Soccer | New Mexican soccer coach, Jesus Ramirez, feels the heat even in Seattle

As far away from Mexico as Jesus Ramirez is, he can't escape the incessant questions.

That comes with the territory as the new head coach of Mexico's national soccer team. The spotlight shines from south of the border to Seattle, as Ramirez learned Tuesday.

Ramirez was named coach March 31, the day Mexico's soccer federation voted to fire Hugo Sanchez, a national legend as a player who coached the national team for 16 months.

Sanchez also coached the U-23 team — made up many players who won a U-17 world title under Ramirez in 2005. When that team didn't qualify for the Beijing Olympics earlier this year, the federation had had enough. And with expectations to not only win but be the dominant soccer nation in North America higher than ever, the Sanchez era was over.

Enter the silver-haired Ramirez — nicknamed "Chucho" in his homeland — who guides Mexico tonight in his debut as interim coach when "El Tri" plays China in a friendly at Qwest Field.

Interim, because the federation seeks a candidate with more international experience to lead the team. The pressure and scrutiny of this job in Mexico is like being the New York Yankees manager or Dallas Cowboys coach — times 100. In Mexico, soccer is king, and how the national team fares is national front-page news.

"Personally, it's a huge honor, a great experience and a huge responsibility before my country," Ramirez said in Spanish Tuesday after Mexico's practice. "But more than that, I feel that we've always thought about the team and working with the team, and that's most important."

Ramirez calmly withstood the firing line of questions from Spanish-speaking media. He is focused on getting his team ready for tonight despite limited preparation time. Mexico brings a young team missing many of its bigger stars, who are playing in Europe.

"We expect to win," Ramirez said, offering his scouting report of China. "It's a good team, a fast team with good coaching. Disciplined. They'll be a very good opponent for us."

That said, most of tonight's crowd and all of Mexico expects a Mexico win, too. The team has a huge following with the large Mexican- and Mexican-American population in the United States, and routinely draws big, passionate crowds to games played in American venues.

"I know that there are a lot of fans that root for us in Mexico and here," Ramirez said. "On a personal level, it's nice to have an opportunity to give something back to the fans. I'll play wherever we have to play. That's the way soccer is."

So what does the Mexican soccer federation expect from Ramirez even as they search for a permanent coach?

"The federation hopes we finish these three games [on the current U.S. tour] well, with victories," Ramirez said. "I imagine that's what they hope for from me, and continue with the process of preparing for the first game of World Cup qualifying.

"The first qualifying match with Belize is important because if you don't win, well, it's about over."

Not completely. The World Cup qualifying process takes more than a year and many games are played. The Belize match, scheduled for June 15, will take place at Houston's Reliant Stadium, another indicator that Mexico's appeal crosses the border in a big way. Mexico figures to be a heavy favorite.

Goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, the most recognizable Mexican player in tonight's game at age 34 with 12 years of national team experience, didn't want to talk about Hugo Sanchez, saying the team has gone in a different direction with Ramirez.

"We're professionals. We have to support whoever is the head coach of the national team, and right now, he is," Sanchez said. "We're OK to be with him."

"We try to create this atmosphere where everybody's in good spirits and enjoys it," Ramirez said.

For as long as he can, anyway.

Notes

• More than 48,000 tickets had been sold as of Tuesday, and the walk-up crowd could swell today's attendance to near 55,000, organizers believe. That's more people than originally expected.

• The match will be the first sporting event on the stadium's newly installed FieldTurf surface, put in last month. Mexico's players and coaches talked about it after practice. "It's a little different for us since we're not used to playing on that surface," Sanchez said. "But we have to adapt, right?"

• Adidas, a Major League Soccer and Mexican national team sponsor, is currently working on the design of the Seattle Sounders FC jersey. The jersey will be unveiled toward the end of this year.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com