Tarnished Marquez to join elite list
Mexico City, May 31: Mexico veteran Rafael Marquez is set to join an elite club of footballers when he plays in his fifth World Cup, but he heads to Russia tarnished by a drug trafficking investigation.
Marquez, who made his World Cup debut in South Korea and Japan in 2002, will join Gianluigi Buffon of Italy, Lothar Matthaeus of Germany and fellow Mexican Antonio Carbajal as the only players to have appeared in five editions of the tournament.
But instead of riding off tranquilly into the sunset, the 39- year- old will arrive in
Rafael Marquez will join Gianluigi Buffon of Italy, Lothar Matthaeus of Germany and fellow Mexican Antonio Carbajal as the only players to have appeared in five editions of the tournament
Russia amid legal woes and personal turbulence.
Last August, the US Treasury Department accused the former Barcelona player of being a “front person” for a drug trafficking group based in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. With his US visa cancelled and his Mexican bank accounts frozen, Marquez took a nearly three- month break from football to focus on his legal defence. After winning a court decision unfreezing some of his bank accounts, he returned to the pitch.
Coach Juan Carlos Osorio has said Marquez is an invaluable leader.