Klopp turned down Mexico job in 2015 in favour of Liverpool move

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Klopp turned down Mexico job in 2015 in favour of Liverpool move image

Jurgen Klopp turned down a chance to manage Mexico in 2015, according to Guillermo Cantu, former director of national teams for the Mexican Football Federation.

At the time Klopp was finishing up a seven-season run in charge of Borussia Dortmund, where he won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Cantu said he made an approach for the German, who politely turned down the chance to manage El Tri.

"I asked through a third party if he'd be interested in the Mexican national team and the message back was, 'I appreciate it, many thanks, but I still have a lot to do in club football and I want to go to England,'" said Cantu in an Instagram Live interview with TUDN.

In October 2015, Klopp was named the manager of Liverpool. Klopp has transformed the Reds into one of Europe's top sides, winning the Champions League last season and staking the Reds to a 25-point advantage atop the Premier League in 2019-20.

With the Reds currently on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, Klopp has said that his players are hoping to return to the pitch as soon as possible. 

"When we come back together again, we have to make the best of the situation we have. We don’t know how long we will get to prepare for the games, so in that moment we will just try," Klopp told NBC Sports.

After Klopp declined the job Mexico would go on to hire Juan Carlos Osorio as manager in 2015, a decision that Cantu says he does not regret.

"If you told me, 'You will choose a coach who will finish the three years with a 70 per cent [win record],' I'd sign off on it 40 times," Cantu said.

"He always played to win, I think we can appreciate that," Cantu added. "They made fun of him when he said, 'We have to go out and beat Germany'".

Osorio led Mexico to the last 16 at the 2018 World Cup, including a memorable group-stage victory over defending champions Germany. The Colombian resigned from his position following the World Cup, and was replaced by former Barcelona boss Gerardo "Tata" Martino in January 2019.

 

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