. Pruneda has a similar football background playing college football at Monterrey Tech then going on to play for the NFL Europe Cologne Centurions in 2006. He was also a member of NFL practice squads spending time with the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Both are currently teammates playing in the Professional Indoor Football League for the Green Bay Blizzard, currently sitting in second place in the Great Lakes Division with a 6-2 record.
Linebacker Jovanni Carrillo currently plays in the ONEFA for the White Eagles and played on the Mexican junior national team at the IFAF Junior World Championship in 2009 and on the World Team against Team USA in Fort Lauderdale in 2010. Solano served as an assistant coach with Mexico in 2009 and with the World Team in both 2010 and 2011.
The Mexican Senior National team will hold a training camp on June 17 in preparation for the tournament.
“Mexico has been a runner-up twice in the IFAF Senior World Championship, but with this team we hope to accomplish our goal of winning the championship in Austria,” said FMFA president Jorge Orobio.
In the 1999 & 2003 IFAF Senior World Championships, Mexico reached the championship game losing on both occasions to Japan.
The Mexican Senior National Team will leave for Europe on July 4 to train in Vienna for a period of four days before their debut against Germany on July 10. Mexico is in Group B with the United States, Australia and Germany.
About American Football in Mexico:
American football has been played in Mexico since the early 1920s at different colleges and universities. In 1928 the first professional championship was played and as more universities and colleges joined the championship, four categories – called Fuerzas – were created. The First Fuerza became the National League in 1970, and in 1978 it was reorganized under the present league, ONEFA. Mexico has many leagues with college, junior, and youth leagues under the guidance of the country’s national federation Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Americano.
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