Rafael Márquez Álvarez is possibly the most successful player in the history of Mexican soccer.
Affectionately known as “The Kaiser of Michoacán”, “The Duke of Catalunya” or simply “Rafa”, Márquez has had a storied career that spanned more than two decades. He won national and international championships in four countries and captained the Mexican team in five consecutive World Cups.
He is also the subject of “Rafa Márquez: El Capitan,” a Netflix documentary that premiered earlier this month.
Directed by Carlos Armella and written by journalist León Krauze, the production joins “Maradona in Mexico”, “Pelé” and “Beckham” as part of the growing library of soccer-centric documentaries that focus on an athlete and his career.
“It's interesting because in my private life I have always been very secretive. I don't think I've ever been tempted to make a documentary,” Márquez said, adding that several production companies had approached him to work on a project of this type. Not sure how, or even if, to move forward with the idea, he approached his close friend Pablo Cruz, co-founder of El Estudio.
“[Cruz] eventually the idea of 'Hey, why don't we do it ourselves?' Because in the end there is friendship between us and a lot of trust,'” said Márquez. “From that perspective, I said, 'Well, there's a lot of trust, so I think I can talk things through with you more than someone else.' “
The film follows Márquez's career on the pitch, beginning with the young defender's brief but crucial spell with Mexican club Atlas FC before moving on to his glory days in Europe. With AS Monaco, he became the first Mexican soccer player to play and win a title in France's Ligue 1. At FC Barcelona, Márquez made history again, becoming the first player of Mexican descent to win the UEFA Champions League.
However, for every bit of glory, there is also pain. The documentary covers Mexico's surprise loss to the United States in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a match that gave rise to the now infamous “two to zero” jibe. For Márquez, the rivalry between the United States and Mexico was always personal, which made the defeat hurt more.
“It's an interesting point that comes up in the documentary, that many people don't know about, this feeling or this frustration that I experienced over a family issue that I don't want to reveal here,” he said. “It is better that people see it in the documentary, but it is something that added a personal reason to the rivalry that we have always had against the United States”
Off the court, “El Capitan” delves into challenging moments in Márquez's personal life, including the sanctions imposed on him by the US Treasury Department in 2017 for alleged money laundering on behalf of a cartel leader. He would eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing by Mexico's attorney general and the United States Treasury.
The film extensively covers Márquez's relationship with his father, Rafael Márquez Esqueda, whose own professional soccer career prompted his son to follow in his footsteps. The elder Márquez died months after the 2002 World Cup.
“My father was a very important person, a pillar of who I am. “I think the most important thing I learned from my father is discipline,” Márquez said. “It is something that I also try to transmit to my children and, I think, something that I will never forget about him is that if I am going to do something, whatever it is, let it be done in the best way, put all my effort to do the best of me so that everything goes well.”
That mentality, he says, is the way he approaches his job as coach of FC Barcelona Atlétic, the Catalan club's reserve team of young players.
“The truth is that now that I am a coach and I am responsible for a group of young players, I do try to motivate them in one way or another. It is not easy to have somewhat famous young people,” he stated. It's an experience Márquez is very familiar with: he was 20 years old when he left Mexico for Monaco.
Although Márquez's coaching career has only just begun (in 2020, he took charge of the youth team of Spanish club Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá before taking up his current role in 2022), Barcelona greats Carles Puyol and Samuel Eto'o, who appear in the documentary, they believe that their former teammate has what it takes to lead the Mexican national team. It is a dream position, said Márquez, but one that he will only achieve with a lot of effort.
“For that job I have to continue working, I have to be well prepared, I have to try to create my own guarantees to try to earn that job. And that is my idea: to continue preparing, gaining experience to achieve it, God willing, and do a great job at it,” he stated.
“I think that my mentality, my values, have to be the same as when I was a professional athlete, with the intention of making history, wherever I am, to try to be the best, wherever I am and with the values that my father gave me: “If I commit to something, I should do it well.”
Iván Fernández is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles.
