La Volpe stirred heavy criticism and controversy among Mexican fans with his interest about Argentine-born midfielder Walter Gaitan. The Mexico Squad also has Brazil-born striker Antonio Naelson and Argentine-born forward Guillermo Franco.

Fans are complaining that young prospects for the national football team are not given the right opportunities and especially the fact that there are two players from other Latin American countries already in the squad has generated a wave of criticism. Mexican media are also pressuring La Volpe to change attitude.

Antonio Naelson, of Brazilian origin, was the first foreign-born player to receive a call-up in the squad. He played in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers and was the first naturalised player to score a goal for Mexico.

Naelson is married to a Mexican and he has lived in Mexico for the past 10 years. His first goal was in Mexico's 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago. He plays for Mexican Club Toluca. Naelson also participated in the 2005 Confederations Cup, scoring an amazing goal against Japan.

Guillermo Franco, who has only been living in the Latin American country for three years, played in Mexico's qualifier against Guatemala back in October 2005. The game was not that important for La Volpe's team, as Mexico had already qualified for the World Cup Finals. Franco plays in Mexico for Monterrey.

Ricardo La Volpe is accused that he has not given enough opportunities to two promising talents, midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco and striker Adolfo Bautista. Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been labelled by some fans as Mexico's best player.

However, La Volpe does not seem to include Blanco in his squad. Walter Gaitan spoke about his talks with Ricardo La Volpe and said that he feels better for playing in the Mexican squad rather than the Argentinean one.

"I've known for a long time that it's very unlikely (to be picked for Argentina) and I want to play football, I want to dream about going to the World Cup."

"I love Argentina but now I spend more time here and I identify more closely with the people of Mexico. If I have a chance to represent them, I will do my best," Blanco said in an interview with Mexican sports newspaper "Record".

In an interview published in the same newspaper earlier this week, La Volpe said that "The media are very enthusiastic about Cuauhtemoc and Bofo (Bautista), but I believe that if, in the last two championships, we have to talk about a goal scoring midfielder, then it is Gaitan. As far as I'm concerned, he's Mexican."

In Mexico, a campaign to stop naturalised players from being included in the men's national football squad is gaining more and more supporters. The campaign is led by former Mexico international Hugo Sanchez.

Sanchez said in a statement that he would be very saddened if Mexico won the World Cup Finals Trophy with naturalised players in its squad.

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