体坛英语新闻：Mexican President eyes "big transformation" in Mexican soccer

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Monday that Mexican soccer has experienced "a big transformation" as it now has "a new character" and "a new mind strength", when he offered his congratulations to the national champion team Santos Laguna.

"We have achieved a big transformation in Mexican football. I think what really delights me and gives me a renewed passion is this transformation that has to do with a new character," Calderon explained to the players, managers and trainers of the club.

Calderon, who will end his six-year term as the Mexican president on December 1 and concludes 12 years of government of his conservative Partido Accion Nacional (PAN), greeted the players on the National Palace, in the heart of Mexico City.

Santos Laguna was the champion of the 2012 Clausura Tournament.

The president said that Santos Laguna, a team that includes among its ranks some international players, like Colombian Carlos Darwin Quintero, Argentinian Daniel Luduena, Ecuadorean Christian Suarez, Panamanian Felipe Baloy and Spaniard Marc Crosas, is a "winning, effective and lively" team.

"A woken team, with no dilemmas, fears or frustrations. That's Santos Laguna," Calderon added.

On the last couple of years, Mexican soccer teams have achieved important victories, like their second Under-17 World Cup in 2011, as well as gold medals in the Pan American Games in 2011 and the Olympic Games in 2012.

Just a few weeks ago, the league championship changed its name to Liga MX, with the same 18 clubs but with a different set of rules, and will look to grow its earnings through lucrative TV contracts, investing in transfers of players of bigger level as well as investing more in young players.