If you watched the 2014 World Cup religiously like I did, or if you kept up with news about the event, then you may have heard about the controversy following the game between Mexico and the Netherlands. It was a big deal for Mexico fans, and here’s why.

Toward the end of the second half of the Round 16 game, Robben Arjen (Netherlands, #11) dropped to the ground following a foul by Mexican Defender Rafael Marquez, where Marquez stepped on Robben’s foot, giving the Netherlands a penalty kick.

Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar ( #19) took the shot that awarded Netherlands a 2-1 victory, eliminating Mexico from the World Cup.

Everyone had an opinion on the event, and fans of the Mexican National team were furious. The phrase “No era Penal” (It wasn’t a penalty) became a widely spread topic. It became a hash tag on social media.

Robben had a reputation for diving, and the press condemned him for his “theatrical fall” for the penalty. At the end of the match, Mexico’s head coach Miguel Herrera was seen arguing with Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca. In an interview following the match, he claimed, “This was a World Cup where everyone was against Mexico.”

A year later, fans are still talking about and grieving the loss of Mexico vs. Netherlands. Most recently, Pedro Proenca has decided to retire after 16 years of refereeing in the sport of soccer. During the most controversial game of his career, Proenca failed to call two first half penalties that should have been called. The first was when Netherlands Arjen Robben was wiped out by Hector Moreno in the box, and then when Mexico’s Hector Herra was through on a goal and took a high boot from Ron Vlaar that knocked him out of the game.

He refereed the 2010 Euro Cup Final between Spain and Italy, multiple UEFA Champions League Titles, the Confederation Cup, and as well as the final stages of the 2014 World Cup In Brazil. That’s around 370 matches, including 101 international matches.

As the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup continues, more trouble has come to Mexico ‘s national team. The Gold Cup is the main football competition of men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, which determines the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

On Wednesday, July 22, in the 88^th minute of the game between Mexico and Panama, Mexico was awarded a penalty kick after Panama defender Roman Torres got called on a handball in the penalty area. This all happened in the second half of the game while Panama was protecting a 1-0 lead against Mexico. Fans were angry as they threw trash from the stand. Players from both teams argued from the sidelines and it looked like it would turn into a fight.

Panama had already been reduced to 10 men for much of the match, and they protested the decision of the officials.

Guardado kept his nerve and fired the ball into the right corner of the goal. For Guardado, he was debating whether to miss the shot on purpose.

“It was painful. Yes, for a minute, yes [I considered kicking it wide] but in the end, we are professionals and you think about the times you have been on the other side and the hearts of the other team’s players aren’t moved,” Guardado told TV Azteca. “I repeat, this is football, sometimes you are given and sometimes it is taken away. Whether it should have been a penalty or not, that is not our fault.”

Guardado scored a second penalty in the 133rd minute for the winner to set up a match against Jamaica on Sunday, July 26, for the final in Philadelphia.

The 28 year old stressed that the mistake was that of referee Mark Geiger and not El Tri, although he admitted that his team did not play well.

“Just as I told the Panama coach, unfortunately the players, we are the least guilty for what happened and for refereeing mistakes that can happen," the midfielder said. “We have to keep doing our job, scoring goals, sometimes football takes away. There will always be complaints, and afterward it is those of us on the pitch who unfortunately must represent and so we are the subject of all kinds of criticism.”

Guardado said that if El Tri continues to play poorly, it wouldn’t get past Jamaica in the final.

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera told ESPN's John Sutcliffe that the ref had a bad match and called for goal-line technology or some kind of instant replay, but said he would never have asked Guardado to deliberately kick it wide.

"No one ever does that," Herrera said. "I have never seen that happen. Sure, it passed through my mind that it wasn't a penalty, but I would have had to see the replay. This ref officiated an excellent game in his previous match for Trinidad & Tobago. Today he made mistakes, as all humans do on occasion."

Guardado also scored the decisive goal with a penalty kick in Mexico's 1-0 quarterfinal win over Costa Rica.

"We will continue to do our job. But really, tonight, we played a bad match, we have to recognize that," the Mexico captain said. "We played an ugly match and we weren't clear. Even with one more player [than Panama] we didn't have those kinds of shots that we had against Costa Rica playing with 11. We have to analyze that because if we play like that in the final, we are going to lose for sure."

Herrera said his team despaired against Panama and that he would ask the players to "erase" the match and prepare for a tough final vs. Jamaica.

It’s definitely been a tough journey for Mexico’s National team, and it’s only going to get harder as they face all the scrutiny and criticism that come their way. As a fan of the team, I’d say that many people don’t have faith in El Tri, but if they turn things around, that may change.

Sources:

"Andres Guardado Considered Kicking Penalty Wide vs. Panama."ESPNFC.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 July 2015.

"Guardado the Main Man for Mexico vs. Panama." Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 July 2015.

"Pedro Proenca, 'No Era Penal' Referee Retires From Soccer." Latin Times. N.p., 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 26 July 2015.

Borden, Sam. "Dutch Mount Dramatic Rally With Theatrical Fall." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 June 2014. Web. 26 July 2015.